Born in 1946 at Mackay, Queensland, Australia, the author is the third eldest of ten children registered at birth to Arnold Bradford and Margaret Isabella Bedford. Removed from primary school at the age of 13 years, the author cut sugarcane for the family and a neighbour at Karremal, south from Mackay, until his parents sold the farm two years later. Unhappy with the decision, the author left the family at the age of 15 years and set out on his own, working principally as a farmhand and sugarcane-cutter by hand, but part-time also as a stockman. Desirous of serving his country and state, the author joined the Citizens Military Forces at 17 years, then the Queensland Police Force two years later, serving thereafter the length and breadth of Queensland from 1966 to 1997, a period of 31 years.
