As Anzac Days come and go, the gulf between our comfortable modern-day lives – global pandemic aside – and the veterans we honour can feel ever-increasing, our responses to war dulled by the 24-hour news cycle and the seeming remoteness of combat zones. Every now and then, however, something personal pops up, reminding us of a family connection. Or maybe some contemporary trauma suggests events back when society’s way of dealing with the pain was often for everyone – victims included – to bury our collective heads in the sand and keep shtum.

Tom Donald. Photo © Sara Shamsavari

Such was the case when award-winning London-based Australian composer and pianist Tom Donald found himself reflecting on his late grandfather who suffered harrowing experiences during WWII in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). As a radar mechanic in the Pacific War, Maxwell Donald served in Morotai, one of the Maluku Islands about 300 miles northwest of Sansapor, New Guinea. On his return, he would suffered all his life from what we now call post-traumatic stress. His last words to his son before he died were “no more wars… never again”.

Tom Donald’s new work,