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Hell of a Time
An Australian Soldier's Diary of the Great War
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One of the last undiscovered personal accounts of an Australian soldier fighting to survive WWI
One of the last undiscovered personal accounts of an Australian soldier fighting to survive WWI.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
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Description
One of the last undiscovered personal accounts of an Australian soldier fighting to survive WWI.
Philip Owen Ayton was working on the Sydney tramways when the call to join the fight against Germany came. Keen for action, he found himself in the First Field Company Engineers in the First Division of the Australian Imperial Forces.
Shipped to Egypt, Ayton soon after took part in the Gallipoli landing. 'I would not have missed this for anything,' he wrote to a friend. Badly injured, he was sent to England to convalesce and from there joined the campaign in France, where he saw out the war.
From the start, Ayton kept notes of his experiences, which he would write up in a diary. Plucky, charming and self-deprecating, this son of the new nation records the horrors of trench warfare and his off-duty adventures in Cairo, London and Paris.
This remarkable story is now published for the first time, a century after the war's end. Accompanied by a postscript by one of Ayton's sons and Ayton's poem about the Gallipoli campaign, Hell of a Time is a vital and compelling account of the Great War.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Hell of a Time is highly praised for its vivid descriptive writing and candid style. It stands out as an exceptional diary amidst a plethora of World War I memoirs, especially shedding new light on the Gallipoli campaign from the fresh perspective of an Australian soldier.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781925773422
Publisher: Text Publishing
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 02 April 2019
Country: Australia
Imprint: The Text Publishing Company
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 153.0mm
Height: 234.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 416
About the Author
Philip Owen Ayton was born near Melbourne in 1889. At the outbreak of the Great War, he enlisted in Sydney. He was twenty-five. After the war he married his sweetheart, Nellie Clarke, and they had two sons and two daughters. Ayton died in Melbourne in 1946, aged fifty-seven.
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