When You Haven't Got a Gun - The whimsical adventures of an official war photographer (Paperback)

DAVID LESLIE RINTEL was born in Western Australia, the son of pioneer farmers. He left the farm in his late teens and made the quantum leap to become apprenticed to a movie photographer. Later in Melbourne he became a newsreel photographer, meeting and marrying Frankie on her 21st birthday. At the beginning of World War II the couple opened their home as a hostel for newly enlisted servicemen, housing and feeding up to 40 men a night. This continued until David enlisted and the 'Army Leave Club' had to close. His son, Derek, was only five or six years old and his job was to leap upon their beds in the morning to awaken the soldiers. This story follows the author's time spent in the army as cameraman, rolling his camera alongside the soldiers who were fighting the Japanese during World War II. From the fighting in Egypt to the sweltering unforgiving jungles of PNG and the horrendous Kokoda Track, his diary captures the soldiers' daily challenges and courage. David kept his camera rolling and wrote his story with a sense of larrikin humour even though he was going through bouts of terrible dysentery and hardship. Finally the Japanese surrendered-a moment in world history that David witnessed and recorded firsthand. After arriving home, young Derek joined his father in the city to film the celebrations when official surrender was announced. With a collection of charming and humorous illustrations Derek Rintel brings his father's story to life and gives us all insight into a time in the not-too-distant past that is precious all Australians.