Lines from the chorus of When Irish Eyes are Smiling are a motif in And the Women Watch and Wait, occurring at several points through the novel. The song is a romanticised tribute to Ireland and was written by Chauncey Olcott, and George Graff Jr, with the music composed by Ernest R. Ball. Olcott was … Continue reading When Irish Eyes are Smiling
Australia 1914-1918
The Wearing of the Green
My latest novel And the Women Watch and Wait is set in Coburg, a northern suburb of Melbourne, during the Great War and its immediate aftermath. The characters are, mainly, from the Australian-Irish community and, as with my other novels, music plays a part in their lives. Over the next few months I’ll post some … Continue reading The Wearing of the Green
A Soliloquy by Lance Corporal William O’Brien (1882-1936)
William O’BrienThe Queenslander 3 Oct 1914 p.28 A bluish haze in the far asternAnd galloping seas between,The last-long look at one’s native land,Where boyhood days we’ve seen.For our bows are dipped in smothering spray,Our course to the setting sun.We’re bound for the front, with foot and horse,And a-clanking steel and gun. The transport reels in … Continue reading A Soliloquy by Lance Corporal William O’Brien (1882-1936)
And the Women Watch and Wait
Today I released a new novel, And the Women Watch and Wait. It is set in Coburg, in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, between 1914 and 1919 and depicts the struggles of ordinary women left to watch and wait and pray during the four long years that their men were away fighting a war on … Continue reading And the Women Watch and Wait
Commemoration of the Fallen – 1916
Australia’s first major engagement1 of the Great War was on the Gallipoli Peninsula alongside troops from New Zealand, Britain, France and India. They had spent up to four and a half months training in Egypt before they embarked for Gallipoli. The aim was to assist the British Navy in forcing the Dardanelles Strait and then … Continue reading Commemoration of the Fallen – 1916
One Minute Book Review – Citizen to Soldier: Australia Before the Great War : Recollections of Members of the First A.I.F. by J N I Dawes and L L Robson
Published in 1977, Citizen to Soldier draws together the recollections of soldiers who served during World War 1. These were collected as the result of an appeal made through newspapers in 1966. The soldiers' own words are woven into a very readable narrative. The book looks not only at the soldiers lives before the war … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Citizen to Soldier: Australia Before the Great War : Recollections of Members of the First A.I.F. by J N I Dawes and L L Robson
Christmas 1914
Christmas 1914 is remembered mainly as the first of World War 1, and for the Christmas Truce on the Western Front when British and German soldiers met in No Man's Land and exchanged gifts, and even played games of football. As part of the British Empire, Australia too was at war but had not yet … Continue reading Christmas 1914
Military Music – Western Australia, September 1914
Recently, while attempting to find examples of songs and music from the Word War 1 period that were not military, I stumbled across this delightful photo (definitely a search fail but a wonderful find). Taken in September 1914 at Blackboy Hill camp, Western Australia, it shows Privates Leonard Darcy and John Pratley of the 3rd … Continue reading Military Music – Western Australia, September 1914
The First Anzacs
Often we think we know our country’s history, particularly if we are only one degree of separation from those who made that history. Many people of my age had grandfathers who fought in World War One. We have some of their stories, though often highly sanitized if they were told to us as children. I … Continue reading The First Anzacs
We Will Remember Them
We are now over two years into our commemoration of the centenary of the Great War. Overwhelmingly people have approached these commemorations with an attitude of solemnity. Whether for wreath laying ceremonies or visits to war memorials or to museums, thoughts are primarily on those who were lost. Going through newspapers over the 50 years … Continue reading We Will Remember Them
Catherine Meyrick 