Talk:Ivan Southall

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Whazza talk?

Latest comment: 10 years ago3 comments3 people in discussion

Why is there no talk on the best and most famous childrens' authors in the world? Because he is an Ozzie, or because someone has wiped out the whole sheet, and put an undecipherable geek talk reference at the top? There are endless thousands of talk pages on the most talentless non-entities in the world, and this truly unforgettable author gets this. Don't believe me? Read Ash Road or Hills End. They are books that can be read by adults as well as children, and they are truly great literature. Myles325a (talk) 01:34, 9 October 2009 (UTC)Reply

I agree I loved his books as a child and still occasionally read his books on wartime activities Iain Stuart (talk) 10:29, 1 December 2013 (UTC)Reply

I tried (today, 11 November 2014) contributing some details about Southall's writing. However, somebody else, working unofficially as a Wikipedia editor cum umpire (with the odd eName Demize) dismissed this as unconstructive and removed it. Here it is, as TALK. Ivan Southall had two careers as a writer.

His first period was mainly as author for adult readers, up to 1960. Notably, he wrote the biography of 'Bluey' Truscott, an Australian fighter ace who served in England in the last stages of the Battle of Britain and the aftermath, including seeing action during Operation Seelowe (Sealion), the breakout from a French harbor of the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau; and later in Darwin, in North Australia, during the early Japanese air raids, and then at Milne Bay, at the eastern end of New Guinea, during the last stages of the Japanese advances into the South Pacific and New Guinea.

Southall also wrote the official history of his Royal Australian Air Force squadron in the south of England, when he was pilot of Short Sunderland flying boats patrolling against and attacking German U-boats in the Bay of Biscay. Later he published a version of this history as They Shall Not Pass Unseen, and much later returned to his experiences of combat in Sunderlands in books for younger readers, including the non-fiction Fly West, and the novels Simon Black in Coastal Command, and What About Tomorrow?.

Southall also wrote Softly Tread the Brave, describing the cold-blooded courage of Australian bomb-disposal officers, Hugh Syme and John Mould, serving in the Royal Australian Volunteer Naval Reserve, in England, when German bombers used parachutes to drop massive sea-mines on British cities. A sea-mine contained far more explosive than steel-plated bombs, and could devastate an entire city block. To prevent an unexploded sea-mine from being rendered harmless, by dismantling their detonators or fuses, these mines were fitted with extremely complicated and sensitive fuses. Some were light-sensitive, others were magnetically triggered, others were fitted with trembler-triggers. Southall later published a version of this story for younger readers under the title Seventeen Seconds — the time available to run in case the fuse of the mine was accidentally triggered while the bomb-disposers were trying to dismantle the fuse.

If Southall had written nothing else he would deserve the same kind of fame as his fellow-Australian, Paul Brickhill (author of The Dam-Busters, Reach For the Sky, and The Great Escape), for his non-fiction accounts of fascinating and important people and actions during World War II. But Southall wrote much more.

From 1950 to 1962, Southall also wrote, for younger readers, adventure stories about a fictional brave pilot, 'Simon Black' — and Australian counterpart to W.E. Johns' hero 'Biggles'. Several of these ventured into science-fiction, with space flight, aliens, and lost humanoid races.

But Southall's major, second career as author began with his move from the often unrealistic heroics of 'Simon Black' into the everyday world of children and teenage characters, beginning with Hills End, Ash Road. Many of these plunge the young characters into physical dangers, such as flood, or bush-fire, or a major highway accident, at times when adults are absent and unable to help. Others present more psychological stresses, such as climbing a tree (despite a major physical disability), confronting bullies, or anticipating a Japanese attack in mainland Australia. His latter novels for young adults conducted most of the action in the mind of the central character, allowing Southall to introduce memories of other adults (often war heroes) and thoughts about religion, the Bible, pacifism, love, and death. These are often difficult works, undervalued, and misunderstood by critics and readers — notably Blackbird and The Mysterious World of Marcus Leadbeater, which, like the earlier Bread and Honey (with a central theme of a soldiers heroism in the Gallipoli Campaign during World War I), are both profound reflections on heroism, cowardice, and World War II.

I can only assume that Demize knows very little about Southall, the literature of World War II, or children's literature. John Gough -- Deakin University (retired) -- jagough49@gmail.com — Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.237.113.229 (talk) 04:50, 11 November 2014 (UTC)Reply

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Latest comment: 7 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

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