AUSTRALIAN MILITARY HISTORY World War II –

What was the Australian soldier of World War II like? There can be no simple answer, no single stereotype. This fact, unsurprising yet so often ignored, clearly emerges from this book, based in part on a questionnaire sent to 3,700 former World War II soldiers. Their answers are deeply revealing; they overwhelmingly wanted to be seen for what they thought they were and so they brought themselves, their world and their war, alive. There is deep humanity in We Were There, much laughter, many tears and the opportunity, becoming rarer, for later generations to get to know and respect a generation now fading away. A generation, 70 years after the end of the War, to which Australians are still indebted.

Brief references to discrimination, education, employment, prisoners of war, attitudes to religion, trackers; pp 24-25 refer to Aboriginal army service, promotions, valour and distinctions earned.

First Edition.

• x, 470 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm. #270425

• First Nations (AIATSIS) Subject:

• • Defence – World War II
  • Defence – Armed forces – Veterans
• World War, 1939-1945 — Personal narratives, Australian