The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli

The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli
Author: Ryan Butta
Publisher: Affirm Press
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2024-07-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1923046918

Harry Freame was the first Australian to win the Distinguished Conduct Medal at Gallipoli. Raised as a samurai, he risked his life again and again to scout the beaches and hills of the battlefield, reporting invaluable intelligence back to his officers and relieving stranded soldiers who otherwise would surely have died. Some say he should have got the VC but didn't because he was half-Japanese, a fact he tried hard to conceal. After the war, Harry (real name Henry Wykeham Koba Freame) became a soldier settler and champion apple grower. But when Japan emerged as a perceived threat to Australia, Harry was recruited into Australian intelligence to spy on the Japanese community in Sydney. Before Japan's entry into World War II, Australia opened a diplomatic legation in Tokyo, and Harry was sent as a translator - but his real role was a spy. Extraordinarily, his cover was leaked by the Australian press, and the Japanese secret police tried to assassinate him not long after his arrival in Tokyo in 1941. Harry died back in Australia a few weeks later, but his sacrifice has never been acknowledged by Australia. Until now. Featuring never-before-seen material, The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli is a fascinating and immersive investigation into a grievous historical wrong.

Return to Uluru

Return to Uluru
Author: Mark McKenna
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2022-08-09
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 0593185781

Return to Uluru explores the cold case that strikes at the heart of Australia’s white supremacy—the death of an Aboriginal man in 1934; the iconic life of a white, "outback" police officer; and the continent's most sacred and mysterious landmark. Inside Cardboard Box 39 at the South Australian Museum’s storage facility lies the forgotten skull of an Aboriginal man who died eighty-five years before. His misspelled name is etched on the crown, but the many bones in boxes around him remain unidentified. Who was Yokununna, and how did he die? His story reveals the layered, exploitative white Australian mindset that has long rendered Aboriginal reality all but invisible. When policeman Bill McKinnon’s Aboriginal prisoners escape in 1934, he’s determined to get them back. Tracking them across the so called "dead heart" of the country, he finds the men at Uluru, a sacred rock formation. What exactly happened there remained a mystery, even after a Commonwealth inquiry. But Mark McKenna’s research uncovers new evidence, getting closer to the truth, revealing glimpses of indigenous life, and demonstrating the importance of this case today. Using McKinnon’s private journal entries, McKenna paints a picture of the police officer's life to better understand how white Australians treat the center of the country and its inhabitants. Return to Uluru dives deeply into one cold case. But it also provides a searing indictment of the historical white supremacy still present in Australia—and has fascinating, illuminating parallels to the growing racial justice movements in the United States.

The Shortest History of War: From Hunter-Gatherers to Nuclear Superpowers - A Retelling for Our Times (Shortest History)

The Shortest History of War: From Hunter-Gatherers to Nuclear Superpowers - A Retelling for Our Times (Shortest History)
Author: Gwynne Dyer
Publisher: The Experiment, LLC
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2022-08-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 1615199314

A brisk account of this defining feature of human society, from prehistory to nuclear proliferation and lethal autonomous weapons. The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read. War has changed, but we have not. From our hunter-gatherer ancestors to the rival nuclear powers of today, whenever resources have been contested, we’ve gone to battle. Acclaimed historian Gwynne Dyer illuminates our many martial clashes in this brisk account, tracing warfare from prehistory to the world’s first cities—and on to the thousand-year “classical age” of combat, which ended when the firearm changed everything. He examines the brief interlude of “limited war” before eighteenth-century revolution ushered in “total war”—and how the devastation was halted by the nuclear shock of Hiroshima. Then came the Cold War and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which punctured the longest stretch of peace between major powers since World War II. For all our advanced technology and hyperconnected global society, we find ourselves once again on the brink as climate change heightens competition for resources and superpowers stand ready with atomic bombs, drones, and futuristic “autonomous” weapons in development. Throughout, Dyer delves into anthropology, psychology, and other relevant fields to unmask the drivers of conflict. The Shortest History of War is for anyone who wants to understand the role of war in the human story—and how we can prevent it from defining our future.

The Big Fight (Gallipoli to the Somme)

The Big Fight (Gallipoli to the Somme)
Author: David Fallon
Publisher:
Total Pages: 366
Release: 1918
Genre: World War, 1914-1918
ISBN:

This book is an account of the author's battlefield experiences at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. Fallon was a pre-war regular (Northumberland Fusiliers) who, when war broke out, was a staff sergeant instructor at the Australian Royal Military College in Duntroon. Transferred to the Australian army he took part in the Gallipoli landings on 25 April 1915, which he describes in gory detail, as he does the rest of the fighting till he was evacuated in December. Back in the British army he was commisioned into the Buckingham Battalion (TF) of the O & B LI (145th Bde/48th Division) with which he fought on the Western Front till badly wounded at the end of 1916.

Too Brave to Live, Too Young to Die - Teenage Heroes From WWI

Too Brave to Live, Too Young to Die - Teenage Heroes From WWI
Author: Nigel Cawthorne
Publisher: Metro Publishing
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2015-11-05
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1784189006

World War I was a slaughter on an unprecedented scale. Nevertheless there was no shortage of young men willing to sacrifice themselves for their country. Some lied about their age to join up, not just at the start of the war when it was seen as a glorious adventure, but even towards the end when the true horror of the mechanized butchery was known to one and all.This book concerns the young men who were not yet twenty when they won the Victoria Cross, the British armed forces highest award for gallantry. Many perished in the action that earned them the VC. Others survived to receive the award, but then went on to die later in the war.One was as young as sixteen. Several were just eighteen, though they were supposed to be nineteen before they were allowed to serve overseas. They were sailors and airmen, as well as soldiers, and they came from Britain, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Nepal and India.Each one demonstrated an exceptional nerve and bravery. While some did survive World War I - even going on to serve in World War II - they showed an reckless indifference to death that made them Too Brave to Live, Too Young to Die.World War I has been over for nearly a hundred years now, but the tales of their valour live on. These men and their exploits deserve to be remembered - in the hope that young men will never be called on to do such things again.

Gallipoli Sniper

Gallipoli Sniper
Author: John Hamilton
Publisher: Frontline Books
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2015-04-30
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1473847613

'This is a well-researched, detailed and compelling story.' Defender Magazine Billy Sing was a small, dark man – and a deadly killer. When, as a member of the Australian Imperial Force 5th Light Horse, he was thrust onto the narrow strip of land held by the Australians on Gallipoli, he witnessed the terrible effects of the Turkish snipers and decided to fight fire with fire. Using a simple Lee Enfield .303 rifle, Sing began to pick off unwary Turks who exposed themselves. Assisted by a 'spotter' who would single out targets for him, Sing acquired an unrivalled reputation as he killed increasing numbers of enemy soldiers. He became known as the 'Anzac Angel of Death' and the 'Assassin of Gallipoli' and was considered to be the most successful sniper and most feared man in Gallipoli. The Turks, aware of his reputation decided to target the Sing with their own marksman. In a deadly duel, Sing fired first and killed 'Abdul the Terrible'. This a vivid account of the merciless nature of the fighting in the Gallipoli Campaign from an award-winning journalist and best-selling author.