The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli

The many lives and tragic death of Harry Freame

Adventurer, soldier, orchardist and interpreter. These were the first things I learnt about Harry Freame. After 18 months of researching his life, I can now add spy, devoted father and forgotten hero to the list.

I am not entirely sure what I was looking for when I stumbled across Harry’s entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, but that description - adventurer, soldier, orchardist and interpreter – was compelling.

And then learning that the man who had a legitimate claim to being the most famous Anzac soldier of his day was laying in an unmarked grave – just a bare patch of grass – in a Sydney cemetery, entirely forgotten by a nation that holds itself to the standard of never forgetting the Anzacs, was the point that I knew I had to write a book about Harry Freame.

Born in Nagasaki in 1880, from the first documented marriage between a foreigner and a Japanese woman, and raised as a Samurai, Harry Freame’s life was one full of adventure and intrigue. From his landing at Gallipoli to his eventual demise as the first Australian intelligence agent killed while on active duty – a fact never acknowledged or honoured by the Australian government – Harry’s life is a story that needed to be told.

In writing Harry’s story, I was taken back to the birth of modern Japan, the troubled relationship between Australia and Japan, the corrupt disaster of the soldier settlement schemes post-World War I, and the fear-filled days of 1940 when war with Japan loomed.

The more I learnt about Harry and his remarkable life, the more I wondered why some people are lost to history while others never fade. And I wondered if it is ever too late to return remarkable people to their rightful place in history.

Today I am proud to reveal the cover for The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli – The many lives and tragic death of Harry Freame.

To celebrate, I am running a giveaway for readers in Australia. You can now pre-order The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli and go in the draw to win a free copy of my first book, The Ballad of Abdul Wade. To enter all you have to do is send proof of purchase in the form of a receipt or screenshot to me at ryanbutta@gmail.com and be following @ryan.butta on Instagram. There are ten books up for grabs.

I will announce the winners on Thursday 4 July.

Pre-order your copy here.