Albert Barnett Facey (31 August 1894 – 11 February 1982), publishing as A. B. Facey, was an Australian writer and

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

veteran, whose main work was his autobiography, ''

A Fortunate Life ''A Fortunate Life'' is an autobiography by Albert Facey published in 1981, nine months before his death. It chronicles his early life in Western Australia, his experiences as a private during the Gallipoli campaign of World War I and his re ...

'', now considered a classic of

Australian literature Australian literature is the literature, written or literary work produced in the area or by the people of the Australia, Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding colonies. During its early Western culture, Western history, Australia was a ...

. , it has sold over one million copies and was the subject of a television mini-series.

Early life

Facey was born in

Maidstone, Victoria Maidstone ( ) is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located with the City of Maribyrnong local government area. Maidstone recorded a population of 9,389 at the . The suburb ...

, the son of Joseph Facey and Mary Ann Facey, née Carr. In 1896, when Albert was two years old, his father died of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

on the

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...

goldfields in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. In 1898, Albert's mother left for Western Australia to care for her older children, who had accompanied their father to the goldfields, leaving her younger children, including Albert, in the care of their grandmother. His grandfather died in 1898 and, a year later, the grandmother, Jane Carr (née Barnett), moved from Barkers Creek near

Castlemaine, Victoria Castlemaine ( , Variation in Australian English, non-locally also ) is a town in west central Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region of Victoria, Goldfields region about 123 kilometres (76 miles) northwest by road ...

, to Kalgoorlie, with Albert and his siblings, Roy (born 1890), Eric (born 1889) and Myra (born 1892). Facey began his working life around 1902, aged eight, and hardly ever lived with his family again. He was never able to attend school, but managed to teach himself to read and write when he was in his teens. On his first job as a farm boy, his employer subjected Facey to virtual slavery and violent beatings with a horse whip. After sustaining months of such abuse, Albert escaped by walking over through the bush, luckily finding the camp of some new settlers. Although the police were informed of the abuse, his employer was never prosecuted. The scars on his back and neck from the injuries Facey had sustained remained evident for the rest of his life. In 1908, Facey's mother remarried and, at her request, he moved to Subiaco, a suburb of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, to live with her and her second husband, a plumber named Arthur "Bill" Downie. However, he only stayed a short time before accepting work back in rural Western Australia. Thereafter, Facey and his mother saw each other sporadically until she died suddenly in September 1914, aged 51. His childhood in Western Australia was spent in areas such as

Narrogin Narrogin is a town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, Western Australia, Perth on the Great Southern Highway between Pingelly, Western Australia, Pingelly and Wagin, Western Australia, Wagin. In the age of st ...

Bruce Rock Bruce Rock is a town in the eastern Wheatbelt (Western Australia), Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, approximately east of Perth and southwest of Merredin, Western Australia, Merredin. It is the main town in the Shire of Bruce Rock. His ...

, Merredin, Yealering, Wickepin,

Pingelly Pingelly is a town and shire located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, from Perth via the Brookton Highway and Great Southern Highway. The town is also located on the Great Southern railway line. The surrounding areas produce w ...

, and at ''Cave Rock'', near Popanyinning, which he writes about in Chapter 2 of ''

''. By the age of 14, he was an experienced farm labourer and bushman and, at 20, he became a professional boxer with a troupe that toured South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. His boxing career continued until he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in January 1915.

War service

Facey joined the AIF on 4 January 1915, not long after the outbreak of

. He travelled to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

as an infantryman with the 11th Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement, aboard the troopship and fought during the Gallipoli Campaign, including the battle of Leane's Trench. Much of his autobiography relates to the horror he endured during his wartime service and his vivid recollections of the plight of the ANZAC diggers at Gallipoli. Two of his older brothers, Roy Barker Facey (1890–1915) and Joseph Thomas Facey (1883–1915) were killed during the campaign. In his book, Facey tells of being wounded on more than one occasion at Gallipoli. On 19 August 1915although Facey "was uncertain about dates" that culminated in a shell exploding near him, from which he received severe internal injuries and wounds to his leg. However, his war records show no evidence of being wounded, only of heart trouble. The records make no mention of any ordnance exploding near any 11th Battalion troops on (or about) 19 August. After a week in reserve, the 11th Battalion was redistributed between the 9th and 10th Battalions at

Anzac The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

on 18 August. Facey was invalided back to Australia on the ship , which left

Port Suez The Suez Port (also called Port Tawfiq) is an Egyptian port located at the northern tip of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea at southern entrance of the Suez Canal, serving the canal and the city of Suez. It is owned and operated by the Ministry of ...

on 31 October 1915.

Family life and career

Marriage

After being returned to Australia, Facey met Evelyn Mary Gibson (1897–1976), whom he married at Bunbury on 24 August 1916. They were happily married for nearly 60 years before Evelyn died on 3 August 1976. He mourned her for the rest of his life. The couple had seven children, born between 1919 and 1939. After he returned from the war, Facey worked as a tram driver (1916–1922). He became an active campaigner for improved conditions for Australian returned servicemen. The family lived at Victoria Park, before returning with their children to farm at Wickepin, from 1922 to 1934. After his time at Wickepin, Facey returned to Perth and worked as a trolleybus driver (1934–1946). He spent the rest of his working life as a successful, self-employed poultry and pig farmer and businessman (1947–1958) in areas such as

Tuart Hill ''Eucalyptus gomphocephala'', known as tuart, is a species of tree and is one of the six forest giants of Southwest Australia. The trees usually grow to a height of and mostly have a single stem, but can have multiple stems under some condit ...

Wanneroo Wanneroo is a northern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo. Geography As it is on the Swan Coastal Plain, the Wanneroo wetlands stretch parallel to the coastline and to the north and south of the suburb. Ed ...

, Gosnells and Mount Helena near Mundaring. Facey was active in public life and was well-known in his community from the 1920s until he retired in the late 1950s. He was president of the Perth Tramways Union for five years and later an elected member of local government and the Perth Roads Board for over 20 years, and a justice of the peace.

Loss of son

Facey's eldest son, also named Albert Barnett Facey, but known as Barney, 1919–1942, joined the Second AIF during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and served with the 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion. On 15 March 1942, he died in a bombing raid during the

Battle of Singapore The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. S ...

against the Japanese Army. While his family were aware that he was missing in action, his death was not confirmed until May 1945. Facey stated in his memoirs that, although he and his wife had assumed their son had been killed, they had not given up hope. After that wait of over three years, his wife's health deteriorated to such an extent that she suffered a major stroke. Two other sons, Joseph and George, also served in the Australian Army in World War II, both seeing action in New Guinea. They returned home safely at the end of 1945.

Later health

Facey attributed his later health problems to war injuries received at Gallipoli, including old bullet wounds and a ruptured spleen, even though his war records contain no evidence of his being injured during his war service. He arrived at Gallipoli on 7 May 1915, after which the only problem with his health was "heart trouble" (

tachycardia Tachycardia, also called tachyarrhythmia, is a heart rate that exceeds the normal resting rate. In general, a resting heart rate over 100 beats per minute is accepted as tachycardia in adults. Heart rates above the resting rate may be normal ...

), diagnosed at Gallipoli on 19 August, which was the reason for his repatriation to Australia in October 1915. He did not re-enlist. Facey suffered a major heart attack in 1958 (aged 64), and retired.

Memoirs and fame

Facey began making notes on his life and, at the urging of his wife and children, eventually had the notes compiled into a book. He completed his memoirs in 1977, on his 83rd birthday. Two years later, at 85, he learnt that his autobiography, ''A Fortunate Life'', had been approved for publication. It was published in 1981, just nine months before his death. Although Facey was delighted that his life story was appreciated on such a grand scale, his health was rapidly declining and he was losing his eyesight. He also needed a wheelchair due to a broken hip. His book became a best-seller, and won New South Wales Premier's Literary Award for non-fiction, as well as the National Book Council Prize. During the final six months of his life, Facey became a national celebrity and was nominated for the

Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Government-owned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the state and territor ...

award in 1981.

Death

While in an aged care facility at Midland due to his broken hip, Facey died of natural causes on 11 February 1982, aged 87, and his body was buried at the local

Midland Cemetery Midland Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Swan view in Perth, Western Australia. In earlier times it was known as the Midland Junction Cemetery due to its control by the local council of that name. It is currently administ ...

. He was survived by six of his seven children and 28 grandchildren.

Television adaptation

His novel ''A Fortunate Life'' was made into a four-part television film in 1985, based on Facey's life between 1897 and 1916. The cast included Bill Hunter,

Val Lehman Valerie Kathleen Lehman (née Willis; born 15 March 1943) is an Australian actress and director, best known locally and internationally for her role as the antagonist "Top Dog" and self-styled Queen Bea Smith in the Australian TV series ''Pr ...

and

Ray Meagher Raymond Francis Meagher (born 4 July 1944) is an Australian actor, who has appeared in Australian film and television since the mid-1970s. He is notable as the longest continuing performer in an Australian television role, portraying Alf Ste ...

Legacy

Facey's homestead in Wickepin has been turned into a tourist attraction. A government building, Albert Facey House, on

Forrest Place Forrest Place is a pedestrianised square located within the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. The street was created in 1923, and has a history of being a focal point for significant political meetings and demonstrations ...

in Perth, was named in his honour. It houses the Public Utilities Office of the Department of Finance, as well as other agencies. His name is also borne by the Albert Facey Memorial Library in Mundaring, Facey Road in Gnangara, Albert Facey Street in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

, and a motel in

. Barney Street in

Glendalough Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead min ...

is named after his late son. The manuscripts of ''A Fortunate Life'' are housed in the Special Collections of the University of Western Australia Library.