Chapter III: Foreword

_By The Most Rev. C. O. L. Riley, O.B.E., D.D., LL.D., V.D., Archbishop of Perth, Chaplain-General to the Forces._

I have been asked to write a short Foreword to the History of the 28th Battalion. I do so with very great pleasure, for two reasons--Firstly, because I have known Colonel Collett for many years, and, secondly, because I approve of the History.

The present volume is the first of several that will attempt to record the doings of those bodies of magnificent volunteers who went from Western Australia and of whose achievements the country is so justly proud. The Trustees of the Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery of Western Australia, as the custodians of the archives of the State, have thought that those archives would be greatly lacking were a history of our part in the World War not included. With that object in view, the Commonwealth and State Governments have been approached and, largely through the assistance of the Premier, the Hon. Sir James Mitchell, K.C.M.G., and of the Minister for Education, the Hon. H. P. Colebatch, M.L.C., a practical commencement is now made with the narrative which concerns the 28th Battalion.

In the following pages we are not treated to long dissertations on military tactics, nor to clear proofs of how the writer could have concluded the war in half the time it really did take, if only the High Command had carried out suggestions made by one who knew all about it. You will find nothing like that in this book. Colonel Collett evidently asked himself: "What do the friends of the men of the Battalion want to know?" They want to know what the men did and what the Battalion did. What was the daily life of the man in the training camp; on the transports; in the war areas, and in the trenches. Of those who fell, they want to know, if possible, how and when they fell and where they were buried. Of those who were wounded, they want to know what they were doing when they "stopped a bullet," and how they were afterwards treated in hospital or in "Blighty." The public want a brief outline of the great doings of the Battalion, and all these things are plainly and proudly told by the writer.

I have often been in camp with Colonel Collett and know how thoroughly he did his work there. I am sure that all the men of the Battalion, their friends, and the public generally, will thank him for the loving care and labour he has devoted to a task which must have been to him a glorious record, and yet, at times, one full of sadness as he recalled to mind the "passing out" of friend after friend.

C. O. L., PERTH,
Chaplain-General A.I.F.,
C. of E.