Publisher's Synopsis
Three Australian brothers growing up on a New South Wales Central Coast farm enlist to fight for their country during World War II. They face three battlefronts in Singapore, New Guinea and Germany. Will they return home safely? With more than 100 colour photos and maps, this is a story about family, joy and despair. Based on more than 170 letters sent home to their family, this is their true and tragic story. The oldest of the three brothers Ron, 29, joins the 2/18th Australian Infantry Battalion and embarks on a ship for Malaya. Len, 26, is shipped with the 2/7th Australian Infantry Battalion to New Guinea, and is flown into Wau Airport. John, 19, joins the RAF 102 Squadron out of Pocklington in the UK where he flies 'sorties' and bombs German cities. Ron soon finds himself waist-deep in water in a trench on the northern-western tip of Singapore Island, staring across the water into the darkness. Ron is cut down by a spray of bullets and falls to the sand. In New Guinea, Len is hit by Japanese snipers hiding in the jungle. He is hit a number of times and his leg and arm are shattered by bullets. Incredibly, their brother John is flying a night operational mission when the aircraft is hit by bullets, and it explodes in the darkness. Back at home on the farm on a hill overlooking the Wyoming Valley, the family waits, desperately anxious and wanting to know if the three brothers will ever come home.
