Bücher von Ion Idriess

The Cape York Peninsula, 1920... as the three ex-diggers talked across the bar at the West Coast, swapping stories of the War and goings-on in Cooktown and along the coast, the pioneer vision would have still been fresh and sustained by hope and dreams. All that was needed was a little luck - which might come from the Chinese gambling den across the way, or at the races, or a tip on a 'sure thing', be it trepang, trochus, timber or the treasures of the earth. So that day Idriess signed up for a sure thing with George Tritton - or perhaps not such a sure thing; Dick Welsh, Idriess's best mate, chose not to go. Even so, a few days later Jack (Idriess's frontier name) and George set sail for Howick Island. Before the end of the decade Idriess had renamed both the Island and his companion - he wrote that he had gone to Madman's Island with his mate, Charlie... Madman's Island; Idriess as character and author - fact or fiction. Fifty books later the seam he struck after returning from the War was mined out. There was nothing left that could be said about frontier life as Idriess saw and said it. It required and still needs to be understood from other perspectives. But Ion Idriess - as Jack Idriess along the Bloomfield, in the Tablelands back of Cairns, and along the coast of north Queensland - gives us a participant's view. It's a voice we should attend to - it's our voice from a fading past. Ernest Hunter, from his Introduction.

In Crocodile Land is principally the story of travels by lugger through northern waters and into slimy creeks where the huge crocodiles abound. The author took part in many hunting expeditions and enlightens us on the various methods adopted for catching these fearsome creatures. The party had more than a little success, to the great glee of the blackfellows who accompanied them.We journey next into the country of the buffaloes. Here on sunlit clearings through thickets of pandanus palms the buffaloes were to be found in hundreds... There is plenty of risk in hunting the buffalo... Once the shooting starts, the horse must continue his gallop, faster than the buffaloes and alongside them, keeping them going. One stumble and the end is near for horse and rider. - Western Mail, Perth 1946Although it has the thrill of crocodile shooting and trapping as its central theme, the book also affords a sympathetic and fascinating study of the aborigines and their tribal customs, slants on the dangerous sport of buffalo hunting, and vivid pen pictures of Wyndham, Darwin and other far northern towns. - Adelaide Advertiser, 1946Introduced by Tony McKenna

In 1932, Ion Idriess was one of those who set out from tiny port of Derby with the ending of the Wet season, moving through the rugger Kimberleys towards the developing goldfield of Tennant's Creek. This is the story of his wanderings in the 1930s and what he heard and saw along the way; at a time when wireless and air and motor transport were rapidly changing life in the North and North-west: but when the age of pioneers, of heroic journeys, terrifying loneliness, and violent death, had not yet passed away.Back in print after 60 years.

Throughout all the game of war, in every Age, there has been no task so fascinating, so alive with thrills, as that of the scout. Against an enemy army he plays a lone hand as does the sniper. But the scout's job is not to hide and kill, his is to press forward and see, but never be seen. And - he must return.Ion Idriess's Australian guerrilla manual presents a rare insight into one of the most vital functions of small-unit combat intelligence - scouting. Despite great technical achievements in modern military science, the small-unit commander must still rely heavily on the eyes, ears and stealth of his scouts. Details obscure techniques often overlooked in most U.S. Army and Marine scouting texts.The sixth book of the Australian Guerrilla series, The Scout, by Ion Idriess is now available. It is packed with knowledge and bush lore, and gives to any soldier who studies it most of the data necessary for the job of scouting. With the rest of the series it provides a small compact little work that, carried in the haversack, is a means of learning as you go. - Hobart Mercury, 1943.

Abdul the Sniper was the pride of the Turkish Army. They named his rifle 'The Mother of Death'. Because, so declared the Ottoman Guard, 'her breech gave birth to bullets which destroy the lives of men'... Idriess was a trooper with the Light Horse at Gallipoli, all the way to Beersheba, and his diary was published as The Desert Column. Drawing on his military experience, this is one of six manuals written for soldiers and civilians in 1942, when invasion by the Japanese seemed imminent. This volume includes the full story of the duel between Australian sniper Billy Sing and his opposite number, Abdul the Terrible in the trenches at Gallipoli. A believer in guerrilla warfare in the open spaces of Australia, Mr. Idriess seeks, by thrilling narrative and advice, to teach young men and people of the back country how to use the rifle to the best advantage. To be a guerrilla one has to be a good rifleman - a sniper - acting independently of other troops, clever at camouflage, with keen ears, and with eyes that are observant and sharp. - Newcastle Herald

'To attack and ambush, to snipe and raid is the job of the Australian Guerrilla. By rifle and grenade, by machine-gun and mortar to kill them, harry them, trap them, grant them not one moment's peace day or night. Break their hearts! Smash their outposts, blow up their tanks, bomb their communications, burn their airfields. To be a hawk by day and a shadow by night, to be a killer by day or night is the sworn job of the Australian Guerrilla on his native soil.' These Australian guerrilla manuals were written by Ion Idriess at the time of imminent invasion by the Japanese. Following the massive bomb attack on Darwin in early 1942, Idriess wrote six manuals in one year to help aid the local militia, based on his extensive experience in guerrilla tactics in World War 1. As the Japanese continued to raid Sydney Harbour, Newcastle, Broome and Toowoomba, Idriess offered his knowledge on the art of warfare to Australians at home.

Idriess was a trooper with the Light Horse at Gallipoli, all the way to Beersheba, and his diary was published as The Desert Column. Drawing on his military experience, this is one of six manuals written for soldiers and civilians in 1942, when invasion by the Japanese seemed imminent. Here Mr Idriess gives in illustrative detail the technique of guerrilla warfare under Australian conditions. As will be seen by the subject headings, every phase is dealt with. Here is the complete vade-mecum for the guerrilla fighter, a forceful, vivid book that teaches how, in Australia, he may play a part as vital as that played by the Russian guerrilla in aiding his army.

I felt certain there must be gold in those hills, Jack', wrote a prospector to Ion Idriess, 'but I know very little about the game.' And so Jack Idriess wrote Prospecting for Gold in 1931. This is the 20th edition and known throughout Australia as the classic self-help manual for would-be prospectors. 'This book is written to help the new hand who ventures into the bush seeking gold... The towny prospector, with this book as a guide, will soon master methods of prospecting and the working of his find.' In an easy conversational tone, the author of Lasseter's Last Ride and Flynn of the Inland sets many a hopeful prospector on the road to discovering gold.

This new Idriess book tells of stirring episodes in the pursuit, of lawbreakers in the primitive lands. Every chapter is authentic. Patrols through the Kimberleys, the wild Fitzmaurice River country, the nor'-west of Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Central Australia; each incident recorded from the lips of the pursuers and pursued whether white, black, or brown. Here are given for the first time the romantic stories of Nemarluk and Minmara, Tuckiar and Mepara, Chugulla, Tiger, Moodoprish, Natchelma - Aboriginal leaders so much lately before the public eye. Here, too, will be found details of the spearing of Constable McColl, the ambushing of Hemming's patrol, the killing of the Japanese of the luggers' Ouida, The Myrtle, Olga and The Raff, the spearing of Stephens and Cook, of Tetlow, Nichols, Renouf, Traynor and Fagan. The inner story of the most intriguing murder in the rugged fastnesses of northern South Australia, the big mail robbery on the little Centralian railway...The book contains remarkable stories of the methods of aboriginal trackers, given exactly as they worked on each case. Nothing like these tracking chapters has ever been attempted in book form before. - Port Macquarie News, 1935

(Author Note)Forty Fathoms Deep is part of the story of the pearl seas of north-western Australia. In all but a few instances, I have used names well known in the pearl world of Broome, but have taken care not to hurt susceptibilities. I am conscious I have only gleaned in a field rich with romance. There is material for many books in the adventurous lives of the men who have built up the history and industry of Broome. It is to be hoped that someone more persuasive than I will induce them to sit down and write, or, failing that, sit and talk for the enlightenment and entertainment of fellow Australians. I am greatly indebted to numerous friends in Broome who have helped me with material and who went to such pains to get for me authentic data. Hail and farewell, with a warm heart, to Con and old Sebaro, and to all the divers and tenders and seamen who were so patient at explaining the many things I desired to see and know. To all, a fair wind and a hungry market when the fleets put to sea! ION L. IDRIESS.

To one who for a good many years has lived among the tropic isles of Torres Strait, and whose constant regret has been that their romantic attractiveness is so little known even to Australians, the Drums of Mer comes with very strong appeal. There are some who may think that Mr Idriess is giving us simply an imaginative picture, but the author has travelled the Strait with the discerning eye and contemplative soul of the artist who is satisfied only with first-hand colour, and who, while blending history and romance with subtle skill, at the same time keeps within the region of fact. The records and documents placed at his disposal by those who have patiently collected them in the interests of history, of ethnological and scientific research, and (if one may be allowed to say so) even of missionary theological science also, provide the rich store upon which he has drawn for the thrilling story he has woven round the people of Mer and the other islands of Torres Strait. We have been waiting for someone to catch the charm and appealing mysteriousness of these islands, and to visualize the days, not so very long past, when the great outrigger canoes, with their companies of feather-bedecked headhunters, traversed the opalescent waters a couple of hundred miles down the Barrier, to return perhaps with cowering white captives or grim human trophies for the ceremonies of the 'Au-gud-Au-Ai,' the 'Feast of the Great God.' And if it seems that the starkness of tragedy throws a cloud here and there over the dramatic episodes which the author has so well narrated, possibly it is a good thing for present-day tourist-travellers (and others too!), to realize that a trip along the Barrier and through the Strait on the way to China was not always so free from danger.(from Foreword by Wm. H. MacFarlane), Mission Priest, Torres Strait; Administrator of the Diocese of Carpentaria. 31 July 1933.)

The extraordinary story of a classic Australian Pioneer - told by Australia's 'Boswell of the Bush', Ion L. Idriess. Almost single-handedly John Flynn of the Australian Inland Mission brought to the outback the Flying Doctor Service and the Bush Hospitals. His magnificent vision, formed as he travelled on the back of a camel across the vast space of Australia's outback, took a lifetime of courageous commitment to bring to reality. 'It is impossible to read this book and remain untouched by the greatness of John Flynn's inspiration.' - Morning Post, London Ion L. Idriess celebrated Australia's exuberant history in over 50 books, written in an easy conversational style that has made him lastingly popular. In stories such as 'Flynn of the Inland', 'Back O' Cairns' and 'Lasseter's Last Ride', Idriess brings to life the wild beauty of the outback and the many colourful characters who people it.