Anzac Boys


Book Description

A powerful and moving World War One story about ANZAC soldiers and the disaster of the Gallipoli landing.




A Rose for the Anzac Boys


Book Description

The 'War to end all Wars', as seen through the eyes of three young women War is being fought on a horrific scale in the trenches of France, but it might as well be a world away from sixteen-year-old New Zealander Midge Macpherson, at school in England learning to be a young lady. But the war is coming closer: Midge's brothers are in the army, and her twin, Tim, is listed as 'missing' in the devastating defeat of the Anzac forces at Gallipoli . Desperate to do their bit - and avoid the boredom of school and the restrictions of Society - Midge and her friends Ethel and Anne start a canteen in France, caring for the endless flow of wounded soldiers returning from the front. Midge, recruited by the over-stretched ambulance service, is thrust into carnage and scenes of courage she could never have imagined. And when the war is over, all three girls - and their Anzac boys - discover that even going 'home' can be both strange and wonderful. Exhaustively researched but written with the lightest of touches, this is Jackie French at her very best. AWARDS Shortlisted - 2009 ABIA Awards Honour Book - 2009 CBCA Book of the Year Awards (Younger Readers) PRAISE 'Highly recommended for teenage to adult readers' - Readings 'A book of many voices. Poignant, graphic and compulsive fiction about women who volunteered during WWI' - Sunday Age 'Beautifully written. An important story. The use of a sixteen year old protagonist will make the story more real and more confronting for teen readers' - Aussie Reviews 'A well-researched story about the invaluable support women provided during the war. Recommended for secondary school-aged children' - Australian Bookseller and Publisher '... rousing stuff, and it hasn't been watered down. French doesn't shy away from the nightmarish conditions of trench warfare. Highly readable, scrupulous in its history ... an ideal text for schools' - Sydney Morning Herald '... entertaining and uplifting' - Sun-Guardian Blacktown 'This is a moving story about the love, kindness and humanity of the people involved in the bloodshed and carnage of World War I' - Launceston Examiner 'Jackie has woven her usual magic with her deft light touch and humour in this gripping story' - Toowoomba Chronicle 'A warm tribute to extraordinary women in extraordinary times. We must remember them' - Woman's Day 'Younger readers will enjoy this story about the soldiers of World War I and the volunteers who supported them' - Brisbane News 'Comprehensively researched and beautifully written' - South Coast Register




Light Horse Boy


Book Description

Brought to life by illustrations, historical photographs, and memorabilia, this cloth-bound book is made to look like a notebook from the periodIn 1914, Jim and Charlie abandon the Australian outback for the excitement of the war to end all wars. But, they quickly discover the brutal realities of life on the frontline, and nothing will ever be the same again. A beautifully illustrated historical picture book about the fate of horses during World War I, this adventure goes behind the scenes with the great Australian and New Zealand Army Corps legends for an intimate look at their experience.




Roly, the ANZAC Donkey


Book Description

Hello. My name is Roly. I'm a donkey. Let me tell you about the time during the First World War when I worked at a place called Gallipoli. I met a man there from New Zealand who was very special. He and I worked as a team to help rescue soldiers who had been hurt in battle. Based on real people and events, this is the heartwarming story of Richard Alexander Henderson, a soldier in the New Zealand Medical Corps, and the donkey he discovers wandering and hungry on a Gallipoli road. Richard and Roly form a strong friendship and, working together, they courageously save the lives of many wounded soldiers. But now the army has received top-secret orders to leave Gallipoli - and quickly. All the donkeys must be left behind. Richard is heartbroken. What will become of his dear friend Roly? Glyn Harper and Jenny Cooper are the author and illustrator of the hugely successful picture books Le Quesnoy and Jim's Letters. Roly the Anzac Donkey is a moving retelling of Glyn Harper's 2004 story The Donkey Man, reinvigorated for a new generation of children with Jenny Cooper's beautiful illustrations, and commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli invasion.




Soldier Boy


Book Description

On 28 June 1915, young James Martin sailed from Melbourne aboard the troopship Berrima – bound, ultimately, for Gallipoli. He was just fourteen years old. Soldier Boy is Jim's extraordinary true story, the story of a young and enthusiastic school boy who became Australia's youngest known Anzac. Four months after leaving his home country he would be numbered among the dead, just one of so many soldier boys who travelled halfway around the world for the chance of adventure. This is, however, just as much the story of Jim's mother, Amelia Martin. It is the heartbreaking tale of the mother who had to let him go, of his family who lost a son, a brother, an uncle, a friend. It is about Amelia's boy who, like so many others, just wanted to be in on the action.




Anzac Sons


Book Description

…Well dear Jim it breaks my heart to write this letter. Our dear [brother] was killed yesterday morning at 5.30. The bullet killed him instantly and he never spoke a word. I had just left him and gone down the trench to see the other lads when I was called back. Oh Jim it is awful … Oh I do hope he is the last … It is April 27, 1918, Jim’s brother writes from the battlefields of France. Of five brothers serving on the Western Front, three have given their lives; another has been hospitalized. Six agonizing months of brutal warfare were yet to be endured … World War I was a senseless tragedy. Its long shadow darkened the four corners of the world. In Mologa, Victoria, once a bustling community, stands a lonely stone memorial. Etched within the granite are the names of the Marlow brothers and their mates; a testament to ordinary people who became heroes. Anzac Sons is composed from a collection of over 500 letters and postcards written by the brothers who served. From the training grounds of Victoria, Egypt and England, to the Western Front battlefields – Pozieres, Bullecourt, Messines, Menin Road, Passchendaele, Villers-Bretonneux and the battles of 1918 – this compelling true story was compiled by the granddaughter of a surviving brother. She takes us on her journey as she walks in the footsteps of her ancestors. This is a story of mateship, bravery and sacrifice; it is a heartbreaking account of a family torn apart by war. It is a pledge to never forget.




The Lost Boys


Book Description

In the First World War of 1914-1918, thousands of boys across Australia and New Zealand lied about their age, forged a parent's signature and left to fight on the other side of the world. Though some were as young as thirteen, they soon found they could die as well as any man. Like Peter Pan's lost boys, they have remained forever young. These are their stories. This extraordinary book captures the incredible and previously untold stories of forty Anzac boys who fought in the First World War, from Gallipoli to the Armistice. Featuring haunting images of the boys taken at training camps and behind the lines, these tales are both heartbreaking and rousing, full of daring, ingenuity, recklessness, random horror and capricious luck. A unique perspective on the First World War, The Lost Boys is military history made deeply personal, a powerful homage to youthful bravery and a poignant reminder of the sacrifice of war.




Viking Boys


Book Description

An Australian attack aircraft flies into a ship with guns blazing. Both crewmen are killed, but does anyone notice? At the entrance to Orsta fjord, down an overgrown path, a granite stone stands on a rocky outcrop at the water’s edge. Roughly inscribed in English, it records the loss of two young Australians. The stone was erected in 1947 by parents grieving the loss of their son. Each year villagers of Orsta pay homage to the sacrifice of these two young Australians who died to restore their freedom. Beaufighter pilot James Hakewill and his navigator Fred Sides died on 5 December 1944 when their aircraft slammed into a German gunboat in a fjord in Norway. Official records contain no mention of the aircraft hitting the ship. No one in the squadron knew what had happened. Neil Smith thought he had shot down his wingman. Kurt Heinowitcz from Breslau shovelled coal for the German Navy – he was on the gunboat. Fred’s mum believed her son had survived the crash and was lost in Russia. James was nominated for the Victoria Cross. Viking Boys tells their stories and reveals the experience of young Australians who fought and flew against German shipping in the fjords of Norway – and called themselves the Viking Boys.




Boys of Blood and Bone


Book Description

Andy Lansell, killed in the First World War in 1918, lies in a small cemetery in the north of France. Henry Lyon, in a borrowed Volvo station wagon, is driving up to the south coast of New South Wales. The paths of their lives are about to cross. From this award-winning and best-selling author comes a story of two young men. As Andy and his mates head inexorably towards the bloody, torturous Western Front, Henry and his mates face challenges, dangerous situations and tragedies of their own. Now published in 2014 as an Anzac Centenary Edition with a Preface from the author to mark one hundred years since the commencement of World War I. 'Metzenthen gets better all the time.' Agnes Nieuwenhuizen




Anzac Tree


Book Description

Inspired by the story of two soldiers who planted two trees on their farm before they headed to the Great War, the story of the ANZAC Tree is one that looks at the lives of those left behind in times of war.