A Memoir of the War Against Japan 1943-45
An emotional and harrowing account of a very young man in the war against Japan as waged by the 9th Australian Division in New Guinea and Borneo.
John Holmes entered the war a theological student, but after it he studied science and eventually became Professor of Earth Sciences at the Flinders University of South Australia. 'Smiles of Fortune' follows his enlistment, training and service in Egypt and then to his tour of duty in the jungles of New Guinea and Borneo. Starting out as a stretcher-bearer, he later became an infantryman but throughout his focus is largely on the wounded.
An incredibly moving book that gives insights into the experience of soldiering and of combat.
