A Rose for the ANZAC Boys

 A Rose for the ANZAC Boys by Jackie French (HarperCollins, 2010)                              

PB RRP $15.99

ISBN: 9780733331787           

Reviewed by Elaine Harris                                                                                                                                             This month we commemorate the centenary of the fateful landing at ANZAC Cove: a campaign made up of political and military blunders, bureaucratic bungling and months of wasted lives and needless tragedy. No-one doubts the horrors of those unimaginable months with little water and less organization. Yet however odious comparisons may be, historians past and present (including many who were there) insist that although Gallipoli was horrendous, the Western Front was so very much worse. 

Millions of lives lost, millions more ruined, damaged or altered beyond all comprehension.  It is impossible for any of us to know how we would react in those circumstances, only hoping such tragedy would bring out the best in us.

Five years ago, in preparation for a radio interview, I dipped into the award-winning YA novel, A Rose for the ANZAC Boys by Australian Children’s Laureate Jackie French, covering as much as I could in the time allowed, (conducing several interviews each day sometimes leaves little time for a full read) and devoured all the notes at the back of the book.

The author and I both shed tears during the interview and the book has been on my Must Read list since that date. We also corresponded during Jackie’s writing of the book and on one memorable occasion she mentioned almost casually in an email, “I’ve just blown up a hospital tent.” When she submitted the manuscript to the publisher, the initial reaction was, “Don’t let Jackie change a word.”

Last month I did it -- read the entire book in less than 24 hours, sobbing unashamedly throughout. Don’t be fooled, though. This is no sentimentalised, girlie weepy. A teacher colleague of my husband’s read it to her year 5-6 class in 2010 and for the first time held her  reluctant reader boys spellbound.

This book tells it all without jingoism or bitterness against any enemy; without an examining of rights and wrongs - except the smugness of the hierarchy who gave the orders while living the high life behind the lines. (It happened.) We meet soldiers, nurses, ambulance drivers, orderlies, a chaplain, Turks and Germans, and many, many people who just wanted to do their bit, including our three female protagonists: Midge, Anne and Ethel. It takes you to railway station canteens dispensing sandwiches and cocoa, casualty clearing stations, ambulance runs and the fear, mud, Blood and gas of the trenches.

Through the story and without any sense of being taught anything, we also learn something of the class system and attitudes of the day, roles and perceptions of women and the determination of those kicking against the traces, often against all odds.

Yet, like the best books worth remembering, while plumbing the depths of tragedy, the book ends on hope: leaves you not only with a sense of the future but also a view of it decades later from the perspective of the descendants of those involved. It sheds a light on the annual ANZAC Day parades and services and why these ceremonies still hold meaning which ought never to be de-valued, sensationalised or forgotten. 

As for historical accuracy, Jackie French wept her way through many letters and diaries of the day, living as closely as anyone ever can the experiences of those who were there.

This is not a new book but a timeless one worth reading or re-reading this year.    

Gallipoli

Gallipoli by Kerry Greenwood, illustrated by Annie White (Scholastic Press)

HB RRP $24.99

ISBN 978-1-74362-129-5

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Anzac Day honours the Anzacs who, among other campaigns, fought for a small area of land on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. Written by Kerry Greenwood, Gallipoli tells the story of Bluey and Dusty, close mates who are among the lucky ones to make it home at the end of the campaign. 

This is a well-written and wordy story which explores the issues of bravery, hardship, fear, humour and mateship. With much more text than is usual in a picture book, this is suitable for primary aged children. It includes interesting detail such as Simpson and his donkey Duffy, the Roses of No Man's Land (nurses), and the battles at Gaba Tepe and Lone Pine. 

The writing creates a little distance between the events and the reader. The story is more about what happens than a more personal account:

In between the fighting, an unexpected bond began amongst the exhausted enemies. They worked together to bury the dead and swapped gifts instead of gunfire.   The diggers offered bully beef, and the Turks gave fruit and sweets in return.

The emotion is in the pictures. Annie White's illustrations are watercolour, unusually soft and gentle for depictions of war. And it is the people who dominate these illustrations. Here, human emotions are beautifully expressed and shine strongly through. As well as full paged illustrations, White has painted sepia photographs, complete with photo corners, which run throughout the story, creating a feeling of a personal photograph album. These begin inside the front cover and continue all the way to the end pages where more recent photos of family round out a life story.

Between the text and the illustrations, a story of Aussie mateship, humour and stoicism is portrayed, making this a tale of Australians at Gallipoli with memories which can be shared with younger children as well as older.    

Simpson and his Donkey

Simpson and his Donkey by Mark Greenwood, illustrated by Frane Lessac (Walker Books)

PB RRP $16.95

ISBN 9781921529542

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

The heroic life and death of Jack Simpson and his donkey is presented again by husband and wife team Mark Greenwood and Frane Lessac. It starts with Jack’s life before he sailed for Australia, then aboard as a stoker. His working history shows us the man he was, and how easy it was for Jack to serve ‘king and country’ when the war broke out. 

But fear replaced the sense of adventure that many soldiers set out with, when the fighting started on the ‘razorback ridges’. Jack was working tirelessly carrying wounded to the boats to be evacuated, when he came upon a stray donkey which he named Duffy. Thus they became Simpson and his donkey.

This immortal story has been brought to life again through Greenwood’s ability to tell a great tale, and make it sound fresh and new. Lessac’s insightful illustrations fit like a glove around Greenwood’s words. Detailed and expressive, each full page illustration gives up all of Simpson’s bravery, determination and courage, as he carries water to thirsty troops, and makes the return journey with a wounded soldier on Duffy’s back. One of them being his childhood friend Billy.

It also gives us a clear picture of Gallipoli and the conditions the men experienced there. It’s a salute to this part of Australian history that is in our hearts and memories.

Simpson was admired and respected as ‘the bravest of the brave’ due to his humanity. He died the way he lived - always doing what was right, and serving others. He was buried at Hell Spit. We must also reflect as we turn each page of this beautifully illustrated edition with its poetic prose, on all that we are because of Gallipoli.

Lest We Forget.

Flora's War

Flora’s War by Pamela Rushby (Ford Street Publishing)

PB RRP $18.95

ISBN 978-1921665981

Reviewed by Francine Sculli

Flora’s War is a rich book. Rich not only for its beautifully written and compelling story, but rich also for the way it transports you in time with its illustrative style. Pamela Rushby has written an amazing tale steeped with history, coming-of-age, friendship, love and a taste of what it was like to be female during World War 1.

Flora’s War is set in Cairo, Egypt in 1915. Flora, a sixteen-year-old Australian is visiting Cairo with her archaeologist father, both regular visitors to Egypt during excavation season. This time around, Flora can already sense that this year’s trip won’t be like any other. She sees the army bases set up, the soldiers roaming around, the influx of nurses sent over for duty and how fewer excavation sites there are in Egypt. Still, Flora goes about her typical life in Egypt – staying in an extravagant hotel, ushered around by an influential Egyptian, working on her father’s site and traipsing around Cairo with her best friend, Gwen, an American girl whose father is also an archaeologist.

But within moments, their usual life changes to something extraordinary. Flora’s lush hotel is overtaken by the army and converted to a hospital, forcing her and her father to move to another house, known as the house of the butcher and blacksmith. And things keep changing, soon Flora and Gwen are given first aid training at Lady Bellamy’s Recreation and Rest Centre where they volunteer their time writing letters, talking and serving tea to the soldiers. Quickly, their volunteering duties start to involve driving the wounded soldiers to and from the hospital, as they start to arrive by train from Gallipoli. Flora and Gwen see unspeakable travesties that will change their life forever but in these tragedies, they find solidarity in friendship, love and being a modern woman.

Flora’s War has many, many strengths. The writing is poetic and transformative – so vivid and articulate that it is so easy for the reader to lose themselves in the bedlem and magic of dusty Cairo, or the heart break of the mental ward set up in the makeshift hospital that was once an extravagant hotel. But more than that, it is easy to get lost in the characters – so wonderfully carved, full of life and character, and wholeheartedly believable. Flora paints the picture perfectly of what it would have been like to be a female growing up in this time – fighting to be a modern woman with simple tasks like learning to drive a car or working on an excavation site. With so much subtext and so many sub-stories, Flora’s War,  is an epic story that will engross anyone who picks it up.