Trooper to the Southern Cross extract   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2004... 2004 Trooper to the Southern Cross
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Notes

  • Editor's note: British-born Angela Mackail married the Australian Gallipoli veteran George Thirkell in London in 1918. Together with her two sons from a previous marriage she sailed to Australia aboard the former German troopship the Friedrichsruh in 1920. Handed over to the British as part of war reparations, the ship had been sabotaged so that its cold water pipes dispensed sewage; its pace was funereal; and it was packed with hundreds of riotous repatriated Diggers (including many prisoners, mostly deserters). This dreadful journey proved fine fodder for a satirical novel about the behaviour of Australians abroad. It is narrated by one Major Tom Bowen, a Sydney doctor returning home with his wife, Celia. Here, the troopship calls in at Colombo. It is 'a bonzer day'; but things are about to get out of hand...
  • From Chapter 7: 'The Digger Isn't Bad' pp. 116-129

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon On the War-Path : An Anthology of Australian Military Travel On the Warpath : An Anthology of Australian Military Travel Robin Gerster (editor), Peter Pierce (editor), Carlton : Melbourne University Press , 2004 Z1108788 2004 anthology prose autobiography extract poetry criticism diary essay travel war literature 'This anthology reveals the many ways in which going to war has formed a cultural bridge between Australia and the world. From the Sudan in 1885 to Afghanistan in 2001, the connection of war to travel is illustrated by writers and reveals how the experience of war has both broadened and refined (and sometimes distorted) Australian views of the world.' From cover of On the War-Path : An Anthology of Australian Military Travel (2004) Carlton : Melbourne University Press , 2004 pg. 132-140
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Related Works

y separately published work icon Trooper to the Southern Cross Angela Thirkell , London : Faber , 1934 Z220878 1934 single work novel humour A fictional account of Angela Thirkell's journey to Australia.
VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (1)
Last amended 11 Feb 2014 14:58:27
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X