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Archive for May, 2010

Reviews – Books: The Western Front Diaries by Jonathan King

by Suzan Ryan on May.18, 2010, under Reviews

The Western Front Diaries
Jonathan King
Simon & Schuster

An incredibly enlightening and exciting book that takes the reader to the front lines and into the war room. Interspersed, in order throughout the almost three years of battles, with stunning and vivid accounts of the actions by Australian soldiers who secured a Victoria Cross for heroism in action, The Western Front Diaries is as far from a dry military read as you can imagine. Life on the front lines is captured effectively, with the horrors and mercies of war and men under pressure brought to life throughout its the pages.

Australian commander, Major General John Monash, was long overlooked for promotion, being of Jewish and German descent, but today remains one of the war’s most influential leaders of strategy and of men—Monash introduced the blitzkrieg mode of attack, and some of his battle strategies (Hamel) are to today used by militaries throughout the world as text book examples of perfect manoeuvring.

The Western Front Diaries also puts to rest the notion the battle of Gallipoli was Australia’s defining battle of WWI. While 50,000 soldiers died at Gallipoli, 250,000 died on The Western Front—with 52 Victoria Crosses awarded. The bloody and brutal battles of Fromelles, Passchendaele, Pozieres, Flanders, and Mouquet Farm are illuminated brilliantly and weaved with urgency.

But this book isn’t about mathematics and body-counts, it’s about the men who served—their character, their sense of humour, their hopes and their follies. Author Jonathan King displays as much skill as restraint in the Herculean task of collating the hundreds of personal letters, diaries and photographs borrowed from returned servicemen and their families and distilling the information into sharp day-by-day, month-by-month accounts of what life on The Western Front was truly like.

An excerpt taken from a letter by William Fincham to his sister, in June 1918, reads:

“I must say something about the man walking back from the line. More than once I have seen two men, an Australian and a German, both wounded, limping toward the dressing stations—each with his arm around the other. They could scarcely walk alone, but, supporting one another, were going to be dressed by the same Doctor—they who less than an hour previously had rushed together with bayonets or bombs trying to kill each other.”

One of the few assets of war is the camaraderie it engenders between men on the firing line, and the personal stories of our many Victoria Cross winners will have you laughing as much as grieving for the men of our past who fought so valiantly for our country.

The Western Front Diaries brings to life the personalities of the men who fought The Great War as clearly as if you were sharing a trench with them yourself. This is an outstanding and exceptional book.

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by Meg on May.18, 2010, under Aussie Babes

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Feature: Nine Lives – The Wild Blue Yonder

by Meg on May.18, 2010, under Features, The Magazine

Some of the world’s most dangerous jobs are carried out right here in Australia. Denise Mooney meets the men who risk everything at their 9 to 5

Around the world, aircraft pilots feature prominently in fatality statistics. Last year, 30 people died while carrying out aerial work, flight training or working on private flights, according to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

Fergus Ponder is a flight instructor with Becker Helicopters on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, but during the summer season he’ll be fighting bushfires in Queensland and New South Wales. Up until last year, the pilot was based in the US city of Chicago, where he spent most of the year fighting fires from Florida all the way to Montana. The former stockman became a helicopter pilot 13 years ago, after a visit to America. “From the first moment we got translational lift, I knew it was exactly the right fit,” he says. The 42-year-old has since flown Agusta A-109s, R22s and, his favourite, the Sikorsky S-58T.

When you’re fighting fires, the dangers include strong winds and downdraughts, and low flying near treetops. “You put yourself in these situations,” Ponder tells us. “If you think too much about it, you’re in the wrong job.”

But some days you have no choice, like the day he was preparing to make a drop in the Sawtooth Mountains in Montana. “I messed it up,” he says plainly. “I started to descend too quickly. I did a fast turn and the next thing you know, down it comes.” The helicopter dropped about 15 metres, but luckily not all the way to the trees. “Your stomach comes up into your mouth. In the moments following it, you start thinking about family and whether it’s really worth it. As fun as it is, there is that inherent danger.”

There are always pilots who don’t make it home from work: “A few years ago in northern California, the guys on the next helipad to us got tasked with a mission. We could have got it, but they did. They were delivering cargo to some crew on the hill. He put his load down in a clearing, but he drifted and bumped into a tree. It can happen.”

Dealing with events like this can be difficult. Ponder always calls his wife. “She knows when I’m going through a tough time, and she’ll talk me through it.” To be a good pilot, you need to be a glass-half-full type of guy who doesn’t think too much about what can go wrong. “I just get a buzz from flying,” smiles Ponder. “I always start singing. I get a lot of satisfaction from it.”

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