TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN Chap Summary
TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN Chap Summary
TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN Chap Summary
Chapter 1 (pp1-16)
Starts in present. Ellie is writing their story- wants to record what happened. Someone needs to know what
they did p2. Recounts how camping trip came to be organised (parents state must have 6-8 if boys going).
Introduced to main characters- Ellie, Corrie, Homer Yanos, Robyn Mathers, Fi, Kevin, Lee and Chris Lang
(descriptions on pp11-16). Going camping at Tailors Stitch- decide this time that they will try to get down
into Hell. P9- clue- angry face on the news criticising the Foreign Minister the people hes dealing with
they respect strength not weakness.
Group leaves the day before Commemoration Day (national holiday). Consequently, they will miss the
Wirrawee Show. Irony- A years break from the Show wouldnt do us any harm. P18 2:30pm reach top of
Tailors Stitch (near Mt Martin). Can see Cobblers Bay. Clue- two ships in distance, one looks like a large
trawler. 5pm- start descending into Hell. Giant granite steps prove difficult until Robin crawls through a tunnel
and finds a wooden bridge.
Chapter 3 (pp29-33) P32- description of Hell. Walk down track and set up camp. Go to bed
Chapter 4 (pp34-44)
Commemoration Day. Have a lazy day. Snake crawls into Homers sleeping bag. Around 3am-4am Ellie sees
and hears jets (6 lots) whilst going to toilet. (Not until they leave Hell to return home that she realises their
lights were off). Pp38-40. Now a new atmosphere. The next day, Lee and Robyn report that they heard
dozens and dozens. Pp40-41- group discusses possibilities- best time to invade. Homer develops crush on Fi.
Ellie reflects on humans, Hell and labels. Pp 43-44
Chapter 5 (pp45-55)
Group have enjoyed 5 days camping in Hell. Only a couple of minor arguments. Have been too lazy to return
to the Landie to get food. Pack up and find path out of Hell. Ends at gum tree- looks like animal track- no one
would ever find it. Cant see coast because of low cloud. Ellie very uneasy. Clue- 6 fires in distance, 2 are
quite big. Lee also uneasy. P54- Ellie hasnt been happy since (story moves to present again)
Chapter 6 (pp56-68)
Opens with dramatic sentence- The dogs were dead. Only Millie is alive (but weak). No signs that anyone
has been living in Ellies house for past week. Clue- no electricity, radio stations or dial tone. Homers house
is the same. Lee hides the Landie out of instinct. P62- group starts to realise the truth. Ellie refuses to accept at
first. Decide not to call for help on the RF radio. Robyn is rational- makes plans to check other houses.
P68- Lee emphasises that the country is at war.
Chapter 7 (pp69-92)
Wait for darkness before going to Kevins. His dog Flip is ecstatic. Take 3 bicycles from Kevins. Go to
Corries. Find fax from Corries dad- p73- warning them to go bush and stay there. Ellie hasnt cried since.
Get 4th bike. 1am- ride to Robyns (outskirts of town). Homer suggests they split up- 5 free better than none
p75. Homer & Fi- go to her place. Robyn & Lee- Lees place. Corrie, Kevin and Ellie- check out
showgrounds. P82- Ellie realises that shes become a more complicated and capable person. Hide behind
gum- see soldiers and one third of ground. Manage to retreat to last tree in car park before spotted and fired
upon. Retreat to Mrs Alexanders (ex-boyfriends place). Ellie leads Kevin and Corrie to dead end. Find
matches in car and Kevin soaks t-shirt in petrol from ride on mower. Hide behind fence. Ellie moans/sobs- lures
3 soldiers close. Drops match to light mower (almost goes out) - massive explosion. Injures/kills soldiers.
Robyn & Lee missing. 3:35am- leave and return to Corries.
Chapter 8 (pp93-104)
P95- Ellie has changed after what happened. Group has breakfast and recounts experiences. P96- Homer
decides that in war normal rules dont apply. Homer & Fi- tell group that the main street had seen action-
blood and bullet cartridges. Shops looted- looks like riot was there. Almost caught- had to hide in male toilets.
8 soldiers- not professional soldiers. Rough uniforms. Various ages. 3 females. P100. To invade country size of
Australia- would need everyone. Fi saw shadows- others who havent been caught. They run away. Some
houses damaged/destroyed by bombs. Group retreats to shearing quarters- safer. Decide the enemy doesnt
have the manpower to search entire district in one day. Take turns at sentry duty. P104- Homer changing-
displaying leadership skills, fast thinking.
Chapter 9 (pp105-122)
Ellie on sentry duty in tree house. Corrie sits with her- reminisce about childhood. P107- never feels safe
again. Innocence gone. Wirrawee a good base to invade- harbour and highway p108 Homer joins them- see
Australian jet. Chased by 3 enemy jets. Have lunch in house. Pp109-110- Homer acts as leader. Suggests he
and Ellie go to find Robyn and Lee whilst the others load the Landie and Toyota with supplies from 3 houses.
Leave for Hell at dawn- future is in Hell (p111). Whilst group is arguing over what to take, helicopter hovers
over house (p114). Group watches it from behind curtains- not sure if theyve been seen. Worried that Flip may
have aroused suspicion. Move to shearing quarters- decide to wait until dark to return to Corries house. Will
leave Toyota- will arouse suspicion now. 90 secs after jet arrives- fires two rockets. One hits house and
destroys it. Second slams into hill (was probably meant for shearing quarters). Flip missing. Pp119-120
Chapter 10 (pp122-140)
Corrie traumatised. Throw water on her, wrap her in blankets. Doesnt want Homer and Ellie to go. Homer
says they cant crawl under a bed. Ellie feels attracted to Homer- wants to discover more about the new
Homer. Hold hands as they ride bikes. Arrive in town- cant remember where theyre meeting Robyn & Lee.
Can see lights on in hospital. At Robyns, see movement in window. Door creaks loudly as they enter. Hear
footstep- drop to floor. Hear bolt being drawn back in breech. Ellie screams, Robyn! Lee shot in calf. P131-
soldier description. Saw Mr Clement (dentist) - had family hidden somewhere and few dozen hiding. Chased
into newsagency, Lee shot. Robyn throws photocopier through rear door. Carries Lee out on her back. Mr
Clement stitched leg. Develop plan to rescue Lee- take bulldozer. Element of surprise.
Chapter 11 (141-155) 3:05am- Ellie puts on helmet. Homer will meet them later in Three Pig Lane with car.
3:10am- starts ignition. Turns on lights (had argued about this). Arrives at restaurant. Lowers shovel- sparks hit
ground. Lee in shovel. Robyn in passenger door. Initially driving in reverse. Ellie- cut to head. Chased and
shot at. Hit jeep (later learns that soldiers killed) when brake suddenly. Second jeep shoots some tyres out.
Block lane with bulldozer. Homer meets them with BMW. Swap cars at Chris Langs. Take Merc. Sink BMW
in dam. As they cheer Chris emerges- has been hiding in animal shed. P153- soldier description. P154-
description of Chris. Chris hadnt gone to Show. When Murray (employee) didnt return, went for walk-
uncles house blown up. 3 dead bodies in a car. Has since watched two patrols loot house.
Chapter 12 (pp156-165) P160- attachment to places. Get to Ellies. Rest for day in haystack. Lee puts arm
around Ellie. Has dream about him. They kiss. She is confused about her feelings for Lee and Homer. Return
to Hell. Ellie sleeps for 3 days. Have nightmares.
Chapter 13 (pp166-178) Corrie finally finds radio stations (after realising she had been using the wrong
frequency). Australia only country invaded. America warned not to intervene or would have costly and bloody
war. Enemy defends invasion- addressing imbalances in the region The group debates the validity of this
statement p170-1 Group decides to do reconnaissance around town- need to know families are safe. Robyn,
Chris, Kevin and Corrie go for a couple of days. Lee, Ellie, Fi and Homer get more supplies (e.g. chickens,
seedlings). They realise the situation may go on for quite some time.
Chapter 14 (pp179-190) Steady stream of enemy aircraft. Lees leg is improving. He tries to talk to Ellie
about her feelings for him. She feels unsure and gets defensive. Ellie needs to get away for awhile. She
wanders up the creek- see where it leads. Crawls under overgrowing bushes etc. Finds the Hermits hut.
Chapter 15 (pp191-209)
Fi and Ellie discuss Homer. Fi likes him but is worried he likes her too much and might dominate. Ellie
advises her to take a chance- better than wondering what might have been. Ellie takes Lee to the Hermits hut.
They find a metal tin concealed in the window ledge. Contains newspaper articles, coroners report, letters etc.
The Hermit had won a war medal for bravery. Coroners report- the Hermits wife and child died on 24
December. Both received gunshots to the head but had also been victims of a fire. Coroner unable to determine
if the Hermit did it in cold blooded murder or if they were victims of the bushfire and he shot them to put them
out of their misery (no medical staff).
Chapter 16 (pp210-219) Letter from the Hermits mother-in-law. Believes his story. We learn that gossip
from the town was awful- perhaps the reason why he left and hid in Hell. Ellie decides to give relationship
with Lee a chance- doesnt want to live a life without love, happiness etc like the Hermit did. Fi and Homer
wait at the top of Hell for Robyn, Kevin, Corrie and Chris to return. Ellie returns to Lee. She pauses and reflects
on the nature of humans- that humans can do acts of good/bad too. Ellie reflects on the damage that she has
done to the soldiers. Wonders if her actions are justified. P216
Chapter 17 (pp220-235) Robyn, Chris, Corrie and Kevin return. Their trip went well. Learn that their
families and the people in the Showgrounds are being treated reasonably well. The Hospital is running. Work
parties (3-4) leave the Showgrounds each day- search houses, clean up, bury people. Preparing town etc for
arrival of new inhabitants. Ellie learns that two soldiers died after the mower exploded. Two soldiers in the car
that Ellie ran over in the bulldozer also died. The group hid in the houses working parties were about to enter.
They would then question them to find out new information. Robyn had a close call in one of the houses.
Chapter 18 (pp236-243) They consider their future. Homer states that they have a few optionshide in Hell
and do nothing (families would want this), they can try to rescue their families (very dangerous) or they can try
to help their soldiers/country. The group eventually decides to do something. They decide to investigate
whether they can do sabotage the road from Cobblers Bay (main supply route for enemy from ships). Homer,
Fi, Ellie and Lee will investigate the following night.
Chapter 19 (pp244-254) Lee, Homer, Fi and Ellie watch the road from Cobblers Bay at midnight. They are
almost caught by 10 professional soldiers when the soldiers flash their torches at a rabbit. They watch the road
for an hour. One convoy comes through. They retreat to the Fleets property at 4am. Homer suggests that
they blow up the bridge. He suggests that Ellie steals a petrol tanker and they use it to destroy the old bridge.
Homer decides that he and Lee will create a distraction by mustering a herd of nearby Hereford cattle. As they
stampede across the bridge, the soldiers will be too busy avoiding them (climbing up the sides) and not
watching Ellie and Fi. That afternoon the group prepares. They get motorbikes, bolt cutters and walkie talkies.
Chapter 20 (pp255-265) Ellie and Fi steal a petrol tanker from Blue Star Fuel. Ellie has difficulty driving it at
first- everything starts beeping which makes too much noise. Ellie and Fi are forced to abandon the tanker at
one point when a patrol of soldiers approach. Ellie and Fi move the truck into the shadows of the trees at the
park.
Chapter 21 (pp266-273)
The walkie talkies fail to work. Homer and Lee herd the cattle anyway. Ellie hears the cattle and springs into
action. She parks the tanker under the bridge. Ellie soaks a long rope in the petrol and trails it to the trees
where Fi will light it. She is covered in petrol and feeling dizzy. As the last of the cattle disappears, the
soldiers finally notice the girls. They shoot frantically at Ellie who remains focused on her job. Homer is later
amazed that she wasnt shot. Fi lights the rope. The soldiers are initially confused but soon react by running
off. The bridge explodes. Fi and Ellie escape on the bikes. They do wheelies on the seventh green at the golf
course to celebrate.
Chapter 22 (pp274-282)
Fi, Ellie, Homer and Lee return to Fleets. Rest for day. Recount stories. Homer and Lee unsure what to do-
hadnt been another convoy. Decide to go ahead. Homer ends up hissing to move cattle. Dont know how Ellie
wasnt shot. Describe explosion. Have enjoyable afternoon. Ellie later states that she should felt a premonition
p279. Leave for farm at 10pm. Get to machinery shed. Corrie lying therepale. Shot in back when she went
with Kevin to his uncles place to get some ferrets. Decide her only hope is going to hospital. Homer suggests
that they leave her at gate, ring bell and run off. Kevin refuses to- his mate. Drives off in Merc with Corrie.
Epilogue (pp283-284) One week later. Group hasnt left Hell. Have improved chook cage etc. Reflects on
human nature again.