The twenty thousand thieves

by Eric Lambert

THE NORTH AFRICAN WORLD WAR II. Their officers called them a stinking, lazy, drunken rabble and their friends said they took the colonel prisoner, burnt down their officers' mess and drove off the military police with heavy rifle-fire. This is the unforgettable story of the gallant men of the the fearless and fatalistic Diggers of the Western Desert. Twenty thousand men were on their way to the deserts of Egypt and some had joined up for adventure, some were on the run from the police, for others, the army meant three meals a day and a bed to sleep in.From an induction camp in Australia to the siege of Tobruk, the savage intensity of Second X Battalion's experiences is not for the faint hearted. How soon will death silence so many of these brave voices and how many will ring out beyond the brutality of the battlefield?

Genres: War, History

317 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

This is the disambiguation profile for otherwise unseparated authors publishing as Eric Lambert

For the French BD artist, see Éric Lambert

Reviews

[Kuszma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tobruk, El-Alamein, csupa ikonikus második világháborús helyszín bukkan fel ebben a könyvben: ezekben a sivatagi porfészkekben csaptak össze Rommel németjei a szövetséges hadtestekkel. És - legalábbis e könyv szerint - senkivel sem vívtak szikrázóbb csörtéket, mint az ausztrálokkal, akiket neveztek sivatagi patkányoknak, meg húszezer rablónak is, mindenesetre olyan tökösen vetették magukat a nácikra, mint megannyi begőzölt Krokodil Dundee. (Más híres tökös ausztrál nem jut eszembe.)

Tegyük hozzá, ezen csörték szüneteiben az ausztrál bakáknak még arra is maradt idejük, hogy megküzdjenek valakikkel, akik majd olyan ellenszenvesek és pokolravalóak, mint a Harmadik Birodalom szöszke cicamackói - a saját tisztjeikkel. Ők azok, akik az amúgy sem wellness-hétvégére hajazó háborút még elviselhetetlenebbé varázsolják kegyetlenségükkel, imbecillitásukkal, és azzal, hogy úgy általában kutyába sem veszik a bakát. Közlegények és a tisztek között a különbség nem csak a rang, hanem a társadalmi státusz is (hisz egy gazdag ausztrál eleve tisztként kezdi, míg a szegény ember legfeljebb a hadnagyi rangig, de inkább az őrmesteri sráfig viszi), ezért Lambert tollán ez az összeütközés erősen osztályharcos színezetet ölt. Ami nekem, bevallom, nem tetszik. Biztos vagyok benne, hogy anno 1951-ben ez a fajta agitáló felhang olyan problémákra kereste a választ, amelyek az adott korszakban relevánsak voltak, de engem már eléggé irritál, hogy az összes német álnok náci, a kommunisták viszont fényes tekintettel néznek a jövőbe, és bátrak, mint egy... khm... szóval bátrak, mint egy nagyon bátor valaki.

Különben nem lenne rossz regény - fontos dolgokat állapít meg a háborúról, amelynek egyik kulcsfolyamata a szövegben egészen jól érzékeltetett "összekovácsolódás", amikor egy katonai egység amúgy egymással fasírtban lévő tagjai a közös veszély hatására bajtársakká válnak. Kár, hogy közben olyan tolakodóan akarja lenyomni a torkomon az igazságát.

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent novel brings to life the members of one section or battalion of the A.I.F. which fought in Egypt from 1941 to 1943 The story takes the reader from the induction camp in Australia right through the arrival in Palestine, the siege of Tobruk, and the battle of El Alamein. It is not a book for the faint-hearted, since the battle scenes are drawn with a savage intensity that is at once remarkable for its quality and the fact that anyone (namely the writer) could actually have lived through them.

This is the second really good Australian novel I have read concerning the siege of Tobruk (the other: Lawson Glassop's "We Were the Rats") and one can only wonder, if this pair of infantrymen survived to write these excellent books, how many others were sacrificed during the course of the wars in the 20th century, who might have written just as well. It's a moot point of course, but we must be thankful that this pair of writers was spared. Unlike Glassop, Lambert went on to have a successful career as a journalist and novelist.

So, be warned, the book will shake most readers, but that may not be an altogether bad thing, given the awful subject matter. Note that there is quite a bit of Aussie slang employed which will be difficult for non-Australian readers to understand at times.

[Tracey Allen at Carpe Librum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book formed part of the compulsory reading list for my 'War Literature' course at University more than 14 years ago. I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't finish reading it back then, in fact, I didn't even get half way through.

I've always wanted to pick this book up again and read it to the end, and it's been on my shelf ever since, reminding me of this fact and taunting me. Well, I've finally been in the right mind set and the right mood to pick it up again, and now can't think what all the fuss was about.

This is an excellent Australian War Classic, with a forward from Weary Dunlop, and provides a look at the lives of several Australian soldiers in the Second World War. I enjoyed joining them in this era, and making sense of their lingo and turns of phrase. I recognised their love of women and beer and was touched by their individual reflections on war and the situations they found themselves in.

I understood many of their observations from my own time in Defence and this book certainly rings true in so many ways. However by the end of the book, I would be surprised if any reader came to the conclusion that war is a good thing.

Interesting stuff.

[Jasper Silver · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is up there with the greats of WWII literature; like Cross of Iron and The Thin Red Line it manages to be true to the experiences of both the enlisted men and officers. Told with incredible pathos, robust joy and terrible despair, and with the epitome of laconic, larrikin Australian humour in the face of terrible and violent deeds throughout.

Relentlessly anti-fascist in its tone, but also focussed on the personal war each man fought in his own head, while still opening a glimpse into that socially stratified world of man and master that was swept away by history in that conflict.

You'll cheer for the characters in their small victories, weep for those whom you come to love when they fall, and curse the self-centred and pompous among the officers who fail to see that WWII was bringing an end to their petty fiefdoms of privilege.

All that, plus a wonderful primer in the slang am language of Australia in the 40's.

[Damon Isherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warts and all look at the campaign in North Africa. Adage battle scenes and a good insight into the character of the diggers, and the tension that existed between the men and the officers. Although a fictionalised account, I feel it gave me a better sense of 'what it was like' than many other historical accounts. Bleak, moving, heroic: all these things.

[Peter Russell]

Very tatty paperback. Replace