Reflecting on the truth about the Anzacs

He wonders if the myths about Gallipoli can be blamed on war correspondent C.E.W. Bean. “Did he, as some historians allege, cover up aspects of the horror in his determination to portray the Anzacs in a flattering light?”. Crotty believes there are “clear hints” Bean practised “a degree of self-censorship” and his now-published personal diaries “are more frankly honest than either his correspondent’s reports or his post-war histories”.

In a note on David Cameron’s book 25 April 1915, The Day The Anzac Legend Was Born, Graham Clark refers not only to the “extraordinary acts of courage in the face of almost certain death” at Anzac Cove, but also to “one of the most bizarre, ill-planned, misfortune-plagued campaigns of The War To End All Wars”.

Andrew Denton’s TV documentary Gallipoli: Brothers in Arms, turned out to be a hard-hitting account from Anzac Cove, where he was much moved by the “futility” of it all, while acknowledging the Turks were fighting for their homes. There was the sorrow of 4,000 killed in three days, men shooting at each other from trenches less than 20 feet apart even though they respected each other: decent Aussies killing decent Turks at the behest of the British aristocracy.

Denton’s main reaction was of anger at the destruction and misery for no good purpose. “The only good decision was to abandon it ... We should strive to be less good at building cemeteries and better at avoiding war.”

PS. The term “Digger” was not invented during World War I but was the term describing a radical group in 17th century England who broke the law when they dug up common land to grow food for starving families, celebrated in Billy Bragg’s Diggers’ Song.