Desert Boys

Peter Rees

Australians at war from Beersheba to Tobruk and El Alamein.

Australians fought in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East in both the First and Second World Wars. This is the very human story of those soldiers, sailors and airmen and their involvement in some of the toughest campaigns of modern times, and their life away from the battlefield. About 1300 Australians died in the desert campaigns of the First World War, while another 3500 died in North Africa and the Middle East during the Second World War. 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. 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.

Hard cover, photographs, 712 pages.