Portrait of soldier writing in tent, c. January 1915. AWM DAOD0058
Portrait of soldier writing in tent, c. January 1915. AWM DAOD0058Robert Jarrad's discoveries of his family's military history were his inspiration for his anthology Slouch Hat Soldiers - Generations at War. In his own words, it is "a testimony to the mateship, courage, humour, ingenuity, endurance and individualism of Australians at war.
Good News From Home
from Grandpa Jarrad's War Diary
There was little good fortune
in his war diary.
No treasure-trove of annotations
amongst tattered pages.
Service pay notes,
obscure addresses,
serial numbers,
names of diggers,
surnames in memorandum,
mates names holding secrets
of a private link
with hell.
One page held good news,
news from home,
his son's birth and Christening -
Horace Arthur Derrick at five thirty am,
Baby Christened at St Andrews Church, Bournemouth -
but little else.
Oh, yes,
there was the back page,
marks on a map,
circles and arrows
indicating where he had been.
Better to remember good news.
So that's all he shared with us.
© 2014 Robert Jarrad