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H. M. Bark Endeavour
Ray Parkin, sailor, artist and author, set out in the 1970s to discover everything he could about Captain James Cook's Endeavour, one of the most famous ships in maritime history. The result is the most painstaking study of the ship ever undertaken and a unique account of a great journey- Endeavour's voyage up the east coast of Australia in 1770. Writing for general reader and mariner alike, Parkin sets out to re-create the experience of being on board the Endeavour. Through meticulous research he reveals how it looked, how it sailed, how it smelled and what daily life would have been like for those on board. No aspect of ship life was too insignificant for his enquiries. How many strands of...
Wartime Trilogy
Ray Parkin's classic trilogy of wartime experience hums with action, adventure and courage. Honest and plainly written, these books are full of humanity and wisdom. Parkin's own evocative drawings and sketches illustrate the work. Out of the Smoke tells the story of the HMAS Perth, her sinking by the Japanese, and the small party of survivors who try to sail a derelict lifeboat to safety, only to land in enemy hands. Into the Smother is the diary of Parkin's time as a POW on the Burma-Siam railway. Writing in secret - risking execution - he documents with remarkable restraint the sufferings he and his comrades endure at the mercy of the jungle and the Imperial Japanese Army. In The Sword and the Blossom the POWs are shipped to Japan in a crowded tramp steamer and put to work in a coal mine until the atomic bombs finally bring them freedom
Ray Parkin's Odyssey
In 1939, Ray Parkin was serving on the Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth. At first glance he looked every inch the archetypal petty officer that he was – tough, practical and a model of naval discipline. Yet Ray was no ordinary sailor. Despite a lack of formal education, he had the soul of an artist and a philosopher's enquiring mind.As HMAS Perth was embroiled in war – in the Mediterranean and then in South-East Asia – Ray became both a witness and a chronicler of the conflict through his meticulous diaries and his minutely observed watercolours and sketches. When Perth was sunk off the coast of Java, Ray was one of the survivors. After a valiant attempt to sail back to Australia in...
On A Pow's Survival
At risk of death, prisoner of war Ray Parkin secretly kept a journal of the months in 1943-44 he spent working on the Thai-Burma Railway. His account, first published as Into the Smother, received international acclaim for its restrained but realistic depiction of POWs living, working and dying in a Japanese camp deep in the Thai jungle. It was hailed by the legendary literary critic Max Harris as 'probably the finest POW writing in English'.
The Rock Rabbit and the Rainbow
Sir Laurens van der Post, author, film-maker, storyteller of world-wide renown, soldier, prisoner of war, political advisor to heads of state, humanitarian, explorer, conservationist... the list goes on and on. His extraordinary curiosity, his love for the small and the great, and his tremendous feeling and concern for his surroundings and all that they included, set him travelling the lands and the waters of the world, a messenger in search of meaning. He touched and inspired many along the way, some of whom are to be found in the pages of this book. A true man of his time, Sir Laurens was born in 1906 in the interior of South Africa, served in the British forces during World War II, including three-and-a-half years in Japanese captivity, and lived and worked since that time in London, where he died just after celebrating his 90th birthday in December, 1996. 'The Rock Rabbit and The Rainbow' was originally conceived as a Festschrift, or gift collection of writings, for Sir Laurens by several of his friends and then evolved into its present form, which includes numerous original contributions by Sir Laurens himself.
Eyewitness
In Eyewitness, Garrie Hutchinson has selected the cream of writing from Australia's wars. Many of our finest writer-reporters are featured – C.E.W. Bean, Alan Moorehead, Paul McGeough, Kenneth Slessor, Ray Parkin, Osmar White, John Martinkus, Peter Ryan and more. The settings range from the beach at Anzac Cove in 1914 to the Kokoda Track, from desert dugouts to a hotel in Baghdad. Eyewitness shows how Australian war correspondents, official and unofficial, have written with courage and conviction, under pressure of censorship and physical and technical hardship. This is writing of great immediacy, passion and truthfulness, with each selection accompanied by a brief scene-setting narrative ...
The Men of the Line
"The extraordinary engineering feat of the Thai-Burma Railway, or the Line as it is often called, was built with a slave labour force. A mixture of Australian, Asian, British, Dutch and American men built 688 bridges-eight made of steel and concrete-viaducts, cuttings, embankments and kilometres and kilometres of railway track through thick malarial jungle. The men of the Line died of starvation, torture and disease at the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army-here are their stories."--Provided by publisher.
Ray Parkin's Odyssey
In 1939, Ray Parkin was serving on the Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth. At first glance he looked every inch the archetypal petty officer that he was - tough, practical and a model of naval discipline. Yet Ray was no ordinary sailor. Despite a lack of formal education, he had the soul of an artist and a philosopher's enquiring mind. As HMAS Perth was embroiled in war - in the Mediterranean and then in South - East Asia - Ray became both a witness and a chronicler of the conflict through his meticulous diaries and his minutely observed watercolours and sketches. When Perth was sunk off the coast of Java, Ray was one of the survivors. After a valiant attempt to sail back to Australia in a ...
Doctor Who: The Eyeless
At the heart of the ruined city of Arcopolis is the Fortress. It's a brutal structure placed here by one of the sides in a devastating intergalactic war that's long ended. Fifteen years ago, the entire population of the planet was killed in an instant by the weapon housed deep in the heart of the Fortress. Now only the ghosts remain. The Doctor arrives, and determines to fight his way past the Fortress's automatic defences and put the weapon beyond use. But he soon discovers he's not the only person in Arcopolis. What is the true nature of the weapon? Is the planet really haunted? Who are the Eyeless? And what will happen if they get to the weapon before the Doctor? The Doctor has a fight on his hands. And this time he's all on his own. Featuring the Tenth Doctor as played by David Tennant in the hit sci-fi series from BBC Television
Hellships Down
On 12 September 1944, a wolfpack of U.S. submarines attacked the Japanese convoy HI-72 in the South China Sea. Among the ships sunk were two carrying Allied prisoners of war. Men who had already endured the trials of Japanese captivity faced a renewed struggle for survival at sea. This book tells the broader story of the HI-72 convoy through the stories of two survivors: Arthur Bancroft, who was rescued by an American submarine, and Charles "Rowley" Richards, who was rescued by the Japanese. The story of these men represents the thousands of Allied POWs who suffered not only the atrocious conditions of these Japanese hellships, but also the terror of friendly fire from their own side's submarines. For the first time, the personal, political and legal aftermath of these men's experiences is fully detailed. At its heart, this is a story of survival. Charting the survivors' fates from rescue to their attempts at retribution, this book reveals the trauma that continued long after the war was over.
