From York to Australia, One Young Man's Journey - a Blog Tour and Book Excerpt for "Outback Odyssey"

BOOK EXCERPT

In 1914, newspapers reported the crisis as it unfolded across the country and shocked the world, sliding into war. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the turning of neutral Belgium, and Britain’s declaration of war began an era. They called it the war to end all wars. James Rushworth could still recall the moment he got the news.He could hear the excitement in the stone masons’ yard in Huddersfield, where he was an apprentice. He felt the call of duty in his heart and wanted to be with his countrymen on the front lines.But duty was one thing. It pulled him in two directions: towards the front and towards his wife, Sophia.“If the Hun reach France, they’ll be on England’s doorstep next,” the men said. James knew they were right, but the look in Sophia’s eyes that evening had cut deeper than any bayonet. She begged him not to go. And yet, by dawn, he was gone.Years later, Jimmy would grow up in the shadow of that choice — a father haunted, a home weighed down by silence, and a boy learning early that war could wound even those who had never fought.