Tony Bradman

Printed on sepia pages this is part of the Barrington Stoke Super-Readable texts for Young Adult readers but a bit longer than the average books at 97 pages long. It tells the story of two brothers Bert and Frank orphaned at the turn of the 20th century who are sent by the Catholic Church from England to Australia but are separated at Perth and the younger one Frank is sent to New Zealand. Bert, the older grows up in the harsh life of Western Australian farm work and when he is forced out of being looked after the Church at 16 , writes many letters to NZ trying to find his brother. He works in farms and factories until WW1 is declared and he signs up. In Egypt as part of the ANZACs he spies a soldier who looks like Frank, but Frank is only 16 and shouldn't be signed up. Bert confronts him and Frank turns away and wants nothing to do with the brother who "abandoned" him. The two must then sort out their difference on the battlefield of Gallipoli.… (more)