200,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿 

Black Friday Sale on Now! Save up to 25% off Books, Toys, Board Games, & Puzzles! ✨

Start Digging, You Bastards!

The Turning Point of the Second World War
By Tom Gilling
0.0 (0 reviews)
Brief Description
'We were to go through and take on targets of opportunity, to shoot up anything we could. Never at any stage can I remember any plan of us coming back, none of that was ever talked about ... We felt it was a suicide mission.' July... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3299
Elsewhere:
$3799
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

The gripping story of Australians' and New Zealanders' key role defeating the Axis in North Africa - a true turning point of World War II

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

'We were to go through and take on targets of opportunity, to shoot up anything we could. Never at any stage can I remember any plan of us coming back, none of that was ever talked about ... We felt it was a suicide mission.'

July 1942: the North African campaign rages and the Allies have been forced to retreat from Gazala, chased through the sandy wastes by Field Marshal Rommel, 'the Desert Fox', and his Panzerarmee. The Axis target is Cairo—if they take it, they will control the Suez Canal and be within striking distance of the oil fields of the Middle East, tipping the balance of the war firmly in Hitler's favour.

In their way is the Eighth Army, spearheaded by the battle-hardened troops of the 9th Australian Division and the 2nd New Zealand Division. General Montgomery's stand will turn the tide of the war but he depends on the tenacity of these soldiers to break the resistance of the formidable Afrika Korps.

Bestselling author Tom Gilling recounts in vivid detail the brutal hand-to-hand fighting, deadly artillery barrages and momentous tank battles that characterised the desert war, culminating in two immense clashes involving hundreds of thousands of troops around an isolated Egyptian railway halt at El Alamein. Rich in historical insight and heart-pounding action, Start Digging, You Bastards! brings to life the fateful conflict in the Egyptian desert, evoking the desperate, dust-choked struggle through the eyes of the troops, whose courage and endurance were tested to the very limit.

'Gilling tells it well . . . maintains a nice balance between strategic appreciation and up-close description of deadly encounters. You can almost feel the sand and grit.' - Honest History

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781761471766

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 July 2025

Country: Australia

Imprint: Allen & Unwin

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 153.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 320

Collections

Australian & Pacific History Best Sellers at Book Hero Gifts $20-$50 History & Archaeology History & Military In Stock Books Military History Non-Fiction Tom Gilling

About the Author

TOM GILLING is an acclaimed novelist and non-fiction writer. His first two novels, The Sooterkin and Miles McGinty, were New York Times notable books of the year. His non-fiction works include Bastard Behind the Lines and The Lost Battalions. He is also co-author with Clive Small of the bestselling true crime books Smack Express, Blood Money, Evil Life and Milat.

Also by Tom Gilling

View all
  • Milat
    Milat - the serial killer who preyed on young hitchhikers. The backpackers - the innocent victims of a brutal murderer. Belanglo - a place that became synonymous with pure evil. It was the biggest and most complex manhunt in Australian history, an investigation that gripped a nation. Behind the many false leads and dead ends, precious clues emerged that pointed...
    By Clive Small and Tom Gilling
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $2999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Miles Mcginty
    Miles McGinty and Isabel Dowling are born on the same night in 1856 into different worlds. Miles is the illegitimate son of a great actress, Isabel a rebellious daughter whose mother is desperate to marry her off. Both are destined to defy convention - and gravity.
    By Tom Gilling
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $2900
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Dreamland
    The long-awaited new novel by the author of The Sooterkin and Miles McGinty. It was just a little lie. But it has landed Nick Carmody in serious trouble. It didn't seem much—to say he was the one driving Danny Grogan's car when it was caught by a speed camera. And Danny's billionaire father has promised to make the lie worth...
    By Tom Gilling
    Paperback
    $3800
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Things I Carry Around
    A born storyteller, Troy Cassar-Daley has at last turned his talent to sharing his own inspiring life. 'Troy's achievements are many, and perhaps the finest may be his ability to make us listen to his heart.' Joy McKean For the first time, Troy talks about his early life - how his parent's divorce changed things for him, about missing his...
    By Tom Gilling and Troy Cassar-Daley
    Paperback
    $3999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Bastard Behind the Lines
    The way I look at it is this... When you're behind the line and get yourself into trouble, you've got to get your bloody self out irrespective of anybody else. That's why I like it. Scottish-born but a Queenslander to the bone, Jock McLaren was a true Australian hero. As a prisoner he escaped twice, first from Changi and later...
    By Tom Gilling
    Paperback
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Diggers of Kapyong
    'In the only war in which Australian soldiers ever faced off against the might of Mao, this is a revealing and spellbinding account of an extraordinary victory.' - Peter FitzSimons We charged and we began to get shot down . . . there were so many bullets coming that it was like walking, running into a very stiff breeze. Most...
    By Tom Gilling
    Paperback
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Grog
    The marines on the First Fleet refused to sail without it. Convicts risked their necks to get hold of it. Rum built a hospital and sparked a revolution, made fortunes, and ruined lives. In a society with few luxuries, liquor was power. It played a crucial role, not just in the lives of individuals like James Squire—the London chicken thief...
    By Tom Gilling
    Paperback
    $9100
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Griffith Wars
    'Donald Mackay was not just an innocent victim tragically struck down by a criminal act. He was a casualty of the actual fight against organised crime ... killed on active service, as it were ... His name should never be forgotten, his passing must not be allowed to be in vain.' The assassination of Donald Mackay was meant to solve...
    By Terry Jones and Tom Gilling
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Sooterkin
    On a squally afternoon in the winter of 1821, Sarah Dyer gives birth to the strangest child ever seen in Van Diemen's Land, a thing more seal than human. The Reverend Mr Kidney at first suspects a virgin birth. Mr Sculley, an anatomist and man of science, hails it as the antipodean answer to the elusive Dutch sooterkin. The pup...
    By Tom Gilling
    Paperback
    $2900
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Witness
    'That bastard's still alive? I'm going to kill him with my bare hands.' POW Bill Moxham At the Australian war crimes trials that followed World War II, one prosecution witness stood out: Warrant Officer Bill Sticpewich. During his three years in the infamous Sandakan POW camp, Sticpewich had seen hundreds of fellow prisoners die of starvation, sickness, and overwork. Others...
    By Tom Gilling
    Paperback
    $3999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Lost Battalions
    They were thrown into a hopeless fight against an overwhelming enemy. Later, hundreds died as prisoners of war on the Thai-Burma Railway and in the freezing coal mines of Taiwan and Japan. Through it all, wrote Weary Dunlop, they showed fortitude beyond anything I could have believed possible. Until now, the story of the 2000 diggers marooned on Java in...
    By Tom Gilling
    Paperback
    $3699
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Evil Life
    Evil Life
    The Calabrian mafia is Australia's oldest, largest and most ruthless crime syndicate, trafficking drugs worth billions of dollars and laundering the proceeds through sophisticated international networks. Enforcing discipline with age-old tools of violence and intimidation, the Calabrians have been responsible for nearly 40 murders in Australia since the mid-1970s and many more before that. Mafia families in Australia report directly...
    By Tom Gilling and Clive Small
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Browse lists from our team

The Latest at Book Hero

View all

More from History & Military

View all
  • Behind Enemy Lines
    New Release
    Behind Enemy Lines
    Archie Gibson's initiation into desert warfare almost proved to be his last. Barrelling through the sand dunes at the wheel of his truck, Gibson spied a searing flash of light up ahead, the signature of a feared German 88mm gun firing ... right at him. He leapt from his speeding vehicle just before it was torn apart and turned into...
    By Damien Lewis
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Cauldron
    How did an elderly cleric overthrow the Shah of Iran and change the world?Why did Bin Laden attack the USA - and why did the USA destroy Saddam?How did Britain and France carve up the Middle East - and why did the Kurds never get their own state? THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE MAKING OF TODAY'S MIDDLE EAST: A SPELLBINDING...
    By Simon Sebag Montefiore
    Hardback
    $4999
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    18% off
    Saving Elli
    One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens must risk everything, concealing her...
    By Doug Gold
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    19% off
    Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Suicidal Empathy
    The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...
    By Gad Saad
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Race to the Top of the World
    The epic true story of George Mallory and Edmund Hillary and the quest to be the first to conquer Everest. A captivating story of adventure, daring, despair and triumph from Australia's favourite storyteller. Last century, two men, thirty years apart, set out to become the first to conquer the highest point in the world. Their names are synonymous with adventure...
    By Peter FitzSimons
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Man's Search For Meaning
    Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the author’s groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...
    By Viktor E Frankl
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    17% off
    The Wager
    THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 'The beauty of The Wager unfurls like a great sail... one of the finest nonfiction books I've ever read' Guardian 'The greatest sea story ever told' Spectator 'I cannot think of anyone who would not love this book... It is an extraordinary true story, beautifully...
    By David Grann
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Signed
    On Sale
    16% off
    Lizzy's Pick Lizzy's Pick
    The Chief and the Empire
    The Chief and the Empire uncovers the extraordinary true tale of Te Tai Tokerau rangatira Te Pahi - the first influential Māori leader to cross the Tasman - whose curiosity about the Pākehā world forged alliances, saved lives, and ultimately cost him his own. On a visit to Sydney in 1805, Te Pahi was feted as a celebrity, building close...
    By Eugene Bingham
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Redwood
    From the multi-million-selling historian, the remarkable, unknown Cold War story of how one spy saved the world from nuclear war. The year is 1981. Tehran is in violent turmoil in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. The Soviets are planning to overthrow the Ayatollah's fledgling Islamist regime. If they do so, one response from America — unknown to the public...
    By Ben Macintyre
    Paperback
    $3399
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    30% off
    Discipline
    Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...
    By Randa Abdel-Fattah
    Paperback
    $2800
    Usually:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    23% off
    The Golden Menhir
    Assurancetourix is entering the legendary Gallic bards' competition to win the golden menhir. But with the Romans keeping a close watch, Asterix and Obelix must protect him at all costs. Their mission? Keep him safe-no matter what... even if it means risking their own ears! First released as a book-disc in 1967, this adventure soon became a rare treasure, long...
    By René Goscinny
    Hardback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Castles
    New Release
    Castles
    From the bestselling author of The Templars and Powers and Thrones, Dan Jones returns with Castles: a gripping history of the world told through over three thousand years of iconic strongholds. Castles have been built to defend humanity for millennia – from the walls of Troy and the desert bastion of Krak des Chevaliers in Syria, to Windsor Castle and...
    By Dan Jones
    Paperback
    $3399
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 200,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.