T. A. G. Hungerford
| Tom Hungerford | |
|---|---|
| Born |
5 May 1915 Perth, Western Australia |
| Died | 19 June 2011 (aged 96) Perth, Western Australia |
| Pen name | T.A.G. Hungerford |
| Notable works | Stories from Suburban Road |
| Notable awards | Member of the Order of Australia 1988 Patrick White Award 2002 |
Thomas Arthur Guy Hungerford, AM (5 May 1915 – 19 June 2011), popularly known as T. A. G. Hungerford, was an Australian writer, noted for his World War II novel The Ridge and the River, and his short stories that chronicle growing up in South Perth, Western Australia during the Great Depression.
Hungerford was born in Perth, Western Australia on 5 May 1915. He grew up in South Perth, known then as the Queen Suburb, when the area was semi-rural, with market gardens.
Hungerford served with the Australian Army in Darwin, New Guinea, Bougainville, Morotai and with the Occupation Forces in Japan. He was a sergeant in 2/8 Australian Commando Squadron.
In 2005 the ABC's 7.30 Report reported his "unflinching depictions of jungle fighting are acknowledged as some of the best writing to come out of the war". Hungerford told the program he wasn't a hero: "I was one of a group of men all doing the same bloody thing. Sticking the head up, hoping to Christ it wouldn't be shot off." He left the army in 1947.
After the war, Hungerford was a press secretary for Billy Hughes for three weeks. Upon leaving, Hungerford wrote to Hughes: "I will never work for you again. I'd rather go to bed with a sabre-toothed tiger". He then joined the Australia News and Information Bureau, and afterwards was a freelancer. He later worked as a press secretary to Western Australian Premiers John Tonkin and Sir Charles Court.
Hungerford began writing as a teenager and had his first published short story in 1942 in the Sydney Bulletin. His first volume of short fiction, Stories from Suburban Road, depict life during the Great Depression in the Perth riverside suburb of South Perth.
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