The Climate of Courage

The Climate of Courage
Jon Cleary

Fictionalised account of part of the Kokoda Trail battles between Australian and Japanese troops in 1942.Set during the Second World War, The Climate of Courage involves a group of Australian soldiers who have returned from service in the Middle East. The novel is broken up into two parts and follows the soldiers from their leave in Sydney, where they engage in various romances and witness the famous submarine attack on Sydney, to their taking part in a patrol during the New Guinea Campaign.The book is partly based on Jon Cleary’s own experiences of the war.

Jon Cleary

The Climate of Courage

Copyright (#ulink_e6be9d3e-7ddb-5531-a059-01e805909cf2)

Harper An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in 1954 by William Collins Sons & Co Ltd

Copyright © Jon Cleary 1954

Jon Cleary asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

Source ISBN: 9780006139652

Ebook Edition © JULY 2015 ISBN: 9780007568987

Version: 2015-04-26

Dedication (#ulink_f6f862e5-0576-5557-8d07-39a2c6500d49)

ToBarry

Contents

Cover (#u6e18eee9-4082-5796-89f1-0b34ec12412f)

Title Page (#u665eceec-53c7-5440-8e89-f3b7e585b349)

Copyright (#ulink_70fa6bfe-7822-5c97-906b-da66eaf9c433)

Dedication (#u8254147f-b316-5d99-b262-ef073616f4d8)

Chapter One (#ulink_fd2bbeb6-6bc7-540d-8490-78834c588466)

Chapter Two (#ulink_3a83ada7-b7e3-5c17-88bd-7b30106b6384)

Chapter Three (#ulink_9ea34b55-b681-52b8-9df9-48f1461742e9)

Chapter Four (#ulink_1068b441-255e-5095-810b-16480ae62a10)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter One (#ulink_ee2d3a90-6d77-5b9b-8c74-92a8a1479646)

SYDNEY AND home came towards them gradually, a slowly returning memory. The outer suburbs, shallows of the city, were behind them and now the familiar stations were rushing past. Granville, Auburn, Lidcombe, the names all at once were personal. Rookwood cemetery went past, the long rows of ghostly headstones stretching away to the pale morning sky, the dead arranged neatly for Judgment Day. The old jokes were made about digging up a friend and everyone laughed: laughter hung on the lips like a bubble, ready to burst at any moment. Strathfield, Ashfield, Summer Hill: there was a yell as each station went past, of recognition and greeting and excitement. People on the platforms waved, and even their fleeting smiles, out of sight almost as soon as they were seen, left an impression that warmed the men. They were coming home and every welcome counted.