Hell of a time : an Australian soldier's diary of the Great war
Ayton, Philip Owen2019
Books, Manuscripts
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, A Hell of a Time is a vital and compelling account of the Great War.
Main title:
Hell of a time : an Australian soldier's diary of the Great war / Philip Owen Ayton ; edited by Elvala Ayton ; introduced by Ross McMullin.
Author:
Imprint:
Melbourne, Victoria : The Text Publishing Company, 2019.
Collation:
287 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, facsimiles, maps, portraits ; 24 cm.
Notes:
Includes index.Includes index.
Contents:
Introduction -- Philip Owen Ayton's diary of the great war -- Postscript: after the diary -- Appendix: Walter ('Watty') Cecil Ayton -- Timeline of Philip Owen Ayton's military service -- 'Gallipoli' -- Acknowledgments -- List of illustrations -- Index.
ISBN:
9781925773422 (paperback)1925773426
Dewey class:
940.4
Language:
English
Subject:
Ayton, Philip Owen, 1889-1946Australia. Army. Australian Engineers. Field Company,1stWorld War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula -- BiographyMilitary campaignsSoldiers -- Australia -- BiographyWorld War, 1914-1918 -- Australia -- Personal narrativesSoldiers -- Australia -- DiariesTurkey -- Gallipoli PeninsulaBiographies
Index terms:
Australian
BRN:
39481
More Information: