The Anzac Legend

How and why was the ANZAC Legend created?

ELEMENTS OF THE ANZAC LEGEND:

• From the tragic events on the Gallipoli peninsula there emerged the
Anzac legend, which has become an important part of Australian
History.
• A legend is a belief, story or ideal that may not be completely true
but is accepted and passed on to each generation.
• The reason that the Anzac legend emerged was because Australian’s
needed something positive out of the dreadful experience of war.
• By the end of the war, 60,000 Australians were dead, and the
Australian people needed them to live on in memory and reputation.
• The Anzac legend overlooked the fact that Gallipoli was a defeat
• What was important was how these men behaved and how they
fought to achieve the difficult goals and objectives set for them.

• The Anzac legend has two main elements:

1. WW1 was the first great test of Australia’s nationhood ‘baptism of fire’
and Australia proved its nationhood by the deeds of the soldiers in the
war.
Australia came of age through the terrible experience of war. We took
our place in the world.
2. In the experience of the war, the qualities that make up the true
Australian spirit were revealed and contributed to the Australian identity.
It is believed that the soldiers displayed qualities which set them apart
and defined them as Australians.
Some believe that they were the same qualities that they were the
same qualities that the pioneers of earlier days had displayed – qualities
that helped create a nation in the first place.

So, what were these qualities?

QUALITIES OF THE ANZAC…
• Bravery and Courage – first landing at Anzac Cove where soldiers
continued to charge up the beach straight into Turkish line of fire
• A defiant disregard for hardship
• A dislike of authority
• A good sense of humour, especially larrikin humour, even in
the most difficult of times
• Ability to be to be resourceful when they had no supplies e.g.
making hand grenades from empty tin cans
• Spirit of mateship in which a soldier would risk his own life for his
mates.
• Endurance and never giving up.
• A belief in a fair go for all.
• It was through events such as the landing at Anzac Cove and the
Battle of Nek (where Anzacs were slaughtered en masse), that the
Australians acquired the image of the image of the digger.
• The ‘Digger’ came to embody the stereotype of a patriotic Australian
family man who had temporarily become a soldier and had spent his
civilian life in a rural area. They also held the good sense of humour
and belief in mateship and equality.
• These qualities, born from the struggle in the bush and reinforced by
the struggle of battle, became the characteristics of the true
Australian
• According to this concept, the soldiers are perceived to have been
innocent and fit, stoical (enduring pain and hardship without
complaint); disrespectful in the face of authority; egalitarian
(believing all people are equal and deserving of equal rights) and
disdainful of British class differences.
CREATING THE LEGEND:
• The Anzac legend began almost immediately after the Gallipoli
landing in 1915.
• The only way people got to know about the campaign (apart from
letters from soldiers) was through the newspapers.
• The experienced English war correspondent Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett
was at Gallipoli and his dispatches gave Australians the first news of
how their countrymen had performed in battle.
• He was full of praise for the heroism of the Anzacs. His report
captured the nation’s imagination and started the Anzac legend.
• Gallipoli may have been a military failure, with the loss of so much
life for so little gain, but it was seen as an important turning point in
Australian history.
• Charles Bean, the official Australian war historian was with soldiers
at both Gallipoli and the Western Front. He also wanted to help
develop the Anzac legend and he focused on the qualities of the
Australian soldier.
• In 1916, Bean published The Anzac Book, which contained stories of
men at Gallipoli, which by the end of the year had sold over 100,000
copies.
• “They waited neither for orders nor for the boats to reach the beach,
but, springing out into the sea, they waded ashore, and, forming
some sort of rough line, rushed straight on the flashes of the
enemy’s rifles” - Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, 8 May 1915
• “Anzac stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in good cause, for
enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship, endurance that
will never own defeat”. - Charles Bean
• The Anzac spirit is sometimes said to be exhibited during Australian
civilian crises.
• According to the RSL:
“The spirit of the ANZAC continues today in times of hardship such as
cyclones, floods and bush fires. At those times, Australians come together
to rescue one another, to ease suffering, to provide food and shelter, to
look after one another and to let the victims of these disasters know they
are not alone”

CRITICISMS OF THE ANZAC LEGEND:

• Professor Clark Manning in his book ‘A History of Australia’ suggested
a contrasting image of the honourable Anzac soldier..
• Examples cited included:
- Soldiers burning the belongings of local Egyptians whilst training in
Cairo
- Drunk soldiers rioting and spending time in brothels contracting STIs
in Egypt
• According to other historians, Charles Bean “advanced an idealistic
view of the Anzac legend and sacrifice to provide the nation with
higher meaning and comfort as compensation for the death of its
soldiers”.
• Another historian argues that “If Gallipoli is the birthplace of the
Anzac acronym, then the western front is where the Anzac legend
grew up, stood tall and cemented their place in international history
and in our hearts.” The historian points out that five times the
number of men died in the “real war” at the Western Front then at
Gallipoli, yet so many Australasians know very little of this sacrifice.
• There is criticism that the Anzac legend was distorted, as the
stereotypical image of the ANZAC soldier excluded women,
aboriginal people, and people from city areas.
• 300-400 Aboriginal soldiers fought in WW1, defying Australian
Government and the defence act of 1909 which did not permit
Aborigines to even enlist.
• Women not being allowed to enlist and fight as soldiers at Gallipoli,
were there working as nurses on board hospital ships in a vital role.
Often without proper equipment and supplies, these women relied
on their own resourcefulness in attending the wounded. The nurses
were not entirely removed from danger – bullets would hit the ships.
Women were not happy at being excluded.
• Australian men who had fought at Gallipoli and who had not had a
rural upbringing were also unimpressed with the stereotype that
emerged from the Anzac legend.
• They believed the legend focussed too much on the notion that the
tactics and skills the soldiers exhibited were attribute of the ‘bush
background’.
• Many more men from city areas enlisted than those who came from
rural areas. Men from the city possessed the same characteristics
from the Anzacs who came from the country.
• It has also been suggested that the Anzac legend glorifies war and
allows for war to be justified by unifying the nation.
• While some people may disagree with the Anzac legend, or believe it
to be distorted, it cannot be denied that those who fought so bravely
at Gallipoli helped to create a proud national reputation that has
earned the respect of people worldwide.
• The Anzac legend is important because it encourages Australians to
remember the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their country.
• The legend made such an impression on Australians and New
Zealanders that we commemorate the Gallipoli landings each year
on April 25.