The last battle : soldier settlement in Australia, 1916-1939 /
When Australian soldiers returned from World War I they were offered the chance to settle on 'land fit for heroes.' Promotional material painted a picture of prosperous farms and contented families, appealing to returned service people and their families hoping for a fresh start. Yet twent...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Port Melbourne, Victoria :
Cambridge University Press,
2016.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | When Australian soldiers returned from World War I they were offered the chance to settle on 'land fit for heroes.' Promotional material painted a picture of prosperous farms and contented families, appealing to returned service people and their families hoping for a fresh start. Yet twenty years after the inception of these soldier settlement schemes, fewer than half of the settlers remained on their properties. Bruce Scates and Melanie Oppenheimer map out a deeply personal history of the soldiers' struggle to transition from ANZAC to farmer and provider. At its foundation lie thousands of individual life stories shaped by imperfect repatriation policies. This book examines the environmental challenges, the difficulties presented by the physical and psychological damage many soldiers had sustained during the war, and the vital roles of women and children. |
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| Physical Description: | xii, 298 pages, [8] pages of color plates : illustrations ; 25 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781107125063 1107125065 |