|
|
Post by Yoda on Jul 10, 2021 12:33:08 GMT -8
In March 1941 Britain and its dominion allies launch Operation Lustre, a delusional plan wrapped in noble intentions to defend Greece against Nazi Germany’s looming invasion.
A 60,000-strong Allied expeditionary force is dispatched from Egypt, more than half of which is drawn from the ranks of Australian and New Zealand servicemen and women.
This largely forgotten World War II campaign is over in three weeks, leaving a trail of carnage and resulting in the capture of thousands of Allied soldiers.
One of those prisoners is my uncle Private JR Greaves, a footslogger in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) whose first taste of captivity galvanises him to plan an escape.
A very interesting story to read. - Yoda
|
|
|
|
Post by Yoda on Jul 23, 2021 15:37:10 GMT -8
The strongest woman in the world
Bev Francis was 10 years old when she decided to jump from the roof of her family house while blindfolded.
The blindfold was to stop her bracing for the impact of hitting the ground.
It was one of many tests Francis set herself. She was out to prove that she was strong.
Bev in childhood, smiles at camera.
These were the times she went a whole day without water, or walked kilometres barefoot on sizzling bitumen roads during the summer holidays, or climbed the tallest trees she could find.
“Being brave was very important to me. I don’t know why.
“I was a tomboy; I didn’t want to be a boy, I just wanted to test myself physically.”
Born in Geelong in 1955, it wasn’t easy for Francis to test her physical prowess — growing up in the 1960s and ’70s, sporting options for young women were limited.
She was excluded from rowing, wrestling, boxing, long-distance running, triple jump, pole vault and hammer throw.
|
|
