Media: BOOK - paperback, 348 pages
Author: D. Longo
Year: 2019
ISBN: 9781743056103
Other: b&w photos, appendixes, index
Publisher: Wakefield Press

A characteristic of the Great War was the vast correspondence between the battlefront and communities in Australia.

'Pens and Bayonets' gives voice to the young Australia soldiers who volunteered to fight for our freedom in the Great War. They answered the call willingly, with many thinking it may be all over before they got there. How wrong they were. South Australia, and Yorke Peninsula in particular, were proud to provide soldiers for their country.

The letters were written during quiet periods and give us an insight and sometimes graphic account of the day-to-day encounters during the Gallipoli campaign and various offensives on the Western Front and Palestine. Poignant and humorous, descriptive and reflective the letters provide a raw and unmediated access to soldiers'experiences of the war and a valuable insight into their thoughts and feelings.

Contents:
Foreword
Map
Preface
Timeline of the Irish in South Australia Before Federation
G.S. Kingston and other pioneer Irish in South Australia
Irish settlement in the Mount Barker region, 1836-1891
Fortune ans misfortune: Early Irish colonists in the Clare Valley
The unexpected Irishmen: How David Power and Anthony Sutton established an Irish colonial presence in the South East of South Australia
Kapunda's Irish connections
Irish graves in Mid North South Australia 1850-1899: An examination of cultural significance
'The most thoroughly Irish centre in South Australia: Pekina from the 1870s to the 1940s'
Irish women in early South Australia
The 'wrong king of immigrant': How exciting prejudice on class, gender and ethically affected the reception of female Irish Famine orphans in South Australia under the Earl Grey Scheme
Irish lawyers and judges in South Australia 1836-1914
South Australia's Irish colonial surgeons: The first 30 years 1836-1866
St Patrick's Day in South Australia 1836-1945
Varieties of Irish nationalism in South Australia 1839-1850
Ireland, Home Rule and the Orange Order in South Australia
Cultural capital and Irish place names
Notes
Author biographies
Acknowledgements
Index

Reviews:
'Until very recently, the impact of the Irish in South Australia has been underestimated and under-researched. This sparkling collection of essays at last does justice to the Irish in South Australia, and will appeal to all who seek to understand more of the state's unfolding history.' - Emeritus Professor Philip Payton

'Ranging across a broad field of interests from history to archaeology, these detailed vignettes are as rich and diverse as the Irish who populate them.' - Associate Professor Heather Burke

'There is something in this book for everybody; the scholar, the family historian, no less the casual browser. The editors must be congratulated on their initiative.' - Dr Brad Patterson