AUSTRALIAN MILITARY FOOTBALL
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 attracted 10,000 spectators, and a unique Brownlow Medal was awarded.

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.

This is a story of courage and the invincibility of the human spirit, and the Australian love of sport. Now part of the HACHETTE MILITARY COLLECTION.

376 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 20 cm. #0821 (Date on fep)