author
Rita Macleod
A writer from Brisbane whose work captured the energy, patriotism, and practical effort of women on the home front during the First World War. Her best-known book offers a vivid contemporary record of volunteer work done in support of soldiers.
1 Audiobook
For the Sake of the Soldier: Voluntary Work of Brisbane Women
by Rita Macleod
About the author
Rita Macleod is known for For the Sake of the Soldier: Voluntary Work of Brisbane Women, a book published during the First World War that documents how women in Brisbane organized support for soldiers and their families. Because it was written so close to the events it describes, the book now reads as both a piece of history and a firsthand snapshot of wartime civic life.
Records also show that she was active in other literary and cultural work in Australia. AustLit notes that she compiled For the Sake of the Soldier and wrote the words for The Flying Song in 1920, with music by Herbert Clarke.
Not much biographical detail about her life was easy to confirm from reliable public sources, but her surviving work still stands out for the way it preserves the voices and efforts of women whose contributions were often left out of larger war histories.