The Luftwaffe bombed (Fromelles) on 27 May 1940, destroying some buildings when British ammunition trucks parked there were hit and exploded. The following day the Germans occupied the town once again. Then things went along uneventfully until 25 June, when France surrendered to the Germans. That very day, Chancellor Adolf Hitler, the former humble lance-corporal [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Australian'
So Why Didn’t an Australian Kill Hitler? – “Fromelles” – Patrick Lindsay
January 16th, 2012 · No Comments · Anzac, Australian, History, War, WW1, WW2
Tags:Anzac·Australian History·History·WW1·WW2
Don’t Forget me Cobber – “Fromelles” – Patrick Lindsay
January 16th, 2012 · No Comments · Anzac, Australian, History, War, WW1
Bean highlights the work of one of the rescuers, 40 year old Victorian farmer, Sergeant Simon Fraser of the 57th Battalion, and quotes from a letter Fraser later wrote him: “It was no light work getting in with a heavy weight on you back, especially if he had a broken leg or arm and no [...]
Australian Fascism and John Monash - “Thoughtlines” – Bob Carr
June 19th, 2011 · No Comments · Australian, Campaigning, Democracy, Electoralism, History, Leadership, Politics, Quotes, Socialism
General Monash’s response to requests that he lead a fascist takeover of Australia during the great depression: “What do you and your friends want me to do? To lead a movement to upset the Constitution, oust the jurisdiction of Parliament, and usurp the governmental power? If so, I have no ambition to embark on High [...]
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Fathers – “Johnno” – David Malouf
June 17th, 2011 · No Comments · Australian, Complexity, Literature, Philosophy
Now as I began to sort through his “effects” it occurred to me how little I had really known him … I had forced upon my father the character that fitted most easily with my image of myself; to have had to admit to any complexity in him would have compromised my own.
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Brisbane – “Johnno” – David Malouf
June 16th, 2011 · No Comments · Australian, Literature, Poetry, Queensland, Quotes
I might grow old in Brisbane, but I would never grow up.’ Brisbane is so sleepy, so slatternly, so sprawlingly unlovely… It is simply the most ordinary place in the world…It was so shabby and makeshift … a place where poetry could never occur.
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The Significance of Possibility and Occurrence “Johnno” – David Malouf
June 16th, 2011 · No Comments · Australian, Complexity, Literature, Philosophy
The hundred possibilities a situation contains may be more significant than the occurrence of any of them, and metaphor truer in the long run than fact.
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Emigrating to Australia – “The Importance of Being Earnest” – Oscar Wilde
May 16th, 2011 · No Comments · Australian, Quotes
Cecily: I think you had better wait till Uncle Jack arrives. I know he wants to speak to you about your emigrating. Algernon: About my what? Cecily: Your emigrating. He has gone up to buy your outfit. Algernon: I certainly wouldn’t let Jack buy my outfit. He has no taste in neckties at all. Cecily: [...]
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Enthusiastic Reformers – “Children of the Bush” – Henry Lawson
October 26th, 2010 · No Comments · Australian, China, Literature, Politics, Progressive Politics
After one stormy election, at the end of a long and bitter shearing strike, One-eyed Bogan, his trusty enemy, Barcoo-Rot, and one or two other enthusiastic reformers were charged with rioting, and got from one to three months’ hard. And they had only smashed three windows of the Imperial Hotel and chased the Chinese cook [...]
Tags:China
“The Family Law”, Benjamin Law
August 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Australian, Chinese
Summary: A loosely linked series of auto-biographical essays by Brisbane based (yes Brisbane!) gay, Chinese Australian, Benjamin Law. David Sedaris light with an Australian aspect. My Take: Given that identity humour is such a focus of “The Family Law”, it’s difficult to avoid applying a stereotypical overlay onto Benjamin Law’s writing. In fact, “The Family [...]
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“Johnno”, David Malouf
August 4th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Australian, biography, Literature, Queensland
Synopsis: Thinly veiled autobiographical account of David Malouf’s adolescence and early adulthood and his changing relationships with his eponymous best friend, Johnno and the town of his birth, Brisbane. A must for all Queenslanders. My Take: I have a very warm spot in my heart for David Malouf. He’s the kind of writer that I [...]
Tags:David Malouf
