Off Like Flies: A Tribute to Western Australia's Prospectors by Trish Ainslie and Roger Garwood

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition.Wear to book corners and edges with front cover tail right corner now protected with book tape. Minor marks on foredges. Interior and binding are still very good.

In Western Australia, in the late 1800s, gold prospectors combed the country. In 1893 Paddy Hanna found gold in the desert region, some four hundred miles east of Perth.

Prospectors converged on the region, travelling on foot, camel, horse and donkey. Some simply pushed wheelbarrows laden with tools and a few meagre supplies. One common implement they all carried was a shovel. Because of their skill with the shovel, they became known as 'diggers'.

It was not a rewarding occupation. Conditions were harsh, with heat and disease decimating numbers. They 'dropped off like flies'.

When WWI was declared, many men from the Goldfields signed up, not necessarily because they were keen to fight but simply because they would be paid, fed, clothed and had a chance to see the world. These men were the foundation of the ANZAC 'diggers'. The ability to dig was invaluable in a war characterised by trench warfare.

This book captures the lifestyle of the Western Australian Goldfields through the oral histories of those that lived through the first half of the 20th century. (Introduction)