Lynette Silver


Lynette Ramsay Silver is an Australian historian and author. She has written a number of books dealing with Australian history. In particular many of her works deal with military history.

Career

Her first book published in 1986, A Fool's Gold?, deals with the first discoveries of payable gold in Australia and was written after she discovered archival documents "lost" for 134 years. Her next book, The Battle of Vinegar Hill, first published in 1989, is the first full account of the Irish insurrection Castle Hill convict rebellion of 1804. Sandakan - A Conspiracy of Silence, published in 1998, uncovered the fate of 2428 Australian and British prisoners of war who died at the Sandakan POW Camp in Borneo or on one of the death marches, and investigated the coverup of a failed rescue mission Operation Kingfisher. 2004's The Bridge at Parit Sulong is an investigation into the massacre of allied prisoners by Japanese soldiers in Malaya in 1942. Further books, mainly related to military history, followed.
Silver was awarded an honorary Medal of the Order of Australia in 2004 for "service to veterans and their families, particularly as an organiser of battlefield tours and commemorative services". She was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2019 Australia Day Honours for "significant service to the community through historical battlefield tours and commemorative services".

Personal life

She is married and has two children and three grandchildren.

Books