Breaking the road for the Rest

First Edition, vii,206p., 8p. of plates : maps ; 22cm. #0519

Donovan Joynt (1889-1986) enlisted in Melbourne in May 1915. Posted to France as an officer, he was wounded in September 1916. In an attack at Herleville Wood on 23 August 1918, with his own company commander dead, and the leading battalion shaken and reduced by heavy losses, Joynt took charge. At one point he located the source of heavy machine-gun fire from a wood and led a bayonet attack on it. He continued to fight and provide vital leadership and inspiration until wounded by a shell.

After the war Joynt founded a printing and publishing company in Melbourne. He served again during the Second World War. A prominent veteran, he was aged 97 when he died.

Joynt, William Donovan, 1889-. | Australia. Army. Australian Imperial Force (1914-1921) — Biography. | Soldiers — Australia — Biography. | World War, 1914-1918 — Biography. | Victoria Cross — Biography.