The poppy is for sacrifice

Posted on November 8, 2009 at 3:37pm | 3 comments

With Remembrance Day coming up on Wednesday I bought a red poppy from a Legacy chap at the post office on Friday.

In fact, I gave the man $5 and he handed over four poppies, so I gave two of them to Jim and Maggie.

I always get a little reflective and melancholy around Remembrance Day.

It really is a fitting reminder of the horrors of World War One and a chance for me to ensure the memory of my great uncle James Gorey (pictured below) lives on.

The Anzac Day website contains this information about the red poppy symbol: (more…)

The Victoria Cross in Australia

Posted on January 16, 2009 at 4:23pm | 2 comments

Mark Donaldson

Trooper Mark Donaldson, 29, from Newcastle, has been awarded Australia’s first Victoria Cross since the Vietnam War.

He was presented with the country’s highest military honor for his rescue of a wounded Afghan interpreter from heavy fire in Afghanistan in September.

Congratulations to Trooper Donaldson, pictured above with his wife. (more…)

Honor Sir John Monash

Posted on November 8, 2008 at 4:38pm | 0 comments

Sir John MonashSir John Monash was a great Australian. There is no doubt about that.

I agree with Tim Fischer that Sir John should be posthumously promoted to Field Marshal.

As we near the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I it seems appropriate to further recognise Sir John’s achievements. He was a brilliant strategist and proved himself one of the best generals of his time.

Growing up in the Latrobe Valley, I knew of him as the head of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV). He was an engineer and designed many bridges in Victoria.

His parents were of German-Jewish origin, which Fischer believes is partly responsible for Sir John being held back in rank.

I don’t know about that. The fact he came from a Militia background doesn’t sound a strong reason either, but may be true.

Possibly his greatest military achievement was the Battle of Hamel, which defied previous history and lasted just 92 minutes. (more…)

In memory of James Daniel Gorey

Posted on October 17, 2008 at 3:21pm | 0 comments

Monday (October 13) was the 90th anniversary of the death of my great-uncle James Daniel Gorey.

James Daniel GoreyJim was my grandfather Michael’s youngest brother.

I’m disappointed with myself for missing the anniversary before now. With commemorations looming for the 90th anniversary of some famous battles on the Somme, and of course the Armistice, my mind is getting back to reflect on the First World War and my family’s contribution.

A journalist from the Shepparton News, Darren Linton, contacted me this week, having discovered material I published online.

He found it a compelling story that five brothers had their lives changed by war, and in Jim’s case ended.

I’m glad Darren said that, because he’s reviewing the material dispassionately from a distance. (more…)

Newspaper novels: The truth will make you fret

Posted on October 29, 2007 at 12:18pm | 1 comment

There aren’t many novels about newspapers. Stories involving print journalists are far fewer than those about lawyers, soldiers and police for example.

That’s a little surprising when you consider that journalists are writers. But when you think about it, we are craftsmen while novelists are artists. We ply a trade while they follow their creative spirits. We have responsibilities, they don’t.

Three good books about newspapers come readily to mind. PG Wodehouse wrote Psmith, Journalist in 1915; Evelyn Waugh wrote Scoop in 1938 and Terry Pratchett published The Truth in 2000.

In Wodehouse’s classic, Psmith arrives in New York on a cricket tour and becomes involved with the home entertainment weekly “Cosy Moments” which he transforms into a hard-hitting investigative journal. He rides the bumps of organised crime and American politics along the way.

In Waugh’s story, scribe William Boot is mistaken by the publisher of the Daily Beast for a war correspondent. He is uprooted from writing country garden features to covering the civil war in Ishmaelia. Both novels are cleverly satirical.

Pratchett’s The Truth is a typically fantastic work from the author of the Discworld series. The hero in this case is William de Worde, who teams up with dwarfs to print the first newspaper in Ankh-Morpork.

As usual, Pratchett offers some tremendous insights into human nature. His observations of the newspaper profession are also very sharp, suggesting excellent research or personal knowledge. For instance, he offers a rare literary tribute to the unsung work of sub-editors.

I’ve just finished reading The Truth for the second time. I found the focus on hired assassins to be distracting and kept wanting the story to get back to the trials and tribulations of The Times.

There are some great one liners, like when the dwarfs make a typesetting error with the newspaper’s logo, which becomes: “The truth will make you fret”.

I related personally to the serial pest who kept coming into the office with remarkable vegetables. Anyone who has worked on a country newspaper will know there are people in most towns who like to show off their giant tomatoes or funny-shaped parsnips.

I admit it’s one of my long-term ambitions to write a satirical novel about newspapers. I started taking notes of strange but true incidents last year, like when one of my reporters disappeared while on the trail of visiting Mongolian detectives.

I have heaps of material; just need the time to write it.

Monkey business

Posted on October 27, 2007 at 1:10pm | 0 comments

According to BBC News, the deputy mayor of Delhi has died after failing to defend himself from a horde of wild monkeys: monkeys

SS Bajwa suffered serious head injuries when he fell from the first-floor terrace of his home on Saturday morning trying to fight off the monkeys. The city has long struggled to counter its plague of monkeys, which invade government complexes and temples, snatch food and scare passers-by.

It’s not too hard to imagine an Australian equivalent for politicians being attacked by animals. For instance, the way the pork barrel is rolling around in the current election campaign, Kevin Rudd and John Howard are both at risk of being trampled in a stampede of pigs.

flying pig

World War 1 and Anzac Day

Posted on April 24, 2007 at 6:58pm | 4 comments

Anzac Day has captured the public imagination in Australia. My Anzac Day reflection is to acknowledge that all four of my grandfather’s brothers served in the First World War.

I remember attending April 25 parades as a cub scout in Traralgon where the returned soldiers outnumbered the spectators. There were Boer War veterans in the earliest march that I can recall.

Today it is fashionable to observe Anzac Day, which is great, but I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard people talk about “celebrating” the occasion.

There is nothing to celebrate. (more…)

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