A BRAVE AND CARING CONSTABLE

A  BRAVE AND CARING CONSTABLE

In April 1929 there was a devastating flood in the small tin mining town of Derby, in north-eastern Tasmania. A dam burst after a period of unprecedented rain. Fourteen people lost their lives and many others their homes and livelihoods. The death toll would have been much

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YOUNG CASUALTIES OF WAR – THE SINGLETON SISTERS

YOUNG CASUALTIES OF WAR - THE SINGLETON SISTERS

The following  story is about my great-uncle Arthur, who I never met and barely knew existed during my childhood.  This was despite the fact that my father had been named in his honour.  Arthur  died when I was fifteen. He was buried in our local  cemetery at

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ARTHUR SINGLETON’S ENDLESS WAR

ARTHUR SINGLETON'S ENDLESS WAR

On February 19 1922  my great uncle, returned WWI veteran  Arthur  Singleton, was arrested. According to a  later report by the Ulverstone police  he was in a disturbed  mental state. Like many men, he had never recovered from his war service.  As one of the first  Australians

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Captain Blakney – a hero of WWI

HAPPY TO SERVE Cyril Blakney  enlisted in the 12th Infantry Battalion as soon as war was declared in 1914.  He was a compositor from Hobart, and also an accomplished  musician and amateur actor. Such a fine looking young man. After the Gallipoli campaign Cyril  served on the Western

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The Red Cross Searches For a Lost Anzac

The Red Cross  Searches For a Lost Anzac

MATES  AT GALLIPOLI HAUNT A SHELL-SHOCKED ANZAC My great-uncle,  Anzac veteran Arthur Singleton, was admitted to a Tasmanian mental asylum in 1926.  He constantly spoke of being tormented by the voices of his dead mates on Gallipoli.  After enlisting in the 12th Battalion at the outbreak of

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WAR NEVER ENDING

WAR NEVER ENDING

PRIVATE ARTHUR  WILLIAM SINGLETON – SERVICE NUMBER 301 Aged 20, Tasmanian born Arthur Singleton enlisted in the 12th Battalion, one of the first raised in Australia. He was a farmer’s son, and  had already served in the state’s volunteer military service for several years.  Like many young

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The Next Big Thing!

 A WORK IN PROGRESS – GHOSTS OF GALLIPOLI A fellow author   invited me to share some information about my current work-in-progress in an author ‘interview’ called The Next Big Thing!  You may expect me to talk about The Water Doctor’s Daughters, or All Along the River; Tales

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