Author(s): Peter Rees

History

About 1,300 Australians died in the desert campaigns of World War I, while another 3,500 died in North Africa and the Middle East during World War II. 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. This is the story of Australia's desert wars as never before told. Using letters, diaries, interviews, and unpublished memoirs, "Desert Boys" provides an intensely personal and gripping insight into the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of two generations of Australian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. "Desert Boys" is a powerful and absorbing story of bravery and hope, of endurance and determination, of mateship and adversity a very long way from home.