Edward Francis Lynch (7 August 1897 – 12 September 1980) was a soldier in the Australian Imperial Force who saw action in the First World War on the Western Front between 1916 and 1919.

He sailed in August 1916 on board the ship Wiltshire in the 12th Brigade reinforcements who arrived in France in the weeks after the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) suffered tremendous casualties at Pozières.

With the Germans in retreat from August in the face of the Hundred Days Offensive, movement and progress began to quicken and the 45th and 48th Battalions pushed through Harbonnieres.

Things quietened considerably throughout October 1918 and although the Armistice was declared on 11 November, the 45th Battalion – at that stage fifty miles behind the front line – were not informed of the war's end until the next day.

The 4th Division stood-by throughout November and December 1918 for duties as part of the Army of Occupation but in February they began to demobilise in order of their tenure since enlistment.

During his time as Commanding Officer of an Australian Jungle Training School in World War II he typed up the manuscript with the aim of having it published.

The actions of Nulla, Longun, Dark, Snow, Farmer, The Prof, Yacob and Jacko in looking out for each other beyond the omnipresent death and fear are consistently described.

"[3] Lynch does not lament his lost youth and innocence but in fact during the narrative grows in wisdom and wit whilst evidently developing considerable skills as a professional soldier.

He often comments on the sadness of the lonely deaths of the young men laid in a land far from home and kin and poignantly quotes the Australian blind poet digger Tom Skeyhill.