Fix this text
Bohemia
Fix this text3 d ;
Fix this textMaterfiip
Fix this textArt
Fix this textLetters
Fix this textTHE ALL-AUSTRALIAN LITERARY MAGAZINE
Fix this textFIRST ISSUE
Fix this textMELBOURNE
Fix this textAPRIL, 1935
Fix this textTHE BOOK OF THE MONTH...... A Prophet of Peril
Fix this textReviewed by
Fix this textALAN MOYLE
Fix this textBASICALLY, no man of commonsense
Fix this textand intelligence in full possession of
Fix this texthis faculties could be other than a
Fix this textof peace. Not necessarily, however,
Fix this textt he be a pacifist. I might go even
Fix this textther and say that, essentially, 'he cannot
Fix this texta peace-at-any-pricer. Intelligent men put
Fix this textlimit on the price they will pay for mere
Fix this textace in their time.
Fix this textThe history of humankind shows that to
Fix this texteserve peace a nation must be ready to
Fix this textight for it. The Romans used, to say, if you
Fix this textwish for peace prepare for war. And, look
Fix this texting abroad to-day, what reason have we to
Fix this textsuppose that human nature has altered
Fix this textfundamentally since burning Sappho lived
Fix this textand sang, since Carthage, and Tyre, and
Fix this textthe pogroms of Herod? Have we any real
Fix this textjustification for believing humankind at
Fix this textheart has undergone radical change even
Fix this textsince 1918, either because or in spite of the
Fix this text"peace” of Versailles?
Fix this textLet us be quite honest, against any tempta
Fix this texttion to flatter ourselves that we are nobler
Fix this textof mind and spirit than our fathers. Let us
Fix this textthat, because the Ramsay Macdonald
Fix this textish idealists in our midst had the effrontery
Fix this textto set up a misguided, elaborate and costly
Fix this textbrotherhood machinery in the belief that it
Fix this textwould be a super-national phoenix rising on
Fix this textthe ashes of international competition and
Fix this textjealousy, the democracies have been caught
Fix this textnapping by the might-is-right men.
Fix this textWhatever you may say against them, and
Fix this textyou can say much, the democracies offer
Fix this textmore of security for liberty of thought and
Fix this textaction to their individuals than any other
Fix this textsocial system the world has known.
Fix this textIt is in the nature of humans that in their
Fix this textvery enjoyment of such freedom they should
Fix this texttend to forget that others, less fortunate,
Fix this textnay become envious, and in such forgetful
Fix this textess commit the crime of carelessness. How
Fix this textvan dwellers in paradise know how fierce is
Fix this textthe resentment of those outside?
Fix this textFor many millions abroad Australia is a
Fix this textparadise, with rmvhty few guardian angels.
Fix this textAnd that is the motif of Erle Cox’s chal-
Fix this textlenging, maybe prophetic, novel, "Fool’s
Fix this textHarvest” (Robertson Mullens Ltd., Mel
Fix this textbourne, 6-). With almost Wellsian power
Fix this texthe envisages Australia invaded, Sydney
Fix this textshelled. Melbourne bombed, Newcastle and
Fix this textPort Kembla pulverised, and the ill-trained
Fix this textCommonwealth troops retreating before the
Fix this textefficiency of an implacable enemy.
Fix this textIn the end he sees Australia shackled
Fix this textunder a 20 years mandate by a foreign
Fix this textpower—obviously Japan—which joyfully
Fix this textbegins the exploitation of natural resources
Fix this texton a mammoth scale.
Fix this textBaldly stated, that sounds almost laugh
Fix this textably Hollywood. But I am told that Mr.
Fix this textCox’s book has been read with interest by
Fix this textcertain military authorities, whose reaction
Fix this textwas anything but amused. The fact is that
Fix this textthe old-time protective isolation of the Com
Fix this textmonwealth exists no longer, and Mr. Co
Fix this texthas used this self-evident truth to point a
Fix this textwell-timed warning against peril from a pre
Fix this textdatory Pacific power. It might not be tod
Fix this textmuch to say even that this brilliant book
Fix this textmay have had no small part in helping to
Fix this textgalvanise those responsible into action for
Fix this textmore adequate defence measures.
Fix this textMr. Cox tells the story of the invasion
Fix this textof Australia by the Paramount Power in
Fix this text1939 in the form of a diary kept by a
Fix this textjournalist, Walter Burton, and edited and
Fix this textpublished by two Canberra University pro
Fix this textfessors in 1975.
Fix this textThe diary is supposed to have been writ
Fix this textten in a concentration camp in Carrington,
Fix this textnear Newcastle, hi 1948, before occupation
Fix this textof the country by the Paramount Power was
Fix this textended by its defeat in the Pacific War of
Fix this text1966, and Australia . with only 2,000,000 of
Fix this textits 7,000,000 population left, began rehabili
Fix this texttation of the nation.
Fix this textBurton’s story begins in the concentra
Fix this texttion camp, barricaded with electrified
Fix this textbarbed wire, which supplies workers 24
Fix this texthours of the day fdr the Newcastle steel
Fix this textworks. He tells how, one Saturday in Sep
Fix this texttember, 1939, he left his Sydney Harbor
Fix this texthome for his newspaper office. News had
Fix this textjust arrived that die Hawkesbury Bridge
Fix this texthad been blown up.r An hour later five
Fix this textsquadrons of Paramount planes were bomb
Fix this texting the city, coming in low over the water
Fix this textfrom the east.
Fix this textRapidly came reports of the blasting of
Fix this textthe water mains, powpr stations, and other
Fix this textservices. Transport and communication
Fix this textwas paralysed, whole blocks of houses were
Fix this textblazing; and then 10 warships appeared at
Fix this textthe Heads. So sudden was the surprise that
Fix this textships of the Australian Fleet were still in
Fix this textthe harbor when they were sunk. Time
Fix this textbombs blew up Richmond R.A.A.F. station.
Fix this textAt the same time, although Sydney did
Fix this textnot know it, West Australia was seized, and
Fix this textthe Federal Cabinet made Melbourne the
Fix this textcapital. And neither Sydney nor any part
Fix this textof Australia knew that, simultaneously with
Fix this textthe Antipodean invasion, the other two
Fix this textEuropean powers of the axis struck at Brit
Fix this textain and France with paralysing force.
Fix this textThe secret of the enemy’s surprise was its
Fix this textorganisation for cutting every sort of com
Fix this textmunication, mainly by sabotage and co-oper
Fix this textation wth agents on shore. Following the
Fix this texttradition of the totalitarians, it was yet an
Fix this textother week-end crisis.
Fix this textAlmost too realistic is the story of Aus
Fix this texttralia’s frantic efforts to mobilise her ill-
Fix this textprepared infantry, artillery and air force
Fix this textThe Navy was useless. After the capture
Fix this textand landing at Perth came the landing on
Fix this textthe east coast, at Sydney and Newcastle;
Fix this textand the march south began which ended in
Fix this textthe rout of Melbourne and the establish
Fix this textment of guerilla bands of Australians in the
Fix this texthills around the capital.
Fix this textThe story of how even these bands had
Fix this textto capitulate to the Paramount power, of
Fix this texttheir struggle to harass the invaders into
Fix this textevacuation, of the misery and merciless
Fix this texttyranny is told with startling realism.
Fix this textA casual suggestion that Australia could
Fix this textever be invaded successfully usually evokes
Fix this textamusement, but Erie Cox has put into
Fix this textdramatic form the doubts many thinking
Fix this textpeople have held for some time of our in
Fix this textviolability.
Fix this textHe makes his frantic Federal Parliament
Fix this textvote £250,000,000 for defence as the enemy
Fix this textis marching down on Melbourne. Realising
Fix this textour vulnerability, having had the warning
Fix this textwritten plain, what pitiable irony would it
Fix this textbe if Mr. Cox indeed proves to be a prophet,
Fix this textrather than a master of Things-to-Come
Fix this textfiction.
Fix this textWhatever the verdict of posterity, which
Fix this textalone can judge, Mr. Cox has written a novel
Fix this textof power, imagination, and almost uncanny
Fix this textinsight into human nature and its frequently
Fix this textstupid mass idiosyncracies.
Fix this textIt's easy and takes two shakes of a lamb's tail!
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http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3084633292
Bread and Cheese Club (Melbourne, Vic.). (1939). Bohemia : the all-Australian literary magazine Retrieved May 20, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3084633292
Bread and Cheese Club (Melbourne, Vic.). Bohemia : the all-Australian literary magazine Melbourne: Bohemia, 1939. Web. 20 May 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3084633292>
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{{Citation
| author1=Bread and Cheese Club (Melbourne, Vic.).
| title=Bohemia : the all-Australian literary magazine.
| year=1939
| section=v. ; 28-36 cm.
| issue=First Issue (April 1939)
| location=Melbourne
| publisher=Bohemia
| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3084633292
| id=nla.obj-3084633292
| access-date=20 May 2025
| via=Trove
}}
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