Photos taken by their father, George Joosten, soon after their arrival in Australia in September 1956. Information as related to Glen Cosham on 31.01.2014Photograph of Ron Joosten and his two sisters, Vera and Yvonne, observing the crosses laid on the grassed area of Sinclair Parade, Port Melbourne, for Anzac Dayfamilies, memorials, war, george joosten, vera joosten, ron joosten, yvonne joosten

In 1955 the Polish Community in Chile wanted to Commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the ending of the 2nd World War but, since it was not a happy occasion, as Poland had been betrayed and placed in the Soviet sphere of influence, they chose to create a Pennant with a plea for the Patron Icon of Eastern Poland - Our Lady of the Sharp/Morning Gate (Matka Boska Ostrobramska/Zaranna) in Vilnius (Wilno) - to give them a new Miracle on the Vistula, in reference to an epic battle which took place on 15th August 1922 on the banks of the Vistula (Wisla) River in which the Polish troops defeated the Soviet Army and turned back the march of Communism to the West. This particular Pennant was purchased by Stanislawa Zamecznik (nee Zakrzewska), while living in Chile after deportation from her birth place in Sianozatki near Bychov (Bychow) to Schweningen in Germany from which they emigrated to South America as Displaced Persons. It was brought to Australia when the Zakrzewski Family emigrated from Chile in 1956, first to Port Augusta and then subsequently to Sydney.It is significant in that it tells the story of the aspirations of the Polish Diaspora displaced from it's Homeland in the Kresy Region and scattered throughout the World, including the Americas and Australia.Pennant of red cloth with screen printing in white, mustard yellow and black hung on copper wire with gold cord Front: Polish inscription "KROLOWO POLSKI / BLAGAMY CIE O NOWY / CUD NAD WISLA / SANTIAGO DE CHILE / 15.VIII.1955" Back: Spanish inscription "LA CASA DE BANDERIN AHUMADA 61"polish pennant polski proporczyk orzel eagle matka boska ostrobramska zaranna our lady of vilnus santiago chile cud nad wisla miracle on the vistula

demonstration of Polish community activityIn Sydney during their fledgeling stage immediately after world War twophotograph of the Kondratowicz family in the Sydney area. One of the very few available photographs of the beginnings of the Polish community in Sydney. Photographic document showing interaction with local clergy.photographsydney, polonia, post world war two, christmas pageant

Index, notes, bibliography, ill, p.298.non-fictionIn the hands of Peter Stanley, one of Australia's leading military historians, a famous battlefield in France becomes unforgettably connected with Australian men and their families in the long aftermath of the Great War.australian army - 21st battalion - 9 platoon - history, world war 1914-1918 - 2nd battle of the somme

Index, bibliography, notes, ill, maps, p.712.non-fictionAbout 1300 Australians died in the desert campaigns of World War I, while another 3500 died in North Africa and the Middle East during World War II. Thousands more carried the wounds of war for the rest of their lives. Countless families were left behind to mourn the dead and comfort the injured. A ripple effect of grief passed down the generations. This is the story of Australia's desert wars as never before told. Using letters, diaries, interviews and unpublished memoirs, Desert Boys provides an intensely personal and gripping insight into the thoughts, feelings and experiences of two generations of Australian soldiers. In many cases these were fathers and sons going to successive wars with all the tragedy, adventure and hardship that brought.australian army - desert campaigns, desert warfare - 20th century

Index, ill, maps, p.376.non-fictionSigi Siegreich and his family were expelled from their home when the Germans invaded Poland in 1939. By the end of 1942, his parents and 167 members of his extended family had been exterminated in the death camps of Treblinka, Belzec and Auschwitz. Fifteen-year-old Sigi was first enslaved in the labour camp at Skarzysko-Kamienna and later at Czestochowa, where he met Hanka, a young girl and fellow prisoner who would eventually save his life. After the war ended, Sigi and Hanka married and began to rebuild their lives. Their daughter Evelyne was the first Jewish child born to Holocaust survivors in Katowice, Sigi's home town. Thanks to a chance meeting with a childhood friend in Munich, Sigi and his family eventually ended up in Melbourne, Australia, where he established a successful import business.holocaust survivors - australia - history, holocaust - poland - 1939-1945

Index, bibliography, p.201non-fictionThe author describes his life in Victoria during the great Depression and his wartime experiences in the RAAF. He was shot down over France, but evaded capture and joined the partisans with the help of a French family. world war 1939-1945 - personal narrativies - australia, world war 1939-1945 - aerial operations - britain

ill (b/w), p.235.non-fictionA collection of some of the most poignant, moving or unusual stories encompassing all conflicts in which Australians were involved in the 20th century.australia - history - military, australia - military - personal narratives, australia - military

ill (b/w), p.158., lists.non-fictionA Short History of Polish soldiers migration to Australia after WWII. Part I The Surplus Heroes 5 The Foundation of the Polish Republic operating in exile 7 Formation of military 10 Change in relations with the Allies 18 The Polish military in the closing stages of the war 21 The consequences of the Yalta Conference 22 1945 Elections in Britain 24 The Polish Resettlement Corps [in UK] 28 The notion of "Betrayal" 31 The Future 32 Part II Destination Australia 35 Background 37 Polish Armed Forces in the West 39 The "Polish Issue" 43 Polish Resettlement Corps (PRC) 49 Solution? 52 Portrayal of the Poles 54 Australian government decision-making 57 SS Asturias - September 1947 and December 1947 Tasmania: Hydro-Electric Commission 64 SS Strathnaver - August 1948 64 Hobart 69 Victoria 71 Queensland 71 Manus Island 71 South Australia 72 New South Wales 72 Asturias - August 1948 - Sydney 76 Asturias - November 1948 - Western Australia 78 Life at the Tasmanian Hydro-Electric Commission 79 Citizenship 85 Deportation 91 Australian veterans groups 93 Polish veterans groups in Australia 96 Establishing a life 100 Families 103 Polish communities 105 Annexes 109. Includes photographs, facsimiles and maps.immigration - australia - polish community, australia - displaced persons

ill, notes, p.234.non-fictionThe dark clouds returned and gathered about the boy. His eyes grew distant, and he began to tremble. He heard not only shells exploding, but the cries of dying men . . . He was stumbling over churned earth, looking into the face of an officer, bloodied red as the poppies, ripped apart in the Flanders mud . . . A small boy, an orphan of the First World War, wanders into the Australian airmen's mess in Germany, on Christmas Day in 1918. A strange boy, with an uncertain past and an extraordinary future, he became a mascot for the air squadron and was affectionately named 'Young Digger'. And in one of the most unusual incidents ever to emerge from the battlefields of Europe after the Great War, this solitary boy was smuggled back to Australia by air mechanic Tim Tovell, a man who cared for the boy so much that he was determined, however risky, to provide Young Digger with a new family and a new life in a new country, far from home.world war 1914-1918 - children - biography, henri tovelle

Index, bibliography, notes, ill, maps, p.628.non-fictionThe Australian experience of war in all its complexity - from the homefront as well as the battlefront - as the men and women who experienced it chose to understand and remember it. The Great War is, for many Australians, the event that defined our nation. The larrikin diggers, trench warfare, and the landing at Gallipoli have become the stuff of the Anzac legend. But it was also a war fought by the families at home. Their resilience in the face of hardship, their stoic acceptance of enormous casualty lists and their belief that their cause was just, made the war effort possible. This book brings together all the dimensions of World War I. Combining deep scholarship with powerful storytelling, this book brings the war years to life: from the well-known battles at Gallipoli, Pozieres, Fromelles and Villers-Bretonneux, to the lesser known battles in Europe and the Middle East; from the ferocious debates over conscription to the disillusioning Paris peace conference and the devastating Spanish flu the soldiers brought home. We witness the fear and courage of tens of thousands of soldiers, grapple with the strategic nightmares confronting the commanders, and come to understand the impact on Australians at home and at the front of death on an unprecedented scale. A century after the Great War, this book brings lucid insight into the dramatic events, mass grief and political turmoil that makes the memory of this terrible war central to Australia's history.world war 1914-1918- australia - history, world war 1914-1918 - social conditions

ill, maps, p.166.non-fictionOn 28 June 1915, young James Martin sailed from Melbourne aboard the troopship Berrima - bound, ultimately, for Gallipoli. He was just fourteen years old. "Soldier Boy" is Jim's extraordinary true story, the story of a young and enthusiastic school boy who became Australia's youngest known Anzac. Four months after leaving his home country he would be numbered among the dead, just one of so many soldier boys who travelled halfway around the world for the chance of adventure. This is, however, just as much the story of Jim's mother, Amelia Martin. It is the heartbreaking tale of the mother who had to let him go, of his family who lost a son, a brother, an uncle, a friend. It is about Amelia's boy who, like so many others, just wanted to be in on the action.world war 1914-1918 - campaigns - gallipoli, gallipoli campaign - child soldiers - biography

p.228.non-fictionAs deputy director of the Australian War Memorial for many years, Michael McKernan had heard and written about many stories of war. For him, war was never about the big picture; it always came down to the individual. Yet little did he know when he met his future wife in 1989 that her father would soon be telling him, over many leisurely afternoons, his own story, of being made a slave to the Nazis in the Second World War, and its unforeseeable consequences.war and families - australia, ukranians - australia - biography

Ill, p.192.non-fictionA Vietnam Soldier K.I.A. and His True Love... is the unique true story of a Vietnam soldier who was killed in action on his first wedding anniversary. Based on the life of Pte C W Roost, the book tackles the horrors of war and in particular the loss of a loved one in the duty of service to his country. An exceptional love story written from a woman's perspective, this book puts a human face to the controversial war in Vietnam. At just 20 years of age Chris, like so many Australian young men, was conscripted into the army as a National Serviceman. After marrying his childhood sweetheart, Mary, Chris was posted to Vietnam in June 1968. This book follows Chris' adventures through training, marriage and war. It shares his thoughts through his precious letters to his family, and tells the incredible story of the impact of war on our young Aussies. Chris was killed in action on December 23rd 1968 - his first wedding anniversary. He lives on in this book. Collapse summary vietnam war 1961-1975 – personal recollections – australia, soldiers - australia - biography

Index, ill, p.208.non-fictionRationing - Red Cross - Women's role in wartime - Japanese midget submarines - Clothes rationing - Coalminers' strike - Censorship - Ration books.australia 1939-1945 - social conditions, world war 1939-1945 - social aspects

Index, notes, ill, maps, p.258.non-fictionThis book contains the story of Australia's most successful scheme for settling returned soldiers on their own farms. The book includes the recollections of many of the 6000 families who gained a livelihood on farms across the state.soldier settlements - victoria - history, land settlement - victoria - history

Index, bib, ill, notes, p.288.non-fictionBefore the First World War most Australians shared the emotions and traditions of the British Empire. Proud of their British heritage, anxious to raise the Imperial status of Australia, they were eager to fight and, if need be, to die in defence of their race and country. But the horror and tragedy of the conflict brought fundamental changes in outlook. Many of the pre-war enthusiasms persisted, but the days of unquestioning allegiance to Empire were beginning to come to an end, to be replaced by the bittersweet tradition of Anzac. Dr Gammage shows how and why these changes took place. Using the diaries and letters of one thousand front-line soldiers of the First Australian Imperial Force, most of them now part of a unique collection housed in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, he reconstructs the motives and expectations with which these men volunteered and the experiences they encountered. He highlights and examines the new attitudes to war and to the homeland that developed and foreshadows the important effects in Australia of the changed outlook brought home by the survivors. Those who have returned from war will recognise immediately the raw realities faced by the 'diggers', the growing disillusionment, and the hopes for the future. Those with fathers, husbands, or brothers who served, and all those concerned with what happens to men at war, cannot fail to be moved by the simple dignity of the men{u2019}s accounts, or by the understated courage with which they wrote to their families of the miseries they endured. This book, written with sensitivity and scholarly care, must be read if we are to understand war and its impact on the ethos of a nation. world war 1914-1918 - personal correspondence, world war 1914-1918 - social conditions

Ill, p.88.The involvement of Victorian and New South Wales Aboriginal people in war; World War One; World War Two; Korea; Vietnam; James Lovett; Hannah Lovett; Reg Rawlings; Henry Thorpe; John Firebrace; Dan Cooper; Jackson Stewart; Reg Saunders; Harry Saunders; George Birkett; Bill Egan; Jack Kennedy; Linda (Lester) Nihill; Marge Tucker; Alice Lovett; Connie Alberts; Stewart Murray; Norman Herbert Franklin; Bill Edwards; Lester Marks Harradine; Clarke family; Merv Bundle; Leo Maxwell Muir; Glen James; Graham Atkinson; Pat Owen; Cummeragunga; Lake Tyers; Framlingham; list of Aboriginal servicemen and women; different treatment of Aboriginal people during the war and after; introduction by Terry Garwood annotated separately.australia - military forces - aboriginal members, australia - aboriginals - personal histories - military

Newspaper supplement titled Bendigo's Century Volume Three: 1920 - 1929. Front page has a photo of The Duke and Duchess of York visit to Bendigo, 1927. Each year has heading of Who's Who, Weather, Sport and Business. First years are 1910 - 1919 titled The way we were. 1920 is titled Prince hailed. 1921 - City racks up a milestone. 1922 - Furore erupts. 1923 - Felons escape from city gaol. 1924 - Bid to finish RSL memorial. 1925 - Foul odour over sewerage plan. 1926 - Lest we forget Bendigo's fallen. 1927 - Royal Visit captures city. 1928 - Four shot in farm tragedy. 1929 - Billie's trip to remember.bendigo, history, long gully history group, the long gully history group - bendigo's century - volume three: 1920 - 1929, bendigo advertiser, duke and duchess of york, cr e m vains, r putnam, a j taylor, j h jackson, w crowley, sandhurst football club, george lansell, st peter's church, bendigo junior technical school, prince of wales, unity mine, mr w wilson, badak tin mining syndicate, mr t w ortonmr h scarborough, mr raleigh, general sir w r birdwood, the soldiers' memorial committee, bendigo city council, rsl memorial hall, captain g c wilson, lietenant r j parer, lieutenant j c mcintosh, cr j p carolin, h k morris, e a morris, turf tavern hotel, rev donald baker, all saints' pro--cathedral, keck's nursery, bendigo amalgamated goldfields, rising sun hotel, leanne mcdonnell, most rev john mccarthy, sir john quick, prime minister billy hughes, state rivers and water supply commission, diptheria, edna stevens, bendigo railway workshops, watson sustenance fund, sir joseph cook, dr lanza, bendigo amalgamated goldfields, bendigo benevolent asylum, miner's phthisis, bendigo gas company, electric light company, bendigo sewerage authority, commonwealth bank, cr curnow, the earl of stradbroke, dame nellie melba, princess theatre, lt-col g hurry, h sw lawson, countess of stradbroke, clunes woollen mills, girton college, mrs polglaise, mrs kennedy, gold discovery memorial, cr m g giudice, victorian co-operative freezing company, bendigo brick and tile company, mr lawson, soldiers' memorial, windermere hotel, toni riley pharmacy, bendigo gaol, mr a a dunstan mla, new red white and blue mine, claude de vere, walter osborne, sir john and lady quick, jonathan smalley, bendigo advertiser, st paul's bells, mr t cambridge, epsom public hall, bendigo school of mines, major lansell, mr h s w lawson, cr david andrew, colonel hurry, mr s bruce, bendigo sewerage authority, eppalock weir scheme, bendigo football league, r s l memorial, major g v lansell, lempriere, mr s m bruce, sandhurst hotel, market square, big hill tunnel, bendigo football league, bendigo united cricket club, south bendigo rex, sacred heart cathedral, hercules mine, gillies, aids & appliance shop, anne caudle centre, fizelle & mulqueen, south new moon mine, bendigo sewerage authority, mr a a kelley, epsom sewerage works, white hills botanical gardens, mr j sternberg mlc, bendigo book of remembrance, bendigo football league, senator general drake-brockman, captain dyett, school of mines, handschin and romus, hanro (aust.) bendigo knitting mills, charles handschin, farmers' union, andrew sunstan mla, country progressive party, john allan, captain g j c dyett, eahlehawk ufs dispensary, data fundamentals, the duke and duchess of york, the hercules mine, cr j a michelsen, lansell family, bendigo agricultural society, huntly shire council, bendigo creek trust, south african war memorial, cr j h curnow, st paul's church of england diamond jubilee, bendigo chamber of commerce, bendigo freezing works, bendigo pottery, bendigo trotting club, new red white and blue mine, the conservatory, cr e g batchelder, hercules mine, billie rigby, bendigo railway station, travellers' aid society, eppalock weir, the state rivers and water supply commission, bendigo railway workshops, frank grove, cr curnow, electric supply company, state electricity commission, australian aero club, bendigo preserving company, jardine, busbridge, feeman, mr h pearce, bfl, fred wood

Newspaper supplement titled Bendigo's Century Volume Five: 1940 - 1949. Each year has heading of Who's Who, Weather, Sport and Business. Front page is titled Bendigo's Century and has a photo of a group of soldiers in uniform and with rifles. They were district servicemen on leave in 1944. Each year has heading of Who's Who, Weather, Sport and Business. First years are 1940 - 1949 titled Bendigo as it was. It has two photos of women wading through the 1949 Pall Mall flood waters and one of Miners in the crib room of the Central Deborah Mine. They are Jackie Lewis, Bob Johnson, W Landy, Ryga Yates and Les Johnson. 1940 - Army moves in to racecourse, 1941 - Devastating fire at pottery, 1942 - Forces expand, 1943 - Nation's eyes on Bendigo, 1944 - News dawns of D-day landing, 1945 - City cheers the end of the war, 1946 - Celebrations begin in city, 1947 - Gallery gets top paintings, 1948 - Water plan looks good and 1949 - Flood takes a toll on city.bendigo, history, long gully history group, the long gully history group - bendigo's century - volume five: 1940 - 1949, bendigo advertiser, central deborah mine, jackie lewis, bob johnson, w landy, ryga yates, les johnson, central nell gwynne, department of defence, bendigo jockey club, 8th division, robert menzies, deborah mine, bendigo decentralisation vigilance committee, cr w h taylor, bendigo war funds organisation, the easter fair society, bendigo agricultural show committee, mr e g ham, mr j v fairbairn, cr a staples, the bendigo chamber of commerce, richard hartley smith abbott, captain harley abbott, bendigo art gallery, bill woodfull, bendigo high school, north deborah mine, boardwalk, toni riley pharmacy, windermere hotel, cr g a pethard, coliban system, north deborah mine, bendigo pottery, bendigo trades hall council, private lawrence burstall, major-general g j rankin mhr, andrew dunstan, ordnance factory, royal australian navy, hmas bendigo, sec offices, muioof, ymca, georger addlem, fred addlem, cr a j anderson, pauline buvhan thompson, leslie thompson, edward joseph leonski, bendigo football league, mr j dedman, william stephens, forest street methodist church, pte charles phillips, pte w e durward, pte t foley, william john stephens, central nell gwynne, air chief marshall sir arthur tedder, cr taylor, united nations, flying officer, r bruce tuff, flight lieutenant owens, royal air force, commonwealth war workers housing trust scheme, mr s mckinnon, bendigo decentralised vigilance committee, ravenswood estate, john lienhop mlc, margaret (peggy) brennan, strathfieldsaye shire council, school of mines, bendigo base hospital, william george ashman, ashman's tailors, bendigo jockey club, victorian football association, bendigo east swimming pool, deborah anticline, specimen hill methodist church, north deborah, adolf hitler, benito mussolini, australian 7th division, cr galvin, bendigo war funds organisation, hmas bendigo, lt-commander jackson, bendigo football league, central deborah mine, victoria day, cr truscott, bendigo gaol, lansellstowe, awas barracks, bendigo citizens committee, john cain snr, ordnance factory, bendigo agricultural society, the duke of gloucester, duchess of gloucester, bendigo tennis association, north deborah, gillies famous pies, aids & appliance shop, mrs georgina scott, dr j a neptune scott, alfred sisley, corot, daubigney, louis sonnenberg, gas employees' union, john lienhop, soldier settlement commission, burnewang estate, king george vi, princess elizabeth, lt philip mountbatten, mr e j w herbert, ansett airways, reg ansett, most rev, dr john mccarthy, dr bernard stewart, michael giudice, bendigo united breweries, bendigo lyric photo plays, bendigo sun newspaper, shamrock hotel, west bendigo progress association, alan mcdonald, south bendigo football club, albert collier, j t webbo, mervyn tresize, state rivers and water supply commission, eppalock reservoir, public works committee, bendigo rotary club, john edgar, bendigo base hospital, albert dunstan, benevolent home, magetti's wine hall, wallace reef wine hall, magetti family, albert magetti, lance galvin, bradford cotton spinnings (victoria) pty otd, arthur syer, stanley crossman, albert arthur dunstan, rev dr henry backhaus, city family hotel, lyric theatre, bank of australasia, city club hotelcolonial mutual building, r matchett & co, lansellstowe, leonard lansell, bendigo bas hospital, australian women's army service, mr hollway, kenworth (aust) ltd, foggitt jones's bacon factory, gordon sayers, sandhurst trustees, dr john drowley, alexander hislop, royal mint, north deborah mine, ironbark south mining company, central nell gwynne company, new chum syncline

Document. Articles re Cornish in military (WW1): a. Copy taken from Bendigo Advertiser (no date) re Carne family with three sons at the front - Sergeant P R (Percy) Carne, Lance-Corporal W (William) Carne and Private F (Frank) Carne. Head and shoulders portraits of all three in uniform - very poor quality reproduction quality. Some detail re their postings and family.; Also attached is head and shoulders portrait of Private Albert Dunstan ''Military Medal Won'' inscription (no further details).; b. Copy of page (from book??) re Private Alfred E Hocking (prior to service was teaching t School No 877, Violet Street; Staff-Sergeant N S Trevena. Invalided to Australia on the transport 'Osterley' 24 Feb 1919. Prior to enlisting he was teaching at School No 3334, Bulga Tank. Service details re both men and head and shoulders portraits in uniform.military, world war 1, bendigo soldiers, p. r. carne. w. carne. f. carne. albert dunstan. alfred e. hocking. n. s. trevena

This image was bought in an Op shop in Melbourne around 1980. It had no other identification other than the name of the photographic studio. The image has a collar badge and sergeants stripes added at a later stage. This possibly suggests the photo was taken at the time of enlistment, and the soldier died, leaving the family to make additions to the photograph.Black and White digital photograph by Thornton Studios Ballarat of a young, curly haired man in the uniform of the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF). The rising sun badge and the sergeant's strips on his sleeve have been included after the photograph was taken. The soldier is Robert John McHenry, who was killed in action on on 28 July 1916. soldier, world war one, aif, thornton studios, world war, robert mchenry, bob mchenry, world war 1, mmm

Ill, p.151non-fictionPeter Firkins has produced a heroic figure comparable in courage and selflessness to that of the legendary 'Weary' Dunlop, and whose story should be known by all Australians in the same way. What a wonderful epitaph to a man born into a humble Yass family at the end of the nineteenth century who, by his own determination and intellect, won a scholarship for his secondary education at St Patrick's College, Goulburn and an Exhibition to study medicine at Sydney University. Almost by pure chance he pursued his medical career in an outpost of the British Empire then known as British North Borneo to become Principal Medical Officer at the time of the Japanese occupation during World War II. The Japanese allowed the civilian medical staff to remain at their posts with the status of 'simple confinement' while at the same time the bewildered local people looked to someone for leadership in their new and unaccustomed circumstances.Aided by his wonderful wife Celia he was imperceptibly drawn into the key role of organising the underground movement among loyal native and giving support to the Australian Prisoners of War transferred to Borneo from Singapore. In 1943 he was exposed to the Japanese, arrested and terribly tortured. Donated by Major General M.P.J. O'Brien, July 2018. Signed by authorworld war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese, world war 1939 – 1945 – personal narratives – australia

Index, bib, ill, p.239.non-fictionWhat is taboo in any family or in any society is never fixed. And neither is that body of family information which everybody knows but no one talks about. Mental illness is one such subject, and it created a kind of fence around one central element of Thomson's work in the 1980s - his grandfather Hector's story. He has had the courage to take that fence down and use a range of sources to enter the no man's land of suffering and isolation which was a part of his grandfather's life, and perforce, that of his grandmother and the young child who became his father. When the first edition was in preparation, Alistair Thomson's father objected strenuously to any mention in the book of his father's (Alistair's grandfather's) mental illness; reluctantly Alistair agreed to leave out the subject. We can understand why the author's father, himself a soldier, felt so strongly. .world war 1939 – 1945 – personal narratives – australia, world war 1914-1918 - biography

Index, bib, ill, maps, p.384.non-fictionThe true story of an epic voyage of destruction in World War One. July 1917: the First World War is about to enter its fourth horrendous year and ships are mysteriously disappearing off Australia and New Zealand, as a young Australian woman named Mary Cameron sails with her husband and daughter across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney. Less than a thousand miles from Sydney, a black-hulled freighter appears out of the vast blue emptiness, and Mary and her daughter rush to the deck to greet her. Suddenly, two hinged iron sections of the freighter's bulwarks drop down to reveal she is bristling with guns. She is in fact the German warship the Wolf, and the Cameron family are about to find themselves captive on one of the century's most extraordinary wartime sea voyages.naval warfare - germany, commerce raiders - germany