Wounded storyteller: Revisiting Albert Facey's fortunate life
Document Type
Journal Article
Publisher
Westerly Centre, University of Western Australia
Faculty
Faculty of Education and Arts
School
School of Arts and Humanities
RAS ID
19968
Abstract
Private AB Facey returned to Australia from Gallipoli in November 1915. No announcements accompanied his repatriation, though acknowledgement of wounded soldiers was standard procedure throughout the war. No family members gathered to greet him on his homecoming, though of three brothers serving at Gallipoli, he was the sole survivor. Roy Facey was blown up on 28 June and Joseph sustained multiple bayonet wounds on 14 September. The First World War had by November resulted in over 33,000 Australian casualties ('Australian toll'). Anzacs who lost their lives had been revered since the first news reports of the Landing in May, while those repatriated on account of physical wounding attracted sympathy and gratitude. But approbation was circumscribed, and we believe that Private Facey's low-key homecoming was due to his membership of a suspect category of returned soldiers referred to by medical histories as 'Special Invalids'.
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Comments
Murphy, F., & Nile, R. (2015). Wounded storyteller: Revisiting Albert Facey's fortunate life. Westerly, (60)2, pp. 87-100. Available here.