It is 1914 and war has broken out in Europe and because of its ties to England, Australia is mobilising. On one of the ships leaving port is Sister Alice Ross-King who is not going for the adventure like so many of the men, but because her passion was nursing and her country needed her.
She thought she was ready but as the entry in her diary for April 29th, 2015, just four days after the Gallipoli debacle, shows, they were not... "I shall never forget the shock when we saw the men arrive covered in blood, most of them with half their uniform shot or torn away. They kept coming, seven at a time. Soon all our beds were full and new ones were being brought in and put in every available corner..."
Written by Alice's great-granddaughter and taken from the actual diaries of Australia's most decorated woman, this remarkable book, a seamless weaving of text, diary entries and illustrations, offers an extraordinary insight into life during World War I for those at the front line. It begins as a love story but when her fiancé is killed, Alice has to find a way to carry on despite her grief, to put her duty before her personal loss and feelings.
As we are unable to commemorate Alice and all our other men and women in familiar ANZAC Day activities this year, sharing this story and others like it, is one way we can take ourselves back in time to remember just how it was we have arrived at where we are, and perhaps put any current hardships into perspective. Perhaps older students could research the stories of one of their family members, trace their family tree and write the diary that that person might have written as their contribution to honouring those who have gone before in the absence of traditional tributes.
32 pages 9781760637019 Ages 8-12
Keywords: history, World War I, Australian history, diary, ANZAC Day, family, nurse, heroes, 8 year old, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old, Social Studies Curriculum
Recommended by: Barbara Braxton, Teacher Librarian, New South Wales AUSTRALIA
