BOOKSHELF – Vetaffairs August 2024

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The following books, often self-published, have been written by, for and with veterans. The books and their descriptions are submitted by authors and readers. DVA takes no responsibility for the accuracy of their content or the opinions expressed in them.

If you have a book for a subsequent edition, please email vetaffairs [at] dva.gov.au. Please provide the following: title, name of author, blurb (short description that we reserve the right to edit), price, how to buy it, and image of the front cover. Submitting a book does not guarantee publication.

Last of the Cavalrymen – Memories of Major General Robert Harley Wordsworth

Edited by Ana Scarf and Charlotte Scarf

Robert Harley Wordsworth (1894–1984) led an extraordinary- nary life, beginning as a junior officer at Gallipoli, later transferring to the Indian Army, rising to Major-General of the 1st Armoured Division in the Middle East in the Second World War. Back home, he forged another career in public service as a Senator for Tasmania and as Administrator of Norfolk Island. This book is a compilation of transcriptions of recordings ‘Wordy’ made, which have been organised, edited and supplemented with images and explanatory footnotes by his daughter and granddaughter. It is superbly illustrated with photographs of the era.

• Pages: 288
• Cost: $49.95
• To Buy: Abbey’s Bookshop, Petrarch’s Bookshop, Fullers Bookshop, and others

Lights Everlasting – Australia’s Commemorative Stained Glass from the Boer War to Vietnam

By Bronwyn Hughes

Stained glass windows tell us stories of Australians at war. Unlike the stone soldier marking the country crossroads or local park, commemorative windows are hidden in plain sight within religious buildings, hospitals, school chapels and civic buildings, where they can be forgotten or lost as decades pass. This book is largely about remembrance. It seeks to illuminate the men and women who fought and died for their faith and their country, to reveal those that designed and made the windows, and to rediscover the artistic and architectural heritage of stained glass. Through the tragic beauty of its illustrations, Lights Everlasting adds a new perspective to an overlooked art form and encourages understanding of a neglected aspect of commemoration.

• Pages: 256
• Cost: $79.95
• To Buy: Through www.scholarly.info or the author drbronwynhughes [at] gmail.com (drbronwynhughes[at]gmail[dot]com)

Meet Dave Lassam – The Man for the Job

By Dave Lassam

Lieutenant Commander Dave Lassam joined the Navy in 1978 and was discharged in late 2016 after almost 39 years of service. He served as a medic and medical administration officer. He shares his memories of an awesome career and covers many subjects from his attendance at car accidents, reviving people who had heart attacks, working in disaster zones to give humanitarian aid and many other stories. This book also covers his diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and prostate cancer, which ended his career.

• Pages: 300
• Cost: $4.99 (e-book) – $45.99 (hardcover)
• To Buy: Amazon, Xlibris Publications or via www.davelassam.com

Iron Curtain to Bamboo Curtain: My Cold War Diary

By Allan A. Murray

Time with the Gurkhas in Hong Kong; a trip into China’s Pearl River Delta; a deployment with NATO forces in West Germany, passing through Checkpoint Charlie; supporting the Operational Deployment Force in Townsville; a year as ‘95A’ with 5th/7th Battalion, RAR (Mechanised). This war diary offers an Australian perspective on regimental life in the last decade of the Cold War. This is a story of simmering tension, risks, high preparedness and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

• Pages: 173
• Cost: $3.99 (ebook) $32.99 (paperback)
• To Buy: Amazon

Voices of Australian Veterans

By Brian Robertson

The extraordinary stories of 18 Australian veterans – from the Second World War to Vietnam – are contained in this book. One describes having breast milk squirted in his face, another tells of having his hands held behind his back as a knife is put to his throat. One brave individ- ual describes incidents in the brothels of Malaya, another suddenly realises that the little girl he has just met has had her foot blown off by a mine. For some, such experiences made them true believers, for others it had the opposite effect. In addition, 5 chapters are devoted to world affairs from an Australian perspective, from 1939 to the mid-1970s.

• Pages: 451
• Cost: $30 plus postage and handling
• To Buy: www.booksbybrian.com.au, Booktopia and other book sellers

Submarine! The Australian Submarine Service in History

By Paul Davidson

This book details the Australian Submarine Service against the general history of submarine warfare, from the two world wars and the Cold War to the present challenges of acquiring nuclear-powered submarines. It reviews the boats operated by various navies and the Australian experience of the Oberon and Collins classes. Included are reflections by former and serving captains on submarine command and the Perisher course. The author is an academic and reservist commander who served as a member of the directing staff at the Australian Defence College.

• Pages: 231
• Cost: $50.35 (hard cover)
• To buy: Booktopia or Connorcourt Publisher

From Boy Scout to Battlefield and Beyond

By Ray Carlin

This is a story of a bloke who’s been there and done it, and sometimes done it twice. Vietnam veteran and former federal agent Ray Carlin has written about his extraordinary life, from a lad growing up in impoverished Balmain in the 1950s, right through to four overseas Australian Federal Police deployments. The book features more than 100 photographs, the majority in colour, with each chapter highlighting a separate part of his amazing life. It also shows what you can achieve if you put in enough effort.

• Pages: 379
• Cost: $45 plus $10 postage
• To buy: www.fromboyscouttobattlefieldandbeyond.com or email raycar-lin [at] bigpond.com (raycar-lin[at]bigpond[dot]com).

Thirty-Three Thousand

By William Henry Thompson DFC

William Thompson was in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He served in Bomber Command as a wireless operator/air gunner on Hampdens and Lan- casters. Towards the end of the war, William served on the King’s crew, flying in Winston Churchill’s own aircraft ‘Ascalon’ and assigned by Transport Command to fly Lord Allenbrook, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, on a tour of the Army bases located in the Middle and Far East, which included Australia and New Zealand. His story was written as an observation with a rather philosophical presentation and includes a Foreword by Oswald Morris OBE DFC AFC BSC.

• Pages: 116
• Cost: $25
• To buy: Chris Thompson on ducati [at] adam.com.au.

A Tribute to Those Who Served (Volumes 1–5)

Compiled by volunteers of the West Gippsland Genea- logical Society Inc.

These five books are dedicated to First World War service personnel buried or remembered in West Gippsland cemeteries; Warragul, Drouin/Drouin West, Neerim and Yarragon. The aim of the books is to honour these people’s contribution to local communities in West Gippsland by acknowledging their service to their country and to tell of their life and family before and after their war service. Included are brief details of the names from local war memorials and some honour boards. Indexes of the names featured are available on the website.

• Pages: 32 to 164
• Cost: from $10 to $40. Postage is $14.90 per book or for multiple books
• To buy:  www.westgippslandgenealogy.com

Blast from the Past

By Michael J Gardiner

Queensland has a fascinating history of bomb-related incidents, from murder to attempted armed robbery, dis- gruntled persons, domestic violence, experimentation, misadventure, and mental illness. Sergeant Michael Gar- diner joined the Queensland Police Service after leaving the Army in the late 1980s and is one of Australia’s longest serving Police Bomb Technicians. All profits from every book sold go directly to supporting Queensland Police Legacy and its dedicated work in caring for the families of our fallen.

• Pages: 160
• Cost: $26 + $6 postage and packaging
• To buy: Contact mickjg [at] bigpond.net.au (mickjg[at]bigpond[dot]net[dot]au)
   

A Mother’s Worry – Young Bagzar

By Ian Stiles OAM, JP

Ian Bagzar Stiles joined the Australian Army in 1964 aged 17, passed SAS selection at 18 and then was sent to New Guinea to train to fight the Indonesians in Borneo. On discovering he was too young for active service, Ian was posted to 3 Special Air Service (SAS) Squadron and sent to Vietnam. After returning from Vietnam, he was discharged, re-joined the Army in 1968 and went straight back to 3 SAS. On his second tour of Vietnam, Ian was promoted from Private to Sergeant in less than 12 months. Using SAS patrol reports held by the Australian War Memorial, this book gives an insight into SAS tactics in Vietnam.

• Pages: 278
• Cost: from $30.74
• To Buy: Amazon and Austin Macauley Publishers

The Uninvited Warrior series

By Max Carmichael

The three works, A Map of Honour, A Comet of Revenge and In His Kingdom’s Great Defence are historical novels set in the First World War with the main character, Robert Green, a man of Aboriginal descent. Green man- ages to avoid the early ban on men of colour enlisting in the AIF and becomes a consummate soldier. His skills are recognised by General Monash who ensures they are employed to best advantage. However, when Monash loans Green to British intelligence he is confronted with desperate battles, political assassination, frantic searches, espionage, murder, kidnapping, romance, and other situations that test him to his limits.

• Pages: average of 300
• Cost: $34 (including postage and handling)
• To Buy: Amazon, or via max.carmichael [at] bigpond.com (max[dot]carmichael[at]bigpond[dot]com)

The Clock Keeps Ticking

By John White

Having to throw a lot of punches for protection was a way of life in the Navy! Survival depended on how willing I was to stand up to a culture that left many unable to defend themselves. My experiences in the Navy taught me about not backing down and letting others walk over me. Of course, this comes at a price, mentally, physically and emotionally. I had to create ways to not only survive, but to prosper. This book is about coming from nothing and ending up in a reasonably good place. Read this book and learn how I survived, what drove me and how I kept moving forward.

• Pages: 261
• Cost: $30.75
• To Buy: Booktopia and Amazon

Outrider – Soldier. Father. Survivor

By Mark Wales

A violent civil war. An unstoppable enemy. One road to freedom. In the wake of a global conflict, foreign forces occupy part of Australia, quashing all but a few pockets of local resistance. The tense stalemate ends in 2034, when Jack Dunne reignites the war. Dunne is an Outrider, one of the last elite special operations soldiers in the Resistance. As the enemy prepares to eliminate the freedom fighters once and for all, he is tasked with his final mission. If Dunne and his 11-year-old son achieve the impossible and survive, they’ll secure their future across the border in Free Australia. But the road to victory will be bloody.

• Pages: 368
• Cost: $34.99
• To Buy: All good bookstores

Australia’s Lost Heroes – Anzacs in the Russian Civil War 1919

By Damien Wright

This extraordinary book is both an engaging military his- tory and an enthralling mystery. Australia’s Lost Heroes tells the astonishing, little-known story of the Australian soldiers who fought the Red Army in Russia in 1919 and the personal odyssey to locate and identify the lost grave of Victoria Cross hero, Sergeant Samuel Pearse VC MM. Follow the author’s journey to a remote corner of Russia with his grandson in the hope of identifying the grave. Guided by a Russian battlefield archaeologist, he discovers an astonishing clue which may resolve the mystery of an Australian hero missing for more than 100 years.

• Pages: 420
• Cost: $32.99
• To Buy: Simon & Schuster

Our Journeys: Memories of the RMC Duntroon Class of 1960-63

Edited by Fred Fairhead, John Hemphill and Herbie O’Flynn.

Eighty-two New Zealanders and Australians 17–19 years of age entered Duntroon in 1960 with 56 of us graduating as lieutenants in the Australian Army. Some were soon off on active service during the Borneo and Malaysian Confrontation. Nearly all the class served in South Vietnam and one, Tony Danilenko, was killed in action on Anzac Day 1968. Returning from active service, we continued to serve in various Army postings in Australia and overseas. By the time we retired, we had collectively produced 9 colonels, 6 brigadiers and one major general (Piers Reid as Chief of Staff of New Zealand Army).

• Pages: 279 with name and subject indexes
• Cost: $55 (soft cover) plus postage and handling
• To buy: hoflynn [at] bigpond.com (hoflynn[at]bigpond[dot]com)

The Mutiny at Long Phuoc Hai

By Jack Twist

This novel tells the stories of five young Aussies called up to serve in the Vietnam War. Their experiences come together when they’re posted to serve in the same platoon in 1971. One of the young soldiers, selected for officer training, is assigned as platoon commander and the other four serve under him. Tensions build between the officers and men and on their last day of active service ‘outside the wire’, with the war by then unpopular at home and all but over for Australia, the men refuse to follow an order.

• Pages: 128
• Cost: $20.00 including postage within Australia
• To buy: jacktwist3 [at] gmail.com (jacktwist3[at]gmail[dot]com)

The Cat’s Pyjamas

By D W Kesselman

Melbourne, 1956. An intelligent, but unworldly Alison meets sophisticated man about town Andrew, whose family control great wealth and power. The sparkle and excitement of Melbourne’s 1950s elite social scene makes her whirlwind romance with Andrew seem perfect. Consequently, her middle-class life is transformed, but not everyone is happy about the relationship. Behind the veil of money and prestige, Alison finds there are sinister intentions being played out. Written by Vietnam veteran D W Kesselman, this is a story that rolls through fifty years of history across the playgrounds of Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula and Hong Kong society.

• Pages: 226
• Cost: $25 plus postage
• To buy: Booktopia or via dk [at] dkennedy.com.au (dk[at]dkennedy[dot]com[dot]au)

They Came: Surviving an Australian Outback Zombie Outbreak

By Ash Steene

They Came is an action-packed, adventurous, humorous, and horror-filled story set in the Australian outback centred around Ash Andrews, an Australian Army veteran turned tour operator. The laid-back routine of country life in a quiet, picturesque Australian outback town is violently interrupted by a malevolent mass of marauding zombies. Fair warning: this book contains graphic violence and is laced with Australian slang and humour! Authored by Army veteran Ash Steene, They Came is a unique immersive platform with links to YouTube promotional videos and songs featured on Spotify.

• Pages: 194
• Cost: $19.99
• To buy: Ash Applications on eBay or through book stores.

The Clearing

By Rob deKok

The Clearing is a story built into the flight of one bullet which connects two narratives: that of Tim, an Australian conscript, and Khai, a Viet Cong soldier. That one shot joins Tim’s next thirty years and Khai's previous twenty – both lives exploding onto the pages like shrapnel from a tortured mind. Tim spent twelve months in Vietnam and survived. Khai spent twenty years there and didn't. Their fateful contact – a moment of terror and grace in a bombed-out tract of land in South Vietnam – is the heart of The Clearing. From then on, Tim can only acknowledge the single shot he fired by holding that bullet in perpetual flight. In doing so, shards of memory become unstuck vignettes – irregular glimpses into the lives of two men: one who denies his past and another denied his future. 

Erratic, confessional and disturbing, The Clearing is a fictional account of a controversial war, a topical meditation on one life taken away and another changed forever by the after trace of combat.

• Pages: 316
• Cost: $35 including postage (softcover book)
• To Buy: www.robdekok.com