Of Anzac Day
By Maria Millers
For many the long-stablished story of the Gallipoli landings and to a lesser extent the Western Front remain the defining moments for our country. Just minted as a new nation in 1901, but still very British, our other achievements were put aside to lay the foundations of our national identity based on our participation in a war that ended up costing us so much in human terms: the injured and damaged, the toll on families and the disruption to our society
So why then have we not given the same importance to other aspects of our history? After all, the coming together of six British colonies as a new nation was an enormous achievement. Equally impressive were the pioneering social reforms that this newly federated nation was able to achieve ahead of many other countries: from granting women the right to vote and stand for elections, to social reforms like the old Age pension in 1909.Significant industrial and welfare reforms followed establishing Australia as ‘a path breaking new nation.’
Instead we have been made to accept war as a defining moment of our entry into nationhood.
War correspondent Charles Bean was most influential in creating the myth we have come to accept uncritically. His writing was often far from the reality of what it was like on the ground or mud at Gallipoli and the Western Front and he wrote what he thought the public back home wanted to hear. His writing also reflected the opinions of Officers in the AIF and the politicians back home.
But as political historian Benedict Anderson once said, national identity is a product of the imagination, and the stories we choose to tell ourselves about our past are the ones that define us. We have created an idealised sanitised version of a tall, khaki clad man with a slouch hat against a backdrop of some defining war image.
Yet among the first ‘Anzacs’ there were also Indigenous Australians, Australians of German descent, and Asian Australians. Some 1000 Indigenous Australians are thought to have served in the AIF, on Gallipoli and the Western Front. And 3000 Australian women enlisted in WW1 as nurses, doctors and in other supportive roles.
Another contentious issue is that our reflection of our military history never acknowledges the unspoken wars: The Frontier Wars between settlers and the Indigenous. The official Anzac story however has been nurtured and elevated to the status of a national myth. And myths are always preferred to historical accuracy.
The first Anzac Day march took place in 1916 and was very much about recruiting for the ongoing war. The first Dawn Service was in 1920 and by 1927 Anzac Day became a public holiday in all states and territories.
The horrendous loss of life in WW1 impacted on Australian society in so many ways. In a country of around 5 million 62000 had lost their lives. The ongoing focus on the moment of battle ignored the post war suffering of this huge number of men (and women) who returned shell shocked, wounded, disabled and disfigured. Equally impacted were the families who cared for them.
But politicians soon realized that there was political mileage in promoting the Anzac story, particularly when there was an unpopular war to prosecute. Prime Ministers from Hawke, Howard through to Gillard and Rudd have all used the Anzac story for political reasons.
Not that there was no criticism about what some called ‘legislated nostalgia’ that came to surround Anzac Day and its commemoration. Writers like George Johnston and playwright Alan Seymour challenged this approach to our military history.
Seymour’s play revolves around a father son conflict. The son, Hughie a university student refuses for the first time to attend the dawn service which traditionally was then followed by a day of drunkenness, illegal gambling and the inevitable brawls and public vomiting.
Alf his father has served and is an embittered man. This play which was so controversial back in the 60s is eerily relevant as it looks at so many issues we still grapple with today: immigration, health services, substance abuse, family violence and the recent rise of jingoism that has crept into our commemoration of Anzac and other wars we have been involved in.
Similarly, writer George Johnston in his autobiographical novel My Brother Jack brings us face to face with the reality for those tens of thousands who made it back alive, but damaged, Who can forget his description of the hallway of the Meredith home: a gas mask on the hall stand, sturdy walking sticks, artificial limbs propped up against a wall and the inevitable wheelchair, all powerful symbols of the impact of the war on those who served. And these were just the obvious physical injuries and not the mental ones that haunted so many then as well as those from recent conflicts such as the Vietnam War.
In the 1960s and 70s some Australians returning from the Vietnam War felt, as attitudes to the war changed, that their service during a decade of conflict 1962- 1972 was not appreciated by the public and that they were excluded from the Anzac tradition. They chose not to participate in Anzac Day events until October 1987 when a special Welcome Home Parade was held. Tragically 523 had died, 3000 were wounded and many still carry psychological wounds.
A more recent commentary comes from Iraq and Afghanistan veteran James Brown in his book Anzac’s Long Shadow where he argues that Australia is spending too much time, money and emotion on our obsession with the Anzac legend at the expense of current serving men and women. He dismisses any suggestion that criticism of the Anzac myth is ‘unaustralian.’ And he pulls no punches in calling out the clubs, charities and corporations that exploit the Anzac theme for commercial gain.
The term Anzackery was coined by historian Geoffrey Serle to draw attention to inflated rhetoric that has built up around Anzac Day celebrations. He would have found it disturbing to see how a jingoistic tone has crept into the commemorations. Add to that the ever-expanding range of Anzac merchandise from badges, oven mitts, Tshirts, poppies and other kitsch mementoes and Gallipoli cruises. It is hoped that some of the proceeds flow to making life easier for the veterans.
Myths and legends reflect the values of the societies in which they exist and at the core of the Anzac tradition is the belief that nations and men are made in war. This prevents us from asking important questions about who we are and what kind of society we want to live in.
Many Australians, while respectful of our war dead, are uncomfortable with the way we now remember them. Families will always mourn their loved ones and respect memories of their ancestors without the need for exaggerated sentimentalism.
Australia is a very different country today and choosing Gallipoli as the foundation moment for our nation is fraught with problems of leaving out so much of our rich and complex history from the national narrative. We should also remind ourselves of the reality of all wars, so vividly expressed in the following poem by Wilfred Owen:
Dulce et Decorum Est
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Notes: Latin phrase is from the Roman poet Horace: “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.”
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10 comments
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old bloke
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wam
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Pete
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Canguro
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Kerri
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Clakka
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Gus
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Terence Mills
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Steve Davis
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Clakka
Return to home pageIt was the 11th day of the 11th month and I as a teacher took the job of commemorating that day. I read to the teaching staff at the meeting, Owen’s Dulce et decorum est and played them the song Green Fields of France sung by The Fureys. At the end, silence apart from a couple of teachers in tears. I was an ex-serviceman (during the Vietnam war) who did not have to fight, but expessed my contempt for those who were just so willing to send bright-eyed young men off to war and to then ignore them after they returned with no eyes.
The trilogy of Gallipoli, for my generation, was:
two of the greatest ANZAC heroes, Simpson and his donkey and Albert Jacka
the poem in praise of the ANZACS by Kemal Attaturk, the commander of the Turks
and
the ignorant stupidity of Churchill.
I am too long in the tooth to attend the dawn service. So my family has our own service to revere the men and women, who died in service of Australia.
Our service has special happy memories of my dad, Cyril and his fellow rats.
When I wrote to the papers 10 years ago my letter was edited and Albert Jacka was cut. The paper’s people had not heard of him. I wrote that charles bean’s opinion was thar Albert should have been awarded at least 3 of the little bronze crosses.
ps
great work old bloke I taught at 5 of the high schools in darwin over 40 years and everyone had no history of 11am 11/11/1918 celebrations till I introduced the minutes silence,
Good question, why glorify war as a defining attribute? and true, “national identity is a product of the imagination”. It reminds me of how sports fans use the art of ‘projection’ to identify as the sportsman or sportswoman they look up to. Illusions, I’ve known a few.
As for ANZAC day, for me it’ll be tainted going forward after what the Victorian Andrews govt did back in 2022. Pursuant to forcing an experimental substance with no intention of ever, ever giving the right to Informed Consent, riot squads were called in to deal with predictable protests against employer mandates to take an unknown chemical concoction or lose employment. BTW, who gave communistic union officials the right to waive bodily autonomy under threat of termination of work? And why didn’t more legal eagles push back harder? When unarmed protesters retreated to Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance and were shot at with ‘less lethal’ rubber bullets, I understood the symbolism. The govt does not care a fig about the freedom of the people. All of those brave youth and men & women who went off to wars to protect democracy in our name have had their legacy all but washed away.
The Disinformation Bill is but one of the final nails in the coffin that spells the death of democracy and drafted as is, has all the hallmarks of a totalitarian govt.
On the topic of totalitarianism, here is an interesting interview between Dr John Campbell (UK) and Topher Field (creator of the doco ‘Battleground Melbourne, and author of ‘Good Men Break Bad Laws’):
Good men (18th April 2024) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2QgqavEN-g
A good summary of totalitarianism starts at about 20min 30secs and runs for 6 minutes.
As for disinfo and why it needs to be exposed – UnHerd (17th April 2024):
“Inside the ‘disinformation’ industry” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILEMV0xKGh4
I am not a fan of commemoration of war events whether for the victors or losers; never have been, and now in my approaching dotage, never will be. As the son of a man whose life was utterly ruined by his experiences during WWII as a Japanese POW, and his subsequent transference via fundamental incapacity of competent parenting of trauma and dysfunction onto his three children, I have nothing but contempt for those who would prosecute war; contempt for politicians, businessmen, lobbyists, weapons manufacturers and all the rest for whom war is an option to be actively explored and then promulgated.
The hand-wringing hypocrisy is sickening, nauseating; first the willingness to send young men (and increasingly, women) into battle to kill their fellow kind, and then to weep and lament over their deaths, uttering silky wisps of well-crafted words that speak of valour & sacrifice whilst determinedly ignoring the collateral consequences of these pointless deaths as in the never-ending suffering of families & friends along with the walking dead who return maddened or maimed.
War is, undoubtedly, the greatest evil mankind is capable of, and that it still continues to this very day after thousands of years of historical evidence of its impact on humanity is a powerful testament to our psychological blindness and immaturity as well as stupidity.
Read James Brown’s book years ago and found it resonated. I never understood the concept of Lest We Forget when we all seem to have forgotten the point? Then when Yassmin Abdel-Magied was hounded out of the country for daring to suggest other wars were worth remembering too, it pretty much cemented my long held belief that it is not about remembering the horrors but only about the glories. And here we are in 2024 with 2 fairly major wars still taking lives and still inducing political hawks who are unfortunately in charge of our military world wide chomping at the bit to join in the fun.
Vicariously of course.
Thanks Maria, excellent article.
Wars and defense are not matters by which to measure the putrid notions of supremacy and glory. At the very most, defense should only be considered as a pragmatic means by which to maintain a safeguard against piracy and insurgence covert or overt and maintain a balance of deterrence against the attacks on the minimum of detente, and in the long term peace.
I and my family, privately reflect upon matters of the involvement of our kith and kin. And withhold judgement on the way others seek to participate or not in their own reflections.
As for historians, Oz has been plagued by their deliberate oversights, and their propping up of the horrendous and most often brutal nature of our judiciary, politicians and the reinforcing religious hocus-pokus and jibber-jabber that so often facilitates institutional thievery and aggrandizement.
I am reminded of the findings of contemporary historians, and particularly the oration by Henry Reynolds at Byron Writer’s Festival 2023.
Does Anzac Day parade glorify war; hardly, it should perversely remind us of mans inhumanity to his fellow man.
Maybe, we need constant reminders as we seem to never learn from our mistakes.
As ANZAC day approached we heard that relentless Israeli bombing of civilian infrastructure in the town of Rafah in Gaza had among other atrocities wiped out an extended family when their home was hit. Among the dead and dying was a pregnant mother who, as she died had her 30 week baby girl cut from her womb and transferred to an incubator in a one of the few remaining, functioning hospitals in Rafah. Her mother and father and four-year-old sister all died.
The baby survived for five days in neo-natal care in a hospital that was under staffed, under resourced and under attack, suffering intermittent power failures as the aerial bombing continued.
The baby girl was named Sabreen Jouda, she did not make it !
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, let us remember Sabreen Jouda.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/26/palestinian-baby-rescued-mother-womb-dies-gaza-hospital
Terence, beautifully written, I hope you are right.
Just as I hope we remember Yassmin Abdel-Magied.
SD & TM, hear, hear.