HUTCHISON, Anne

ISBN 978-1-922722-10-2
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No Ordinary Life

No Ordinary Life tells the story of a young couple’s experience of World War II and its influence on their lives.

It’s a story of love and its resilience during extraordinarily difficult times, the time before, during and just after World War II. Their participation took them from war-torn Glasgow and the battlefields in France, North Africa and a small Greek Island in the Aegean, to life in a German POW Camp and a timber camp in the Highlands of Scotland.

When the war finally ended, they left Scotland as ‘Ten Pound Poms’ and established a new life in Australia, far away from memories that were best left behind. This book is as much about the times in which they lived as it is about them.

ISBN 978-1-922890-56-6
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Private CRL Smith

A digger’s story from the Western Front

“Just at dawn, he began to shell us. I thought the end had come, as four chaps that were in the same room as I was got killed. A shell landed in the street, only a few yards off.”

During World War I, the diggers were rarely safe, even when they were miles away from the front line.

This book provides a glimpse into a private’s experience on the frontline. It is  based on the war diary of Private Charles Robert Lumsden Smith but is set within the broader context of World War I: the events that led up to the outbreak of war, the battles in which Private Smith fought, and others that influenced him or the outcome of the war.

It is the story of one man, amongst the hundreds of thousands of young Australians, who fought in a war that changed the face of Europe and spawned the nationalism that set the foundations for the next world war.

About the Author

Anne is a retired science teacher who started her working life as a medical scientist. She followed a passion to become a teacher and taught Science in the western suburbs of Sydney before taking up a position at a large independent school in the city where she taught for thirty years.

Retirement brought time to write, first about her children and the remarkable journey they shared in The Gift of Adoption, and then about her parents’ experience of World War I, No Ordinary Life. Her latest book, Private CRL Smith, tells another family wartime story; this time about a young Aussie on the Western Front during World I. Anne states: “You won’t find his name amongst the heroes written about in the history books, but he was one of the many unsung heroes of a war too willing to sacrifice young lives.”

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COLES, David

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I

ISBN 978-1-922722-88-1
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Australian Military Aircraft

Australia began developing military aviation less than 10 years after the Wright Brothers made their first successful powered flight and just 3 years after the first Heavier-than-air military forces were created in the USA and France. With such a long history of military aviation, the three arms of the Australian military have operated a large number of aircraft types, firstly by the Army (1914), then by the Royal Australian Navy (1915) and then by the RAAF, an entity that was established in 1921 expressly for the purpose of operating in the ‘third dimension’.

 

This book has been written as a guide to the large and varied collection of aircraft types that have been operated by, and for, all three services. Some of these aircraft, such as the Supermarine Spitfire, will be very well known to most of the public, but throughout the more than 106 years of Australian military aviation there have been a large number of types that will not be familiar. With descriptions for over 300 aircraft types, illustrated by over 350 photos, the reader will gain an appreciation of the aircraft that have served Australia from the first flight of the Bristol Boxkite in March 1914 through to the latest projects being undertaken by the Australian Defence Forces.

Features:  
  1. Limited Edition of 1,000 copies
  2. Beautifully curated, written, designed and printed
  3. Quality softcover, perfect bound, 203mm (wide) x 270mm (height) x 25mm (thickness), gloss pages, printed ends, bound in sections
  4. Size 420mm x 420 mm (about 1/2 meter square!)
  5. 400 pages
  6. More than 450 rare historical and contemporary photographs
  7. Foreword by Phil Edwards AM.
  8. Expertly researched and written

A remarkable amount of information in amazing detail…

About the Author

With a lifetime interest in both aviation and history, Warrant Officer David Coles is a 37-year veteran of the Royal Australian Air Force and continues to serve as a reservist with the RAAF. Trained as an aircraft avionics technician, the author has worked on Lockheed P-3 Orion Maritime Patrol aircraft and the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 (Classic) Hornet as well as being trained as an accident investigator. He also spent three years as an instructor, teaching Air Power Doctrine and history at the RAAF Air Power Development Centre.

 
 

WHEELER, Correna

ISBN 978-1-922803-95-5
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Moving to a New School

Created for Defence Families and Children

Hello and Welcome to Your New School!

Are you a Defence student moving or posting to a new city, and do you get worried and upset because you don’t know what your new school will be like?

This book is a great navigational tool and has been creatively designed to support the Defence family and child through the New School experience.

BARNES, Robert

ISBN 978-1-922803-94-8
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Australia’s Forgotten Soldiers from Paraguay

Last century ago a large number of people left Australia with the idea of the founding a New Australia – a communistic paradise – in the middle of Paraguay, in South America (states The Diggers’ Gazette). The attempt was a disastrous failure, but it is interesting to learn that the half-dozen families still left of the original settlers at Colonia Cosme sent 14 volunteers to the war practically – every fit man. One was 56 years old, and others were so young when they left Australia that they could not remember it at all. And they had to travel a thousand miles, presumably at their own expense, to reach the coast at Buenos Aires. Probably this fine result was due to a survival of the influence of William Lane, the founder of the colony, who was always strongly British in sentiment, lost a son in the war, and was largely instrumental, as editor of a daily newspaper in New Zealand, in getting compulsory service adopted there.

“This book brings light to the life stories of Australian heroes who, after calling Paraguay their new home, responded to the call of duty during the First World War.”
– Armando Fernández Galté, Head of Mission, Embassy of Paraguay, Canberra

About the Author

Robert A. Barnes first travelled to Paraguay as an exchange student in 1982.

A visit to Nueva Australia and a chance meeting with one of the few remaining colonists sparked a lasting interest in William Lane’s New Australia experiment, and more specifically, the little-known stories of those New Australians who left Paraguay to fight for Britain in the Great War of 1914-1918.

After university and short career as a provincial newspaper journalist, Robert served in the Australian Regular Amy for 23 years.

This is Robert’s second book. He has previously written a historical romance novel, Asunción, set in Paraguay during the tumultuous period between 1922 to 1947.

Robert is married to Misook and they live with their kelpie Max in Cooma, New South Wales.

MCLEOD, Heidi

ISBN 978-1-922803-05-4
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Vale - farewell our author

HEIDI MCLEOD ~ 2026

 

Wilf

A dramatic, true story from 100 years ago that resonates today, showcasing Hope and Heart in times of Hardship, for readers of every age, time and place.

When young farmer, Wilf Fritsch and his mates leave Australia in 1914, to study in Germany, they have no idea of the catastrophe ahead. Their plans are thwarted when World War 1 erupts. Stranded, arrested and imprisoned, they wonder if they will survive the war and ever make it home again. In a treacherous and unpredictable world, friendships form in surprising places, while culture, hope and purpose survive in desolate environments. Their story reveals astonishing aspects of the times, overlooked by history. However, it is the development of the lads into men of character and integrity, and the beguiling array of people they meet, that will enchant all readers. Bound together in brotherly bonds, their remarkable journey of joy and sorrow, horror and humour, spans 6 years and 5 countries, illuminating the power of perseverance and faith.

About the Author

Heidi McLeod resides in Adelaide, South Australia with her husband. A teaching career of over 40 years, three daughters and a foster son, a large extended family, many friends, and her grandchildren have nurtured her fascination in the human journey. In her first book, Heidi traces a portion of her grandfather’s life in the style of a novel. Sourced from diaries, letters, journals, and other primary sources, as well as stories heard first-hand, Heidi provides a compelling, heart-warming narrative. Skilfully crafted with original material, song lyrics of the times and an engaging style, Heidi’s recounting of her grandfather’s experiences is a tribute to all civilians who endured the non-military story of WW1.

 
 

GILBERT, Laurie

ISBN 978-1-922629-82-1
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A Tattered Weed

A Tattered weed explores the psychological impact of war on young minds and the need to establish an identity when everything seems unreal.

Reese was a young man with the world at his feet when he was drafted to fight in Vietnam, a conflict that was so controversial he was not fully convinced it was a just battle. He and best friend, Chris did their tour of duty, with Reese being injured and spending months in hospital after being shipped home. He suffers from nightmares and flashbacks but is working towards resuming his normal life when everything is changed in an instant. He takes his Harley out with dire results that will change his life, and his outlook, forever.

He struggles to accept that anyone would want to be close to him and rejects the person he loves most, Brooke, because he sees himself as unlovable.

He finds solace in his guitar and in his writing but life has a way of throwing him into situations with which he is too broken to be able to successfully deal. He forms a band with Chris and finds a small amount of success but life takes another turn when he meets, and later marries, the frigid Alicia. Th e consequences of this union provide yet another watershed in his life.