Sydney Loch

Born in 1889, Sydney Loch was an Australian writer and Gallipoli veteran whose best-known work, The Straits Impregnable, drew on his wartime experience. The book was described as a fictionalised autobiography, and later editions appeared under the title To Hell and Back.

After the war, he and his wife, Joice NanKivell Loch, became deeply involved in humanitarian work. They worked with Quaker relief efforts in Poland, then went to Greece after the burning of Smyrna and helped refugees near Thessaloniki before settling in Ouranoupoli, where they supported local village life and industry.

Loch also wrote other books, including works connected with Greece and Mount Athos. He died in 1954, remembered not only as an author shaped by war, but also as part of a remarkable partnership devoted to practical help for displaced people.