Lieutenant Colonel Terence Patrick McSharry CMG DSO MC was one of the Australian Imperial Force’s most respected battalion commanders—a man whose service, sacrifice, and leadership stand as a shining example of the AIF’s enduring values.
From the brutal slopes of Gallipoli to the decisive battles of Bullecourt, Passchendaele, and Hamel, McSharry’s wartime experience spanned almost the entire duration of the Great War.
He was among the first Australian officers to receive the Military Cross for gallantry, rising rapidly through the ranks to command the 15th Battalion with distinction. Tireless, courageous, and deeply respected by his men, McSharry embodied values-based leadership at every level of command, from subaltern to lieutenant colonel.
Despite his extraordinary career, his story has never been told—until now. Come on Australia fills that long-standing gap, while also highlighting the broader absence of detailed studies on AIF battalion commanders. It places McSharry among the finest of his peers, offering a deeply researched and humanising portrait of a man who led by example and died as he lived, attempting to rescue a wounded soldier under fire.
This is more than just a military biography. It is an exploration of character, of how excellence is built through habit and upheld through adversity.
McSharry’s life offers modern readers, military professionals, and history enthusiasts an enduring lesson: that courage, compassion, and competence are as relevant today as they were more than a century ago.
Praise for Come on Australia!
"Terence McSharry’s shows how one man’s leadership can shape a force — his legacy still underpins Australia’s role in coalition warfare today."
“An inspiring true story of courage, sacrifice, and leadership on the battlefields of World War One.”
"A powerful account of how AIF leadership, discipline, and innovation shaped Australia’s enduring military legacy."
Australian Military History, Military History, Non-fiction, Biography, Literary
About The Author
Lewis Frederickson serves in the Royal Australian Air Force and is a military-qualified Aviation Instructor. He holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in History, Literature, and Education, completing his PhD on Australia’s Great War experience at UNSW Canberra in 2015. A Visiting Fellow at UNSW, he has lectured in history, strategy, and politics and previously deployed to the Middle East.
His grandfather served under McSharry in the 15th Battalion, making this book a personal tribute.
His first book, Armageddon and Okra (2020), examined Australian air power in the Middle East.
His second, After Anzac, based on his doctoral research, will be published by Cambridge University Press.
Lewis lives in Canberra with his family and is currently studying philosophy at Oxford. Victor Nurcombe is a retired medical researcher with Higher Doctorates in Medicine and Biochemistry, and a PhD in Developmental Neurophysiology.
He trained across leading global institutions and held professorial roles at major universities in Australia and Singapore. With over 160 peer-reviewed publications and 200 patent filings, Victor also holds an MBA and Diploma in Contract Law. In 2020, he earned an MA in Military History at the University of Birmingham.
His grandfather was wounded in 1918 while serving in the 15th Battalion under McSharry—fuelling Victor’s decades-long passion for battlefield research.
Now based in Brisbane, he writes military history and travels widely. This is his first military book.
Victor Nurcombe is now retired from a career in medical research centering on Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine.
He holds Higher Doctorates in both Medicine and Medical Biochemistry, and an ordinary PhD in Developmental Neurophysiology. He also holds an MBA and a Diploma in Contract Law. His postdoctoral training was conducted Sydney, Munich, London, Oxford, Paris, Lille, New York, Boston and Melbourne.
He has over 200 biomedical publications and holds over 200 patent filings. He has been on staff as Associate Professor or Professor at the Universities of Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, the USTL, and both the National University and the LKC School of Medicine in Singapore. He has also been a Visiting Fellow of both the Royal Society of London and the College de France.
After retirement from his Laboratory in Singapore in 2020, he completed an M.A. in Military History at the University of Birmingham under the mentorship of James Pugh, Jonathan Boff and Brian Farrell.
He has walked the battlefields and cemeteries of Northern France obsessively since 1993, as his grandfather was wounded there in 1918 as part of the 15th Battalion.
Vic has returned to his hometown of Brisbane to live, where he writes military history, draws, and plays appalling blues guitar. He maintains a constant diet of international travel, often to battlefields.
His first book of military history was Come on Australia! together with Lewis as detailed above, and he has an agreement to produce at least two more.
