SINCE 25 APRIL 1915, Australians have progressively expanded and deepened the significance of Gallipoli, the battles of the western front, Tobruk, Kokoda and Long Tan, in addition to many other engagements in the Middle East, Korea, Malaya, Indonesia, Iraq and Afghanistan. The national community’s awareness also encompasses the many peacekeeping operations around the world in which Australian troops have taken part. The death and injury of hundreds of thousands of Australians, together with the resulting grief and ongoing suffering within their families, have left a permanent and profound imprint on the nation. This is recorded in stone, wood and metal on memorials and honour boards in almost every community in the country and in many places abroad.
The term that embodies this combination of sacrifice, duty, loss and meaning is ‘Anzac’, formed from the telegraphic address of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps—ANZAC. This ‘one little word’ has come to resonate many things Australians consider to be profoundly symbolic of their identity: courage, determination, anti-authoritarianism, egalitarianism and a larrikin attitude to the grim realities of war and so, of life and death in general. Whether these characteristics are genuine or not is a question that is often debated. Certainly, the fact that the concept of ‘Anzac’ has persisted for almost a century and shows every sign of strengthening into the future as a popular focus of national identity, among the young as well as the old, suggests that it has wide support in the community.
Through the decades following World War I, during which Anzac has become an inescapable aspect of our society, innumerable stories have been told about those who contributed to its making. These spoken and written memorials include tales of heroism, suffering and endurance. Perhaps surprisingly to some, Anzac tales are often humorous, for laughter is an essential element in coping with the realities of war and its long aftermath. Many are widely known, in one version or another, and are told and retold in books, newspapers, films and even in schoolrooms. Many other Anzac stories are known only to particular groups or to the inhabitants of particular communities, perhaps only to a family. Whatever their provenance, these stories together make up an intangible web of knowledge about the Australian experience of war and the way we understand it through Anzac. They form a network of shared meaning that is publicly reaffirmed every year on 25 April at memorials around the country and, increasingly, around the world.
It is these stories, told whenever possible in the words of those who were there—at the front line or at home—that appear in Great Anzac Stories. At least, a few of them appear. Anzac’s long existence and wide appeal has generated a vast body of anecdote, legend, reminiscence and yarn and this book can only represent a small selection of these many tales.
In telling these stories, the book begins with ‘Foundations’, a selection of accounts from Gallipoli, the western front and the Middle East. This is followed by ‘Heroes’, which tells of courageous deeds in many of Australia’s wars. Home fronts are as important as battlefronts, and a selection of tales from Australia and ‘Blighty’—the United Kingdom—next appears here. The large body of digger humour is given due representation under the heading of ‘Laughter’, followed by a collection of Anzac ‘Legends’. The book concludes with a section titled ‘Memories’, which focuses on the commemoration of war and its consequences for all, at home and at the front.
The concept of ‘Anzac’ is treated broadly. As well as stories about the army and the original diggers—the largely citizen foot soldiers of the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF)—the book includes those of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). As well as tales of men at war it includes those of nurses, doctors and even animals. While the ‘NZ’ in Anzac is often overlooked, there are also a few stories specifically about the Kiwi experience of war and the considerable significance of Anzac in that country.
Anzac is an idea that is a vital element of the Australian consciousness. It has been with us for almost a century, sometimes referred to as ‘the spirit of Anzac’, or the ‘legend of Anzac’. Over that time it has increased and decreased in popularity, with the lowest level of public observance occurring on the Anzac days between the late 1960s and late 1980s. Since then we have seen a strong resurgence of interest in the day and, consequently, the meaning of Anzac itself. This has been particularly marked among young adults, although older Australians have also been flocking to Anzac Day events—especially the Dawn Service—as well as travelling to the various sites of Anzac memory in Britain, Turkey, France, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and Singapore, to name only some of the more popular destinations for these ‘pilgrimages’, as they are often called.
This enthusiasm for what some consider to be a glorification of war has generated controversy from time to time, with various groups, including anti-war organisations, voicing their opposition to aspects of Anzac. Arguments that Anzac and its day are about acknowledging sacrifice and remembering those who made it are not accepted by all Australians. Whatever the view taken, though, it is very difficult not to have a position for or against Anzac, so completely does it pervade our society.
This book seeks to present the Anzac stories it contains as straightforwardly as possible, allowing readers to make their own judgements. The stories are left largely to speak for themselves, with only a minimum of explanation and background detail to provide context for today’s reader. Spellings, punctuation and other usages have been variously standardised and corrected, except where it is necessary to retain the original to preserve the sense of the quotation. A glossary of military acronyms, specialised terms and slang has also been provided. Military titles, ranks and honours are generally those possessed by the individual at the time of the events witnessed or experienced.
To convey the immediacy of the events as they were experienced, many eyewitness accounts taken from letters, diaries and other contemporary documents have been included. These sources resonate with the attitudes and values of the day, and the emotions of the moment—and they are often rich in Australian Introduction ‘slanguage’, giving them colour and impact, even after many decades. The downside of this is that these accounts sometimes contain terms and represent attitudes that are no longer socially acceptable.
Some pieces written in reflection, after the events they describe, are also included to show the always-developing significance of Anzac, not only in war but also in the periods between them that we call ‘peace’.