Physical description

This is a small tan coloured paperback copy of When the Diggers touched at Durban 1915 - 1920 with the title at the top, Reprints by E.C. (Ethel Campbell) with the place of below. There are double black lines around the edges of the front cover. The contents are poems and songs, with Durban and the date written listed at the bottom of each page. The back cover has the printer monogram in black. Pp.24.

Publication type

non-fiction

Inscriptions & markings

On the front cover, handwritten in faded black ink: 'Cheerio! & best wishes to the last-war Diggers of Wandin Branch R.S.L. ..................from The Writer E.C.' The 'C' is circled by hand. Inside on the title page handwritten in blue ink: ' For Auld Syne from Ethel Campbell (underlined name) 1942.' Underneath Australia at war is handwritten in blue ink: ' 1925 - 1920'

Summary

Written and compiled by Ethel Campbell, the book features a collection of her own patriotic poems and songs written specifically for and about the different Australian battalions that passed through her city of Durban in Natal South Africa. The book became a prized souvenir for returning soldiers, and the Australian War Memorial still preserves copies signed by Campbell herself. She famously was known to ANZAC troops as the "Angel of Durban" for her work welcoming troopships with her semaphore flags. This copy was signed by Ethel in 1942.