Anzac Day has captured the public imagination in Australia. My Anzac Day reflection is to acknowledge that all four of my grandfather’s brothers served in the First World War.
I remember attending April 25 parades as a cub scout in Traralgon where the returned soldiers outnumbered the spectators. There were Boer War veterans in the earliest march that I can recall.
Today it is fashionable to observe Anzac Day, which is great, but I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard people talk about “celebrating” the occasion.
There is nothing to celebrate.
And while it’s encouraging that more young people are getting involved, they need to understand what the First World War means in the context of Australian history.
I’ll be attending an Anzac Day service, as I generally do, but I wonder how many people really know the facts apart from those which have been made popular in the media.
Australia was British to the bootstraps in 1914 and our young men marched away without a thought for the consequences; the same as the young men of Canada, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand. It would be wrong to portray this as a turning point in our nationhood, because these young people did their duty.
Some people like to suggest it was the defining moment of Australian nationalism. I disagree.
The Second World War was the turning point in Australian history because we realised Britain could no longer protect us and we turned to the United States instead.
Young people should be taught about the great division which occurred in Australian society during WW1 regarding the conscription debate. The government wanted compulsory military service but this was rejected by the people. The Catholic Irish were prominent in defeating the proposal.
That said more about the Australian character than our courageous military endeavors, which many other countries can also claim.
As mentioned, four of my great-uncles served in the war and one was killed. My grandfather didn’t go.
I’m told he received white feathers as a consequence. That is shameful considering he had proper employment, a pregnant wife and an infant daughter. It’s the equivalent of anonymous hate mail today. Students should know that some people behaved in this disgraceful manner.
I’m afraid though that Anzac Day is being glorified. I consider it a solemn occasion for serious prayer and reflection. I don’t accept there is anything to celebrate.
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Very thoughtful (and forthright) Michael. I agree Gallipoli was not THE defining moment of our nationalism and I wasn’t taught that at school either. I was taught that it was just “A” defining moment in that it was the first time we showed the world we were at least a part of it.
I wouldn’t say WW2 defined our nationalism either because after the war we remained as sub-servient and in awe of the rest of the world as we’d always been.
No, I think we’ve only recently thrown off our “cultural cringe” and stood tall as Australians and, believe it or not, I think that moment came with the 2000 Olympics, when we showcased our country, our sportspeople, our humour (Roy & HG!) and our wonderful laid-back lifestyle to the entire world.
That’s away from your topic though and I agree Anzac Day is (or should be) a solemn occasion. Here in Victoria though, for the past ten years or so a lot of people (read Collingwood & Essendon supporters) think it’s about footy!
Twitter: mgorey
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I commend the growing interest in Anzac Day; I just think we need to be careful we don’t turn it into something it was never meant to be: a glorification of war and a celebration.
You’re right Ray, that WW2 didn’t define us, but it was a major turning point in that it ended our perceived dependence on Britain. They struggled to defend themselves, let alone Australia.
I wrote earlier this year about our ad-hoc national holidays. Here’s the link.
Australia Day is not the way to celebrate our nationhood and Anzac Day is filling that void by default, which in my view compromises the spirit of Anzac. It should be a solemn occasion but we do need a national day to celebrate all that is good about Australia.
AFL Grand Final & Melbourne Cup days does it for a lot of people! Let’s face it, we’re best known for sport.
Sorry to harp on this topic but over here the AFL is really overdoing the Anzac Day thing. Today is the 28th of April but they’re still starting every match with the Last Post and a minutes silence followed by…the national anthem!
It’s overkill and it’s hijacking the Anzac tradition and turning it into a publicity stunt in my opinion. I reckon you can always count on the AFL to stuff things up and make the wrong decisions – look at the drugs issue!