Deadly Waters (Australia’s Second World War) by Helen Chapman

Title: Deadly Waters (Australia’s Second World War)

Author: Helen Chapman

Genre: Historical, Non-Fiction

Publisher: Scholastic Australia

Published: 1^st May 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 208

Price: $17.99

Synopsis: ‘You could see the pilot as he came past, immobile, seconds to eternity.’ As a teenager, Cliff dreams that one day he will play cricket for Australia, but when war comes he changes cricket whites for a navy uniform. Leaving everything he knows behind he faces new horrors every day, from exploding mines and submarine attacks to deliberate suicide attacks by kamikaze pilots, never knowing if he will see his sweetheart, Marie, again. But amongst all the tragedy of war, Cliff finds something he never thought possible amidst all the fear and devastation … hope.

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Cliff is determined to play cricket for Australia when he grows up – but then in 1939, the world is plunged into war for the second time within the first half of the twentieth century, and Cliff joins the navy as a signals officer, just as he meets Marie and falls in love. During his time at war, in between sweeping for mines, keeping an eye out for invading submarines, and suicide attacks by kamikaze pilots in the Pacific theatre of war, Cliff writes to his family and sweetheart, unsure if he will ever see them or his friends like Ted, who joined the army again. For years, he faces threats and near death, and days filled with uncertainty, fear, and devastation. Yet with his mates on the ships that he serves on, Cliff finds something unimaginable during the war: hope.

Deadly Waters is based on Helen’s father’s experience of the war – his stories informed the novel, as well as the memorabilia he kept from his time at war and in the Navy, as well as on real events that she has balanced with research, creativity, and imagination to tell a compelling story. The combination of this, and Cliff’s war recollections and those of his mates and family members to create an authentic and engaging voice, alongside documents, historical records, government websites, testimonials, and other resources to fill in the gaps. All of these have ensured that Helen has been able to tell an engaging story through the eyes of her father as a young man during the Second World War.

Books like this remind us that there were many aspects of the war, and a multitude of experiences of the same event in different ways because everyone responded to them differently. I think it is important to keep these stories alive as they have shaped us as a nation, and in particular, the families who lived through these times, like Helen’s parents, and their voices show how the war affected a generation who went far from home to serve, where the war came so close to our shores as well. I liked the way we saw everything through Cliff’s eyes – it meant that as a reader I was drawn into the story and had to know what happened – and I knew it would have to have a good ending because only Cliff would be able to tell us what happened.

The wonderful book for readers aged nine and over captures the adventure and reality of the war without being too graphic, and allows time to pass swiftly, moving through the war from Cliff’s enlistment to the final days of the war in the Pacific, and the time Cliff spent in the countries that Japan had occupied, helping evacuate prisoners and get as many supplies to those who had suffered as they could – doing whatever they could to help. It shows that there was much more to the war than the final shots fired, the final bombs dropped. There were loose ends to be wrapped up, and moments where they found out those who had surrendered were also people with interests like them – who had also been caught up in the war. This book fits in nicely with the Australia’s Second World War series as it expands on the experiences written about throughout the series, and we get to hear different voices throughout the series. It brings history to life and will be great to read alongside text books and other historical records, to give the numbers and collective references a voice, a name, and a face.  I enjoy learning different things about history in everything I read, and that’s why this book is so powerful.