Horrie the Wog-Dog

Author: Ion Idriess
Publisher: ETT Imprint
ISBN: 1925416984
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Book Description
'The true story of Horrie the Wog-Dog who was adopted by the Australian Signal Platoon of the M/G Battalion, in spite of all rules against keeping pets, and how Horrie not only won his stripes as a valuable addition to the group but had the further distinction of being smuggled into Australia on their return. The Wog-Dog was sneaked into Greece, went through the evacuation, carried messages as well as proving a dependable warning against air attacks. He went to Syria and Palestine, never learning to tolerate Arabs - he suffered cold and sickness, he fell in love with Ishmi, he was bombed off his ship and he never once was found during all necessary cover-up travelling. A story for all dog lovers, in spite of heavy Australian slang and style, of a dinkum Aussie who was kept, protected and loved by dinkum Aussies. Sentimentality over canines seldom misses fire.' - Kirkus Review (USA)

Horrie the War Dog

Author: Roland Perry
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781743317990
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
Horrie, the Egyptian Terrier, found as a starving pup in the harsh Libyan Desert, became the much-loved mascot of the First Australian Machine Gun Battalion in World War 11. Yet he was no ordinary symbol, and the Gunners' love for him was not mere affection for a pet. It was in return for Horrie saving the lives of every member of the thousand strong contingent, not once but several times in the Middle East. His exceptional hearing picked up the whine of enemy aircraft two minutes before human ears. Horrie's ritual of sitting, growling, barking and then leading the dash for trenches, had the Gunners running for cover before their camp was strafed and bombed. He was adopted by the 'Rebels,' a small group of Signallers, who secretly carried him through battle zones of Libya, Egypt, Palestine (Israel) and Syria. Horrie was smuggled into Australia after a harrowing boat trip home early in 1942, when the Battalion returned to face the threat from marauding Japanese Forces. The dog stayed with the family of his 'Master' Private Jim Moody, who went off to fight the enemy in New Guinea. When he came back in 1945, Moody brought Horrie out of hiding to help raise money for the Red Cross. Quarantine pounced and condemned the dog to death. Moody and the Rebels were shocked. They and a thousand others owed their existence to Horrie. Now they were being ordered to submit the dog, who was fit and disease-free, for extermination. How could Moody and Rebels beat the bureaucracy when defying the authorities would mean jail for them, and Horrie being caught and killed? Could they create a scheme to save him as they had in carrying the dog everywhere with them in the North African and Middle East Campaigns? Or was Horrie, the Gunner's hero, to be condemned to canine martyrdom? The answers are in HORRIE THE WAR DOG, a true tale of intrigue and illusion; a story of sacrifice, courage and loyalty in the finest ANZAC tradition.

Creforce - the Anzacs and the Battle of Crete

Author: Stella Tzobanakis
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780646815763
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 186

Book Description
Creforce - the Anzacs and the Battle of Crete is the dramatic story of the second Anzacs and their role in one of the biggest battles in the military history of Australia, New Zealand and its Allied forces during World War II.The book is written for children 10 and up and explores the real-life `adventures' and misadventures of more than 14,500 young Australian and New Zealand soldiers who were sent to the Greek island of Crete - famous for myths, minotaurs and labyrinths - under the second formation of the Anzac Corps, to help defend it against Nazi Germany. The book includes never-before-told, first-hand accounts of those that lived through the battle, and weaves in the stories of real-life characters including Roald Dahl, the famous British novelist Roald Dahl, Horrie the Wog Dog, the little terrier who became an unofficial mascot, Charles Upham, known as the Lion of Crete, an educated sheep farmer turned valuer from New Zealand who was single-minded, perservering, swore a lot and hated injustice and the people of Crete who have been likened in the book to Ned Kelly for their outlaw-style tactics as part of the Cretan resistance. The most notable Cretan is the Cretan Runner George Psychoundakis, an uneducated, poor, young shepherd who became a decorated war hero for aiding British soldiers including author, scholar Patrick Leigh Fermor who has been described as a cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond.The book is on the Victorian and NSW Premier's Reading Challenge lists. It is only available for purchase at stelitsahome.bigcartel.com

The Changi Brownlow

Author: Roland Perry
Publisher: Hachette Australia
ISBN: 0733627358
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 297

Book Description
This is the moving, powerful and surprising story of a group of Australian POWs who organise an Australian Rules Football competition under the worst conditions imaginable - inside Changi prison. After Singapore falls to the Japanese early in 1942, 70 000 prisoners including 15 000 Australians, are held as POWs at the notorious Changi prison, Singapore. To amuse themselves and fellow inmates, a group of sportsmen led by the indefatigable and popular `Chicken? Smallhorn, created an Australian Football League, complete with tribunal, selection panel, umpires and coaches. The final game of the one and only season was between `Victoria? and the `Rest of Australia?, which attracted 10 000 spectators, and a unique Brownlow Medal was awarded in this unlikely setting under the curious gaze of Japanese prison guards. Meet the main characters behind this spectacle: Peter Chitty, the farm hand from Snowy River country with unfathomable physical and mental fortitude, and one of eight in his immediate family who volunteered to fight and serve in WW2; `Chicken? Smallhorn, the Brownlow-medal winning little man with the huge heart; and `Weary? Dunlop, the courageous doctor, who cares for the POWs as they endure malnutrition, disease and often inhuman treatment. Changi Brownlow is a story of courage and the invincibility of the human spirit, and highlights not only the Australian love of sport, but its power to offer consolation in times of extreme hardship.

The Australian Light Horse

Author: Roland Perry
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0733626122
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 525

Book Description
First raised during the Boer War, the Light Horse attracted many from the outback - men who knew how to survive and fight in hot and dry country, and who had a special bond with their horses. Battle-hardened at Gallipoli, by the time the men arrived in Palestine they were more than ready to play their critical role in Colonel Lawrence's defeat of the Turks (in the face of the British High Command's acceptance of the status quo). And under their brilliant commander, Sir Harry Chauvel, they were victorious in the Sinai, Palestine and Syria - culminating in the last great cavalry charge in our history, the taking of Beersheba in 1917. Their victories played a decisive part in shaping Middle Eastern history in the 20th century. Roland Perry tells the story as it deserves to be told - with colour and authority, bringing their exploits to life. Every Australian knows this story - but few, until now, have read it. 'a history book that deserves a place in every suburban home library . . . the story of an extraordinary generation of Australians who created an enduring legend while changing the course of history' - West Australian 'the first great read about the victories of the Australian cavalry in Arabia' - The Australian 'conjures up the romantic image of the Light Horse that endures to this day' - Herald Sun 'briskly written, well-researche'd - The Age 'A compulsive read' - Newcastle Herald

The Living Sea of Waking Dreams

Author: Richard Flanagan
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0593319613
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description
From the acclaimed Booker Prize-winning author comes a dazzling novel of family, love and love's disappointments Anna's aged mother is dying. Condemned by her children's pity to living, subjected to increasingly desperate medical interventions, she turns her focus to her hospital window, through which she escapes into visions of horror and delight. When Anna's finger vanishes and a few months later her knee disappears, Anna too feels the pull of the window. She begins to see that all around her, others are similarly vanishing, yet no one else notices. All Anna can do is keep her mother alive. But the window keeps opening wider, taking Anna and the reader ever deeper into an eerily beautiful story of grief and possibility, of loss and love and orange-bellied parrots. Hailed on publication in Australia as Richard Flanagan's greatest novel yet, The Living Sea of Waking Dreams is a rising ember storm illuminating what remains when the inferno beckons: one part elegy, one part dream, one part hope.

Bill and Horrie

Author: Roland Perry
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1760872938
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 563

Book Description
Two bestselling stories of Australian animals during wartime, now in one volume. Bill the Bastard Bill the Bastard is a remarkable tale of the bond between a determined trooper and his stoic but cantankerous mount during the Light Horse campaigns against the Ottoman Empire in the Great War. They fought together. They depended on each other for survival. And when the chips were down, Bill's heroic efforts and exceptional instincts in battle saved the lives of not just his rider but four of his men. By September 1918, 'Bill the Bastard' was known by the entire Light Horse force, who used his name not as an insult but as a term of endearment. Bill had become a legend, a symbol of the courage and unbreakable will of the ANZACs. Roland Perry's enthralling bestseller shows us exactly why there was no other horse like Bill the Bastard. Horrie the War Dog In the harsh Libyan desert in the middle of World War II, Private Jim Moody, a signaller with the First Australian Machine Gun Battalion, found a starving puppy on a sand dune. Moody called the dog Horrie. Where Moody went, Horrie went too - through the battle zones of the Middle East and far beyond. As the Japanese forces began their assault in Asia, Moody and his soldier mates were redeployed to fight them. They smuggled Horrie onto a troop ship for a harrowing journey back to Australia, where Horrie was to face perhaps his deadliest challenge yet. In the finest ANZAC tradition, Horrie the War Dog is a story of intrigue and illusion, and of sacrifice, courage and loyalty, compellingly told by bestselling author Roland Perry.

The Jungle is Neutral

Author: Spencer F. Chapman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781843410294
Category : Malaya
Languages : en
Pages : 347

Book Description
A story of guerrilla warfare against the Japanese in Malaya, this title is an inspiring account of survival against the odds, the elements and the Japanese army in World War Two.

The Dog Who Could Fly

Author: Damien Lewis
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476739153
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
"A thoroughly enjoyable story of heroism and true friendship" (Publishers Weekly, starred review), this Sunday Times top ten bestseller is the true account of a German shepherd who was adopted by the Royal Air Force during World War II, flying countless combat missions and surviving everything from crash-landings to parachute bailouts--ultimately saving the life of his owner and dearest friend. In the winter of 1939 in the cold snow of no-man's-land, two loners met and began an extraordinary journey that would turn them into lifelong friends. One was an orphaned puppy, abandoned by his owners as they fled Nazi forces. The other was a different kind of lost soul--a Czech airman bound for the Royal Air Force and the country that he would come to call home. Airman Robert Bozdech stumbled across the tiny German shepherd--whom he named Ant--after being shot down on a daring mission over enemy lines. Unable to desert the puppy, Robert hid Ant inside his jacket as he escaped. In the months that followed, the pair would save each other's lives countless times as they flew together with RAF Bomber Command. Finally grounded after being injured on a flight mission, Ant refused to abandon his duty, waiting patiently beside the runway for his master's return from every sortie, and refusing food and sleep until they were reunited. By the end of the war, Robert and Ant had become true war heroes, and Ant was justly awarded the Dickin Medal, the "Animal VC." With beautiful vintage black-and-white photos of Robert and Ant, The Dog Who Could Fly is a deeply moving story of loyalty in the face of adversity and the unshakable bond between a man and his best friend.

Red Lead

Author: Roland Perry
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1761060414
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 303

Book Description
The legendary Australian ship's cat who survived the sinking of HMAS Perth and the Thai-Burma Railway Just after midnight on 1 March 1942, Australia's most renowned cruiser, HMAS Perth, was sunk by Japanese naval forces in the Sunda Strait off the coast of Java. Of the 681 men aboard, 328 survived the sinking and made it to shore-and one cat. Her name was Red Lead, and she was the ship's cat, beloved by the crew and by the Perth's legendary captain Hector Waller. But surviving shellfire, torpedoes and the fierce currents of the Sunda Strait was only the beginning of the terrible trials Red Lead and the surviving crew were to face over the next three-and-a-half years. From Java to Changi and then on the Thai-Burma Railway, Red Lead was to act as a companion, mascot and occasional protector for a small group of sailors who made it their mission to keep her alive in some of the most hellish prison camps on earth. Red Lead's extraordinary story, of courage, loyalty and love amidst battle, imprisonment and death, is brought vividly to life by bestselling author Roland Perry.