Anzac Sniper

'The first fingers of dawn crept over the Peninsula. Savige sat motionless, scanning the hills with binoculars, his rifle resting on the ledge in front of him. One careless enemy soldier peered over a parapet. Savige picked up his weapon, lined him up in his sights and fired ...'

The son of a country butcher, Stan Savige left school at twelve to become a blacksmith's striker. But in 1915, a passage in the bible inspired the devout scout leader and Sunday school teacher to enlist. Soon his abilities as a crack marksman attracted the attention of the officers and he was put in charge of Sniper's Ridge, his job to eliminate the enemy assassins in Anzac Cove. Savige succeeded and survived Gallipoli, only to be sent to the Western Front then Iran as part of the crack squad Dunsterforce. It was the beginning of a long, dangerous and...