Physical description

Hardcover book with dust jacket. The cover has a cream panel across the top with the title in brown print. Below this is a grey panel with the subtitle. Below that is a large brown panel displaying a black and white photo of Olive King, on either side of the photo are three smaller images of various medals (six in total). There is a thin grey panel across the bottom with the editor's name. There is a torn white sticker label around the base of the spine.

Publication type

non-fiction

Inscriptions & markings

'PROPERTY OF VICTORIAN BRANCH R.S.L.' [stamped in red ink on multiple pages]
'VICTORIAN BRANCH / LIBRARY / ANZAC HOUSE' [stamped in red ink on the second page]

Summary

Olive King was born in Sydney in 1885. She offered her services as an ambulance driver soon after war broke out in 1914. She joined a small private organisation early in 1915 and went to Belgium. In May 1915 she joined the Scottish Women's Hospitals and her letters, until now unpublished, date from that time. She joined the Serbian Army in 1916 and subsequently rose to the rank of sergeant. Driving on hazardous roads to the Front and to the Adriatic coast, she was often in danger. She was awarded a Serbian silver medal for bravery, and later a gold medal. Her letters not only give a picture of daily life under wartime conditions and in the immediate post-war years. They also show how a woman of the time regarded herself and her place in society. [taken from Trove]