I spent every spare moment with my nose glued to the pages. Digger's character is very strong indeed, and his sense of humour which undoubtedly helped him through horrendous times also assists in alleviating the reader's distress. However much one has read or heard about the horrors of the Japanese camps over many years, to read about them again is still gut-wrenching!
Very moving to me is Chapter 19 about the health of Ex—POWs. David's self analysis is a brilliant piece of writing. What a pity that it was not available years ago to all those families closely associated with ex prisoners who in attempting to adjust to their normal lives tried to lock down their memories and refused to discuss them openly, or who, worse still, tried to discuss the horrors of these years and who were told to forget them and get on with things! I fear this happened a lot, as it did more recently when the troops came home from Vietnam.
Okay, will wipe away my tears, put Digger's Story aside and have a strong cup of coffee. Congratulations to you both for a very fine book that deserves to do well and should be read by all the younger generation, who don't really know how lucky they are.
Barbara L'Herpiniere
Perth, WA