Showing signs of having been through the wars, Digger Tourists, by Keith Bruce , claimed to be the Australian version of the 1929 famous All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque , the gripping novel about WWl written with a passionate hatred of war.The blurb for Digger Tourists , in part, says:
"As you read this story you will find yourself marching gaily along with the carefree diggers of the old A.I.F. With them you will swelter in the dust and heat of the Egyptian summer ; like them you will learn to curse at the everlasting torment of flies , and the cruel, deadly monotony of the trackless desert .But when they go on leave to Cairo YOU will be there with them to take part in their mad, reckless escapades in the filth and squalor of the sinful, sordid city. Then on to France to stumble foot-sore, cold and weary through the mud and slush of the trenches .But through it all you will laugh and joke with the diggers as you have never laughed before,for there is something so irrepressible about the humour that they laugh and joke in the very shadow of death ..."
Written in 1940, the preface says that while Australian soldiers were once more abroad fighting with the Empire, it was timely for the nation to know something of the terrible dangers and hardships the gallant men would face .
There is a powerful epilogue , highly critical of Australia , which tells how Jack Anderson , who survived the first world war, sees his son, Bill, boarding ship to fight Hitler's forces . Anderson tells his wife not to cry, that no self respecting man can sit calmly at home ...
And as though to belie his words , from the football ground near by , a great yell from thousands of lusty throats as the star forward of the local team kicked the winning goal . And, unfortunately, thousands of other young able-bodied Australians are still far to busy picking the winner of the next race to worry over such a trifling matter as the future welfare of the human race. God grant that they may awaken to the awful seriousness of the terrible conflict before it is too late! God knows , our time is limited!
The book was published by Popular Publications, Melbourne , which claimed it deserved patronage because it published the best books written by Australians, printed and bound in Australia , by Australians , on Australian paper for Australian readers , the profits ( if any) remaining in Australia .
Our copy bought at Mundingburra State School Old Wares Fair, Townsville , North Queensland .
Written in 1940, the preface says that while Australian soldiers were once more abroad fighting with the Empire, it was timely for the nation to know something of the terrible dangers and hardships the gallant men would face .
There is a powerful epilogue , highly critical of Australia , which tells how Jack Anderson , who survived the first world war, sees his son, Bill, boarding ship to fight Hitler's forces . Anderson tells his wife not to cry, that no self respecting man can sit calmly at home ...
And as though to belie his words , from the football ground near by , a great yell from thousands of lusty throats as the star forward of the local team kicked the winning goal . And, unfortunately, thousands of other young able-bodied Australians are still far to busy picking the winner of the next race to worry over such a trifling matter as the future welfare of the human race. God grant that they may awaken to the awful seriousness of the terrible conflict before it is too late! God knows , our time is limited!
The book was published by Popular Publications, Melbourne , which claimed it deserved patronage because it published the best books written by Australians, printed and bound in Australia , by Australians , on Australian paper for Australian readers , the profits ( if any) remaining in Australia .
Our copy bought at Mundingburra State School Old Wares Fair, Townsville , North Queensland .
