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Image courtesy of the Northern Beaches Council Libraries 

Join local Australian actor and author Peter Phelps at Mona Vale Library as he discusses The Bulldog Track the very personal account of his grandfather’s incredible WW2 survival and his escape by the ‘other Kokoda trail’.

In 1942, Tom Phelps found work as a carpenter in New Guinea when he became caught in the midst of the Japanese attack. After the airfield was bombed, the Australian military told the workers to get out via the ‘other’ Kokoda Track. They set off through the jungle into the unknown.

With no news of the men, back home in Sydney, his family were told that Tom had died. But Tom’s resilience had him travelling by foot, canoe and train back to Sydney, turning up at Central Station half-starved, in rags, suffering from malaria and wearing the pith helmet he had kept with him the whole way.

The unforgettable escape was documented on Tom’s helmet in indelible ink. And his stories of New Guinea would lead his son and grandson to their own experiences with the country. Seventy-five years later, Tom’s helmet sat next to his grandson Peter as he wrote this book.

Join us at Peter’s local library in Mona Vale, on the eve of his late father George’s birthday, to whom the book is dedicated. Copies of the book will be available on the day.

You can find out more about this event here.

 

When:    Saturday 24th of December, 2.30pm to 3.30pm
Where:   Mona Vale Library, 1 Park Street Mona Vale, NSW, 2013
Cost:      $7
Contact: 02 9970 1600