METICULOUSLY KEPT DIARIES AND LETTERS FROM MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO HAVE BROUGHT HISTORY TO LIFE FOR WENDY HEBBARD OF GEMLIFE WOODEND.
Have you ever thought what it would be like to walk in another person’s footsteps and see life exactly as they saw it?
That’s the gift Wendy has been given thanks to the diaries and letters from her grandfather, father, and uncle – along with a trove of glass photographic plates from their travels.
“I had all of these things stored and thought they’re no good like that, they should be turned into a book so other people can see them too,” she said.
The result was her very first book, A Trip Across the Australian Alps, based on the diaries of her grandfather from 1891. Her second book, published last year, is based on her uncle Roy Gollan’s letters and diaries. He served in World War One and saw service in Gallipoli.
Geelong to Gallipoli – and Back reveals Roy’s remarkable experience during the war that was said to end all wars.
“They were only boys – all the young men who served were,” said Wendy.
“In his diary, Roy mentioned a homesick young soldier who had gone for months without receiving letters. One day, he received a whole bunch at once. He sat on the edge of a trench to read them; a stray bullet struck and killed him.”
Not every story in Geelong to Gallipoli is a sad one. Roy shares his experience of being invited to a reception at Buckingham Palace, and the humorous reaction of a Scottish boy at seeing Australia’s iconic slouch hats.
Following the war, Roy returned to work as a newspaper journalist. Later, he was appointed Australian High Commissioner to India.
Currently, Wendy is working on her third book, the remarkable story of her father who, at the age of 20, bought a Triumph motorbike to ride and work his way across the United States and Europe. His adventures were chronicled in 80 letters sent back home.
And what of Wendy herself? Will she turn her own life story into a book?
“Oh no, I don’t think so,” she said. “My husband and I have travelled, but nothing too remarkable happened to us.
“Except perhaps that time we were in a hotel fire in Bangkok, and we were rescued from the rooftop by helicopter.”