y separately published work icon Townsville at War : A Soldier Remembers single work   autobiography  
Issue Details: First known date: 1992... 1992 Townsville at War : A Soldier Remembers
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Herbert Jaffa was a 21-year-old signaller with the U. S. Army when he arrived in Townsville in April, 1942. Townsville at War is his memoir of this time. The book centres on his relationship with a Townsville girl to whom he became engaged, but also reveals the effects of the war on North Queensland and describes his experiences in the New Guinea campaign. Jaffa's contact with Townsville led to an abiding interest in Australian literature and in 1980, as Professor Emeritus of the Humanities at New York University, he returned to give a series of lectures on Kenneth Slessor at James Cook University. Townsville at War grew out of these lectures and moves between his memories of the war years and his return to Townsville more than thirty years later.

Notes

  • Epigraph: In the sharp sky, the frosty deepness
    There are still birds to barb the silences
    There are still fields to meet the morning on.
    But those who made them beautiful have gone.
    Kenneth Slessor - 'The Country Ride'.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

A Literary Visit to the USA : A Memoir Laurie Hergenhan , 2012 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 26 no. 1 2012; (p. 74-78)
Untitled Laurie Hergenhan , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Imago : New Writing , March vol. 5 no. 1 1993; (p. 87-88)

— Review of Townsville at War : A Soldier Remembers Herbert C. Jaffa , 1992 single work autobiography
Memoir Thomas Shapcott , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 143 1992; (p. 64)

— Review of Townsville at War : A Soldier Remembers Herbert C. Jaffa , 1992 single work autobiography
War, Peace and Northern Love Clement Semmler , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 11 July 1992; (p. 6)

— Review of Townsville at War : A Soldier Remembers Herbert C. Jaffa , 1992 single work autobiography
Untitled Laurie Hergenhan , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Imago : New Writing , March vol. 5 no. 1 1993; (p. 87-88)

— Review of Townsville at War : A Soldier Remembers Herbert C. Jaffa , 1992 single work autobiography
War, Peace and Northern Love Clement Semmler , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 11 July 1992; (p. 6)

— Review of Townsville at War : A Soldier Remembers Herbert C. Jaffa , 1992 single work autobiography
Memoir Thomas Shapcott , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 143 1992; (p. 64)

— Review of Townsville at War : A Soldier Remembers Herbert C. Jaffa , 1992 single work autobiography
A Literary Visit to the USA : A Memoir Laurie Hergenhan , 2012 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 26 no. 1 2012; (p. 74-78)
Last amended 10 Oct 2011 15:03:53
Subjects:
  • Townsville, Townsville area, Marlborough - Mackay - Townsville area, Queensland,
  • ca. 1942
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