Although the Armistice was signed just after 5 o’clock in the morning of 11 November 1918 and the guns fell silent at 11 o’clock, the war did not officially end until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919. To mark this longed for moment, King George V requested that a special … Continue reading Peace Day in Melbourne – 19 July 1919
Soldiers
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
Book Review: Ancestry by Simon Mawer
‘A past that only consists of the artefacts is like a skeleton unearthed in an archaeological dig. Where is the flesh and blood? Who were the people? What did they feel? Where have they gone?‘ (Ancestry p.1) In Ancestry, Simon Mawer imagines the flesh and blood of two sets of his great-great-grandparents, ordinary people from … Continue reading Book Review: Ancestry by Simon Mawer
Book Review – Father by Allan Hudson
Father, by Canadian writer Allan Hudson, is set during World War 2 and follows the experiences of Tanner Hill from 1942 through to his return home after the war. This novella starts with a prologue detailing the arrival of two Hill brothers in Canada in the 1840s and the lives they build for themselves in … Continue reading Book Review – Father by Allan Hudson
Over the Hills and Far Away
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOeYPpOblAw I first discovered this song when rounding out the information I had on my great great grandfather William Reader. Born at Staplehurst, Kent in 1822, he enlisted in the 96th Regiment of Foot in December 1842 and with in six months has been shipped out to Van Diemen's Land on garrison duty. The song … Continue reading Over the Hills and Far Away
Catherine Meyrick 