DAVID HART’S “ABC OF ANZAC HISTORY”

The Advertiser of Monday, 31 March, 1997 had a front page article
on an “ANZAC Day School Pack” which has been devloped by the Federal
government and the Australian Army for use in schools on the eve of ANZAC
Day 1997. A key part of the pack is an “ABC” of key words designed
to “encourage young people to remember and appreciate the sacrifice
of veterans”. As a counter to the patriotic, uncritical and even absurd
government-sponsored list I have prepared my own list (which is NOT to be
recited in class but read and reflected upon in private).

The government’s list was modelled on the original 1916 ANZAC Book which I have online and on which I wrote an “illustrated essay” a short while ago. The soldiers who published that book drew up the original “ANZAC Alphabet” in two different versions, one by Henderson and one by “Ubique” (see below for the image of these lists). As I wrote in my illustrated essay on this <Art/WarArt/AnzacBook/index.html>:

An ANZAC Alphabet” by Henderson is one of the best loved illustrations in the ANZAC Book (pp. 115-18). It is a 4 page rhyming poem based upon the letters of the alphabet with rather crude illustrations of each letter of the alphabet along with a two line poem which illustrates various aspects of the soldiers’ life at Gallipoli. This was not the only ANZAC alphabet which appeared in the ANZAC Book. A second one “Another Attempt at an ANZAC Alphabet” (by “Ubique” [Latin for “everywhere”])  appeared a few pages later (pp. 146-47) but it was not illustrated and is less well known. It takes a roughly chronological approach to relating his experiences at Gallipoli and focuses more on the everyday hardships and fear faced by the soldiers.

 

The Federal Government’s List

David Hart’s Alternatives

A

is for

Anzac Amputation, Ace, Armistice, AIF

B

is for

Bully beef Boche, Brass hat, Barrage, Bayonet, Bolshevik Revolution, Bean (C.E.W.)

C

is for

Color (sic) patches Conscription, Comradeship, Conscientious Objector, Capital courts martial

D

is for

Digger “Donkey”, Dictatorship (of Ludendorf and Hindenberg), Death

E

is for

Enlistment Empire (British, French, German, Russian, Ottoman)

F

is for

Friendship Flanders’ fields, Fascism (and other ideologies of total war and the total
state)

G

is for

Gallipoli Gas

H

is for

Home Front Hun, Heroes, “Home by Christmas”

I

is for

Ice Imperial War Graves Commission, “Im Western Nichts Neues”

J

is for

Jacka (Albert Jacka) Jünger (Ernst)

K

is for

Kit Kaiser, King and Country, Karl Kraus

L

is for

Letters home Lee Enfield rifle, “Lost Generation”, Live and Let Live System,
Langemarck, Legend of the ANZACs

M

is for

Medals Mutiny, Machine Gun, Mitteleuropa, Militarism, Morley (John)

N

is for

Nurses No Man’s Land, Nationalism

O

is for

Observation “Old Lie”, Over the Top

P

is for

Poppy Passchendaele, Propaganda, Prosthesis, Poilu, Pacifism, Prostitutes

Q

is for

Questions Quakers, “Questioning”

R

is for

Rising Sun Random death

S

is for

Simpson and his donkey Shell shock, Strafing, Sport and War, Somme, “Storm of Steel”,
Soldier Settlers

T

is for

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Trench foot, Total War, Thirty Years War of the 20thC

U

is for

Uniforms Unknown Soldier, “Under Fire”, Unconditional Surrender

V

is for

Villiers Brettoneux VAD, Versailles, Verdun, VC, VD

W

is for

War memorials War Socialism, War Widows, Western Front

X

is for

Xenyl chloride Xenophon (classical defender of the “Old Lie”)

Y

is for

Years apart from family and friends Ypres

Z

is for

Zimmerman Zeppelin