I have currently written 5 full chapters of this project as well as many smaller pieces. It is a big work in progress and this does not represent the final draft of Chapter I. I started writing this book at the end of 2022 and have tried my best to model it on the core concepts of Captain Longmore’s history of the 44th Battalion which inspired me to make this.

Chapter I follows the story of the 1st WAMI during its 30 day journey from Albany to South Africa aboard the S.S. Medic in November 1899.

This is the same ship that Charles Lightholler (of Titanic fame) used to prank the locals of Sydney into believing a raiding party had attacked them. Not only does it consist of 20 pages of information but an additional 7 pages dedicated to letters from Lieutenant Parker, Lieutenant Campbell and two extra stories relating to how church was observed on the ship and how the horses were looked after.

The story itself comes from the correspondents of the West Australian and the Sun Special. Due to the disjointed nature of these articles I have synced them together to give the appearance of a single correspondent narrating the story. The fully finished chapter will include additional information put in by me.

I hope that these collections of stories let the reader fully immerse themselves in the lives of the soldiers as they went aboard this troopship. All too often we hear only about the struggles they faced on the battlefield but their real enemy was the constant day to day hardships that truly made them Australian heroes.

Copyright Luca Muir Anderson 2023