Journey to Tobruk

John Murray - Bushman, Soldier, Survivor

Journey to Tobruk tells the remarkable life story of John Murray, a genuine Australian hero, on and off the battlefield. This engaging blend of military history and biography - with a strand of family history (and family secrets) woven through - follows the transformation of a raw young bushman into a courageous soldier and inspiring leader. A lifelong correspondence between John and his mother is a feature of the narrative; Murray's laconic tone, which never falters even as he endures the horrors of the North African campaign as a 'rat of Tobruk', is definitively Australian. An illegitimate child whose wealthy grazier father never acknowledged him, John was sent at age fourteen to work on an outback sheep property as a jackeroo. The harshness of this environment schooled him for survival, forging the strength and resourcefulness that were later tested in the crucible of war. While the story also follows Murray's post-war life, the focus of this moving and impeccably researched book remains John's six-year wartime odyssey, from Australia, to Tobruk, El Alamein, New Guinea and Borneo, evoked in heart-gripping detail, supported by maps and images. Through it all, this fascinating, brave, resilient and humane man retains an optimism and stoicism that allow him to face and conquer the horror he confronts.