The beautiful and accomplished daughter of a wealthy squatter, Rania
MacPhillamy left Australia in 1915 to work in a Cario hospital treating the
wounded from Gallipoli. After the death of her soldier sweetheart she stayed on
in Egypt and together with an older woman, Alice Chisholm, she set up a series
of Canteens for the men of the Light Horse.
For the veterans of the arduous desert campaign in Egypt and Palestine, these
canteens provided a restful and civilised haven, their one contact with 'home'.
Many of the men fell in love with Rania, whom they came to know on their
journeys to and from the front line.
The discovery of hundreds of letters and photographs preserved by Rania's
family, and interviews with surviving family members, have enabled historian and
writer Jennifer Horsfield to bring this remarkable story to life.
Contents:
Acknowledgements
A Note of Military Terms
Abbreviations
Table of Equivalents
Introduction
1. Warroo
2. Schooldays and Beyond
3. Ronnie
4. The Home Front
5. Work and Loss
6. Kantara
7. Divided Loyalties
8. Jerusalem
9. Field Ambulance
10. Rafa
11. Homecoming
12. Marriage
13. Moree
14. Family
15. War's Legacy
16. The Depression Years
17. Lanark
Postscript
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
