AustLit

This article investigates the extensive use of Great War material on the variety stage in Australia, particularly in the decade of the 1920s. It surveys jokes reported in newspapers or surviving in scripts; examines in detail the work of the best known of the ‘diggers’ companies of returned servicemen, Pat Hanna’s Famous Diggers, as well as the work of other performers including the acclaimed comedian Jim Gerald and several ex-soldier drag artists; and reports on the reasons these entertainers themselves gave to explain their use of comedy and pathos to represent traumatic events from their war experiences.

This review provides a brief overview of the book's content and the author's focus, which is on the publishing industry of its time and the legends surrounding Barrington.

Boyce discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the anthology, consisting of essays contributed from fourteen writers, which is designed to assist readers to interpret Friendly Mission, published in 1966.