The Ode
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
From the poem "Ode to the Fallen" by Laurence Binyon, 1914.
Welcome to The 9th Divvy!
This blog is about the Australian 9th Division of the Second World War.
It is a place that I post things that I want to share while I research the Division.
The Digger in the above photo is my Grandfather, NX17811 Cpl. L.J. McCarthy of the Australian 2/17th Infantry Battalion. He is the reason why I do this.
As I learn so shall you.
image "Nx17811 On Leave, Cairo, January 1943" from author's personal collection.
The Grave of NX15705 Cpl. John Hurst Edmondson V.C.
Tobruk, Libya, 1941.
A mate watches over the grave of Cpl. J.H. "Jack" Edmondson V.C.
Jack Edmondson's Victoria Cross was the first awarded to Australian Forces in WW2. It was, however, not the last won by Australians.
Read More about Jack Edmondson and other 9th Division V.C. winners in posts with the [Hero] tag.
image P00426.005 Australian War Memorial.
The Best Beer Ever
An unidentified Digger of the Australian 9th Division downs his first beer after an extended period in forward lines at El Alamein, Egypt, 1st Nov 1942.
image 042077 Australian War Memorial
The Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest award for bravery in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to a Commonwealth soldier. To date only 96 Australians have ever won a VC. Of these 20 were awarded in WW2.
Maj. Gen. Leslie Morshead
NX8 Major General Leslie Morshead KCB, KBE, CMG, DSO.
Morshead was commander of the Tobruk Garrison during the siege of 1941.
The Nazi propagandist William Joyce (a.k.a "Lord Haw Haw"), an Englishman broadcasting Nazi propaganda from Berlin in English, called Major General Morshead and the Tobruk Garrison "Ali Baba and his 20,000 Thieves".
image 009517 Australian War Memorial.
9th Division Slouch Hat Alamein 1942
A slouch hat as worn by a member of the 9th Division during the Battle of El Alamein, Egypt, Oct 1942.
image Alamein War Museum
Battallion Profile
2/48th Infantry Battallion
The 2/48th Infantry Battalion was Australia’s highest decorated unit of the Second World War, awarded four Victoria Crosses (three of them posthumously) and more than 80 other decorations. During the war the 2/48th suffered casualties of 318 dead and 703 wounded. It's most famous member was SX7964 Lt. Thomas "Diver" Derrick V.C. who was a household name in Australia during the war after a painting of him appeared on the cover of The Australian Women's Weekly.
The Tobruk Shave
Attending to personal hygiene requirements in the slit trenches of Tobruk is difficult when you are only allocated approx 1 litre of water per man per day for all purposes.
With temperatures rising to upwards of 50 degrees celcius during the day not much water was spared for grooming.
The action of shaving in the front lines is made more difficult by the presence of German snipers.
image from "Active Service - with Australia in the Middle East" Australian War Memorial 1941.
1 comment:
Hi Tim,
you run a very fine blog! I have read in hours this morning as I prepare for a trip to Tobruk & El Alamein next week. I suppose you don't read swedish but it maybe says something anyway:
http://mohlintravel.se/index.php?id=91,121,0,0,1,0
I also doing research for a coming book on Tobruk, 2005 I published my book El Alamein 1942, sorry also in swedish
http://www.ninor.se/index.php?El-Alamein-1942
and I spent two weeks in AWM for details in May this year.
Your blog hold a very high class, and especially your sample of photos is admirable. I've seen the price-list from AWM, and it is a horror..
Do you have a special agreement with them? When in Canberra I talked with Peter Stanley, and he recomennded Imperial War Museum for photos for my book...
I should really appreciate hear from you!
Yours¨
Karl-Gunnar Norén
kg@ninor.se
www.ninor.se
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