In 3 sentences: This document summarizes the life of Tomas O'Keeffe, an Australian soldier, through excerpts from his journal entries. It describes his poor upbringing in early 20th century Australia, working low-paying jobs to support his family after his father's death. Following his mother's death, he enlists in the military during World War 1 as an orphan, traveling by boat to fight for Australia in the war.

1. An Australian Soldier

2. My name is Tomas O’Keeffe, Irish heritage. Not fully Irish, Great
granddad was John Bond, one of the many from the First Fleet (which
came from England of course). Convicted of stealing a blanket and a
few apples. Can’t blame the fella, I’m experiencing the same life
(probably) as him. Mother was the only daughter of her family, as I'm
the only son. Fathers side of the family moved to England from Ireland
and came here with a bucket full of lemon skin due to scurvy.

3. This is me when I
was 11 in 1909.
Good looking
little tacker,
aren’t I?

4. I work at a poor fruit and vegetables
store, the only one of its kind in
suburban Melbourne, the capital of
Australia. (I heard they were
constructing the real, main capital, the
Federal Capital Territory, somewhere
else.)
Some days, I would sneak in some food
from the store and pay it myself in the
counter the next day to avoid stealing.
This is not a case of stealing. I pay for it,
don’t I?

5. Home is a very poor place. A house
made of tin with a lawn of dirt and
dust. The dirt street is wide and
dusty in summer, muddy in winter.
Horses and carts stir up the dust and
so do the new motorcars with their
rich drivers and passengers.

6. Today my father headed off to
work in the nearby farm. I had a
day off of my work. Mother
scolded my father to not go to
work but to no avail. He was as
sick as a rat that has slept in a
Coolgardie, but he went all the
same.

7. Mother then went off to the
copper, cleaning our clothes
in boiling water. My job was to
clean the house. I had set up
our carpet for a whacking, to
get rid of the dust. I grabbed
the whacking stick and hit it
against the carpet, dust went
everywhere and dirt flew into
my eyes. Its sting was
unbelievable and it hurt even
more when I tried to flush it
out with a bucket of dirty
laundry water.

8. When I finished my work in the house, mother said
that Father could do with some help. I knew he
would need it, so I quickly walked the 2 miles to the
farm where he worked. When I arrived I saw father
from the corner of my eye, pushing a wheelbarrow.
Coughs and wheezes were coming from him. Poor
father.

9. I helped him finish planting some
seeds. The shovel was heavy, and the
bucket for water had holes in it. It was
very hot. I felt rather unwell myself and
my knees sometimes shook
uncontrollably.
A kind worker came up to me and said,
‘Geez mates, you look unwell. Better
take a rest before you do anything
else.’ I thanked the mans kind words
and hoped that the day would end
happily.

10. We walked slowly home. I heard the
distant calls of my mother for
suppertime.
Supper was made just like breakfast.
In fact, it was breakfast, but leftovers.
A few half eaten, uncooked dampers
and sour milk. Father skipped dinner
and went to bed early.

11. Later that night I was suddenly awoken when there was
quarrelling between father and a neighbour. Something about
the hospital.
The next day, father had taken off once again, but today
wasn’t a day for his work to be on.
I found the neighbour and chatted with him about what had
happened last night. He just scowled and replied, ‘I've done
what's best for him. Wouldn't want what he has, don't you
mate?

12. Father hasn't returned. Mother grieves for him and I've grown out of being sad. It has been 'bout 3 years.
And in that time, we realized what had happened. Our neighbour had sent our father to a hospital. And that
is not a good thing.
'Many people die in hospitals! My husbands parents, mine too! My sister and now my husband! Hospitals
are one thing to avoid!' Mother had yelled at him. I was scared. There was nothing we could do.

13. Today everyone is
excited. They say a
war has begun in
Europe.

14. It seems that everyone is enlisting to go
and fight for the Mother Country. They
say that the pay is good and the
uniforms are provided.

15. I quit my cleaning job at the fruit and veggies
store because it was closing anyway.
Now I am working at the mill yard loading
timber. They say it is going to the war.

16. Six months have past since my mother’s
death.
I am now an orphan. An orphan in the
army. Everything has drastically changed
since the war began. They say it is a war
that threatens the world.
I sit in this stinking hold. It stinks of vomit
and sweat. It is a hot and muggy day and
what makes it worse is that the boat
continuously rocks and one of my cabin
mates is woefully seasick.
I wonder if Cairo’s conditions are
similar to this?

17. Tomas O’Keefe 1914