Overview
Private Thomas Leadbeater Turvey is nobody’s idea of a capable recruit. Shifted from regimental pillar to post, Turvey tries and fails at every odd job in the army with a remarkable genius for mishap.
A casualty before he has a chance to see action, Turvey watches the maimed and dying return from the front; thus Earle Birney’s comic masterpiece becomes an unforgettable indictment of war.
Turvey won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour in 1949.
From the publisher: Private Thomas Leadbeater Turvey is nobody's idea of a capable recruit. Shifted from regimental pillar to post, Turvey tries and fails at every odd job in the army with a remarkable genius for mishap. A casualty before he has a chance to see action, Turvey watches the maimed and dying return from the front;thus Earle Birney's comic masterpiece becomes an unforgettable indictment of war. (Afterword by Al Purdy).