The Aerodrome Forum - View Single Post - The ANZACs- myth and reality

Pete Hill · 4 February 2008, 05:42 AM

Two years ago, Australian author Les Carlyon published 'The Great War', a history of the Australian army's campaign on the Western Front 1916-18. This was the follow-up from his previous companion volume 'Gallipoli', published in 2000, now acclaimed as one of the best books on the Dardenelles campaign.
'The Great War' is a wonderfully written book and Les, who also works as a journalist and commentator on economics and politics down here, has a great gift for bringing people alive in history. The final line of the book surprised me and then made me think. When finally summing up the soldiers of the AIF, he concludes '...and we never really knew them.'
Les has raised an important point. Too often, in this country, the realities and truths of the ANZACs experiences has been clouded, distorted and over-bombarded by legend and myth-making. The industry responsible for the latter is still going strong and every year, on Anzac Day (April 25th), the media still repeats the same tired myths and grand-standing it has been ever since 1918.
Les, in stark contrast to too many other Australian historians, has put the experiences and achievements of Australian troops in proper context, also outlining the same of the other Allied troops. Far too many Aussies still believe that Australian troops were the only ones at Gallipoli, ignoring the fact that French, Indian and English troops suffered far more casualties than we did.
The Anzac legend has built up the Australian soldier of the Great War as being a kind of superhuman and natural-born warriors with no need for any professionalism or spit and polish. One writer, writing in the 1980s, stated with a straight face that the Australians at Gallipoli had proved themselves to be 'the best assault troops in all history'. As one brave critic noted, if that was the case, why did we lose?
One of the cornerstones of the Anzac legend is the incredible conceit, promoted more by journalists and historians than the soldiers themselves, that Australians were the best allied troops of the war. In the late 1990s, one of the last surviving veterans of the Western Front had his thoughts on the war published in one of our major newspapers. The statements he made were ill-informed, arrogant, conceited and xenophobic. He referred to the French as 'cowardly', the English Tommies as 'useless' and the Americans as 'Johnny-come-latelys'. He then went on to claim that the Australians and the Scots were the only soldiers feared by the Germans. Were an international historian to make such statements, he would be shot down in flames quicker than an FE2. But because he was an Anzac (and old), we were required to bow our heads before his words.
Legend and truth rarely like each other. Legend fears truth because it fears the latter takes away all that is worthy of admiration and respect. Not true. You can get a fuller picture of history and still love and admire the people for what they endured. Many of the realities don't match the legend and these are often conveniently not mentioned. Such as the fact that nearly half of the Anzacs who landed at Gallipoli on April 25th 1915 were European-born, mostly from the UK. Another is the fact that the most famous hero of the battle, Private John Simpson who carried wounded men under fire on his little donkey, was actually a Cockney from London's East-end who had only lived in Australia for 4 years before the war started. Another is that the first crucial few hours of the April 25th landing met only light resistance from a small company of Turks and it was confusion, in-experience and hesitation that prevented the Australians from gaining more than a small toe-hold that first day.
If we were such natural warriors, why did the Australian public vote 'NO' in two referendums held during the war on whether we should introduce conscription. Many young men of military age in Australia never joined up and happily endured the hostile stares from passers-by and the white feathers in the mail. By 1918, the flow of replacements to France was down to a trickle and by October, the five Australian divisions were all seriously under-strength. If the war had progressed into 1919, we would have run desperately short of infantry.
The Anzac legend lives on, stronger than ever. Heres to more books like Les' so that we can better understand the real experiences of these men and come to see them as humans like ourselves, not some mythical super-warriors. Maybe we will someday get to know them.

4 February 2008, 05:42 AM	#1 (permalink)
Pete Hill Two-seater Pilot Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Murtoa Vic. Australia Posts: 137	The ANZACs- myth and reality Two years ago, Australian author Les Carlyon published 'The Great War', a history of the Australian army's campaign on the Western Front 1916-18. This was the follow-up from his previous companion volume 'Gallipoli', published in 2000, now acclaimed as one of the best books on the Dardenelles campaign. 'The Great War' is a wonderfully written book and Les, who also works as a journalist and commentator on economics and politics down here, has a great gift for bringing people alive in history. The final line of the book surprised me and then made me think. When finally summing up the soldiers of the AIF, he concludes '...and we never really knew them.' Les has raised an important point. Too often, in this country, the realities and truths of the ANZACs experiences has been clouded, distorted and over-bombarded by legend and myth-making. The industry responsible for the latter is still going strong and every year, on Anzac Day (April 25th), the media still repeats the same tired myths and grand-standing it has been ever since 1918. Les, in stark contrast to too many other Australian historians, has put the experiences and achievements of Australian troops in proper context, also outlining the same of the other Allied troops. Far too many Aussies still believe that Australian troops were the only ones at Gallipoli, ignoring the fact that French, Indian and English troops suffered far more casualties than we did. The Anzac legend has built up the Australian soldier of the Great War as being a kind of superhuman and natural-born warriors with no need for any professionalism or spit and polish. One writer, writing in the 1980s, stated with a straight face that the Australians at Gallipoli had proved themselves to be 'the best assault troops in all history'. As one brave critic noted, if that was the case, why did we lose? One of the cornerstones of the Anzac legend is the incredible conceit, promoted more by journalists and historians than the soldiers themselves, that Australians were the best allied troops of the war. In the late 1990s, one of the last surviving veterans of the Western Front had his thoughts on the war published in one of our major newspapers. The statements he made were ill-informed, arrogant, conceited and xenophobic. He referred to the French as 'cowardly', the English Tommies as 'useless' and the Americans as 'Johnny-come-latelys'. He then went on to claim that the Australians and the Scots were the only soldiers feared by the Germans. Were an international historian to make such statements, he would be shot down in flames quicker than an FE2. But because he was an Anzac (and old), we were required to bow our heads before his words. Legend and truth rarely like each other. Legend fears truth because it fears the latter takes away all that is worthy of admiration and respect. Not true. You can get a fuller picture of history and still love and admire the people for what they endured. Many of the realities don't match the legend and these are often conveniently not mentioned. Such as the fact that nearly half of the Anzacs who landed at Gallipoli on April 25th 1915 were European-born, mostly from the UK. Another is the fact that the most famous hero of the battle, Private John Simpson who carried wounded men under fire on his little donkey, was actually a Cockney from London's East-end who had only lived in Australia for 4 years before the war started. Another is that the first crucial few hours of the April 25th landing met only light resistance from a small company of Turks and it was confusion, in-experience and hesitation that prevented the Australians from gaining more than a small toe-hold that first day. If we were such natural warriors, why did the Australian public vote 'NO' in two referendums held during the war on whether we should introduce conscription. Many young men of military age in Australia never joined up and happily endured the hostile stares from passers-by and the white feathers in the mail. By 1918, the flow of replacements to France was down to a trickle and by October, the five Australian divisions were all seriously under-strength. If the war had progressed into 1919, we would have run desperately short of infantry. The Anzac legend lives on, stronger than ever. Heres to more books like Les' so that we can better understand the real experiences of these men and come to see them as humans like ourselves, not some mythical super-warriors. Maybe we will someday get to know them.