Description
Title: Armidale and the Great War
Author: Johnstone, Ian M
Condition: Near Mint
Edition: 1st Edition
Publication Date: 2017
ISBN: 9781684186211
Cover: Soft Cover without Dust Jacket – 346 pages
Comments: The account of the men from Armidale who went to fight in the Great War 1914 – 1918.
The book itself is a community effort as well as being a product of the tireless efforts of an individual. The first half is devoted to a collection of biographies of about 90 local men and a dozen nurses who served in the war. These are of varying length and detail, many researched and written by Johnstone himself. In some cases, he has invited a descendant who has researched an Anzac ancestor to tell the story. This is a most effective method, avoiding duplication of effort, unearthing family memories and documents, and underlining what can only be achieved in a place where people know one another personally. Here, collective memory of the war’s legacy remains alive among older residents. It is easy to overlook this last point when you live in a much larger city, with its very different patterns of belonging, sociability and memory.
