A Study Guide by Robert Lewis

http://www.metromagazine.com.au

ISBN: 978-1-74295-489-9 http://www.theeducationshop.com.au OVERVIEW

The War That Changed Us (Electric Pictures 2014) is a 4 x 57 minute dramatized documentary that tells the story of This study guide is in four parts, one for Australia’s war effort from 1914-1918 through the focus or each episode. The introductory activities filter of six key historical characters: and summary activities are repeated each time, so if students have already seen any • General Harold ‘Pompey’ Elliott episode of The War That Changed Us they • Sergeant Archie Barwick can skip these and concentrate on the • Nurse Kit McNaughton questions and activities that are specific • Peace campaigner Vida Goldstein for that episode. • War supporter Eva Hughes • Radical socialist Tom Barker. The War That Changed Us uses dramatic reconstruction, The series follows these six characters through their stories location filming, expert analysis and colourised black and as told in their vivid and evocative personal testimonies white archive to tell a gripping tale spanning three conti- — revealed in letters, diaries, speeches and newspaper nents over four brutal years. articles written in the heat of the moment as the events of the war unfold at home and on the frontline. It chronicles the rise of the Australian peace and labour movements as well as our military role in the Great War: Driven by human stories, rather than the detail of military both were theatres of war. In doing so the series honours SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 history, the series offers an opportunity to get close to the the heroism of those who fought and died on the battle- actual experience of war, and to learn how it changed the front and those who lived through a period of bitter, divisive lives of those involved. As a result the political becomes conflict, personal and political, on the home front. Along the personal and the epic everyday. We watch the series pro- way we learn how Australians struggled to reconcile what tagonists struggle with the opposing influences of imperial- the war meant for them as individuals, communities and as ism and independence, militarism and pacifism, Old World a nation – how it changed us. enmities and New World utopian ideals.

1 2 THE SIX CHARACTERS IN THE WAR THAT CHANGED US

ARCHIE He is a remarkable character who becomes Australia’s BARWICK most famous fighting general. Through his constant stream 1 of letters to his wife Katie to whom he tells all, we gain a rare insight into a General’s experience of war and the toll Foot soldier ARCHIE BARWICK is a tough fair-haired that high-command exacts. blue-eyed 24-year old Church of England farmer from Campania, a grape-growing region in the Coal River Valley TOM of southeast Tasmania. Among the first to join up in August 1914, he is assigned to the now legendary First Battalion. 4 BARKER Archie serves first in Gallipoli and then in the trenches on the Western Front. Wounded several times and rising to English born, farm labourer’s son TOM BARKER is a the rank of Sergeant, Archie not only survives the War, but militant activist and no stranger to trouble. As an organ- leaves us with one of the most detailed, vivid and revealing iser for the Industrial Workers of the World and editor of written accounts to emerge from it. It’s through his excep- its newspaper Direct Action, Barker becomes the most tional sixteen volume war diary that the series builds an in- determined and vociferous opponent of what he calls the timate portrait of the horrors that engulfed young Australian ‘capitalist war’. Drawing on his radical speeches delivered soldiers and the awful toll it exacts on their lives. on Sydney’s Domain, his editorials and articles, letters, and memoirs, Tom Barker’s role in the anti-war movement on KIT the home front and his vehement opposition to conscription 2 McNAUGHTON comes to life. VIDA Army nurse KIT MCNAUGHTON is a Roman Catholic farmer’s daughter from the small town of Little River in 5 GOLDSTEIN southwest Victoria. Bold, cheeky, eagle-eyed, Kit travels on a heroic journey from Little River to Lemnos near Gallipoli, Stylish, articulate and fearless, VIDA GOLDSTEIN is the then on to France, before returning to Australia. Through poster woman of the revolutionary feminist movement. In the pages of Kit’s diary, we meet the men and women the decades before the war, she becomes internationally whose fates collide: lovers, friends, patients, servicemen famous for trailblazing the fight for Australian women’s right and civilians. She is a young woman with a defiant spirit, to vote. As war sweeps the world, Vida turns her attention filled with a sense of duty and drawn by the call of adven- to pacifism, working tirelessly as the leader of the Women’s ture. Kit keeps her precious diaries, three small books, with Political Association and the founder of the Women’s Peace her for four years. They document a voyage of self-discov- Army. This important and largely untold history is revealed ery, adventure, romance and burgeoning independence; through her own words drawn from her editorials and as well as her strong sense of identification with both the articles in her newspaper Woman Voter, and in speeches Empire and the ANZAC corps. In her diaries she details her delivered in public halls and on Melbourne’s Yarra bank. struggle with the nursing hierarchy, the gruelling workload and the bloody horrors of war. EVA HUGHES HAROLD 6 3 ‘POMPEY’ ELLIOTT EVA HUGHES is from the Australian upper-class and is married to a pastoralist who has mining and business For 36-year old Boer war veteran HAROLD ‘POMPEY’ interests. She absolutely defends Australia’s right and, she ELLIOTT from Northcote in Melbourne, the decision to believes, ‘obligation’ to be part of the war. She believes in enlist is rooted in a sense of duty to defend his country King, she believes in country and in a wife’s duty to stand and his family. The Melbourne solicitor served as a lieuten- by her man. As the President of the Australian Women’s ant colonel in the peacetime militia, and is given the same National League, by far the leading women’s association rank in the Australian Imperial Force commanding the 7th in Australia, she appeals to a sense of female obligation in SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 Battalion. During the War he rises to the rank of Brigadier an extraordinarily powerful and successful pro-war move- General. He is charismatic, controversial, volatile, forthright ment. Through her speeches and articles in the Australian and extraordinarily brave. His men know he would never Women’s National League publication The Woman, we gain send any of them anywhere he is not prepared to go him- an authentic insight into the mighty forces supporting the self and he often seen fighting beside them in the frontline. war that dominate the home front for most of the War.

1 3 CURRICULUM APPLICABILITY

The War That Changed Us is a relevant resource for middle and senior students (Years 9-12) in: ώώ AUSTRALIAN HISTORY YEAR 9

Depth Study: World War 1

An overview of the causes of World War I and the reasons why men enlisted to fight in the war.

The places where Australians fought and the nature of warfare during World War I, including the Gallipoli campaign.

The impact of World War I, with a particular emphasis on Australia (such as the use of propaganda to influence the civilian population, the changing role of women, the conscription debate).

The commemoration of World War I, including debates about the nature and significance of the Anzac legend. ώώ ENGLISH YEAR 10

Analyse and evaluate how people, cultures, places, events, objects and concepts are represented in texts, including media texts, through language, structural and/or visual choices.

Biography. ώώ MEDIA ARTS YEAR 9 AND 10

Evaluate how genre and media conventions and technical and symbolic elements are manipulated to make represen- tations and meaning.

Evaluate how social, institutional and ethical issues influence the making and use of media artworks. SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014

1 4 RECORDING YOUR IMAGE

MY IMAGE OF THESE ASPECTS IS

THE ANZACS AS SOLDIERS

AUSTRALIAN NURSES

THE NATURE OF THE WAR

THE AUSTRALIAN HOME FRONT DURING THE WAR

THE ANZAC TRADITION/ LEGEND/ SPIRIT

BEFORE WATCHING THE FILM

ώώ ACTIVITY 1 – RECORDING YOUR ideas have changed after viewing The War That Changed Us. IMAGE OF THE WAR ώώ ACTIVITY 2 – RECORDING YOUR What is your image of the war, and particularly these KNOWLEDGE OF THE WAR aspects: The first activity was to do with images and ideas. This ac- • The Anzacs as soldiers tivity is to do with facts. What do you know about Australia • Australian Nurses and the war? Again, do not worry if you do not know much, • The nature of the war or think that you need to find out the correct answers • The Australian home front during the war before you write them down Recording Your Knowledge work- • The Anzac Tradition/Legend/Spirit — that idea of sheet on page 6. Just record what you think you know, then SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 Australian nationalism that emerged from the war and come back to these answers after watching The War That which we commemorate on Anzac Day Changed Us and see if your knowledge has changed and developed. Record your ideas in the Recording Your Image table above. Do not think they have to be detailed, and do not worry if you do After you have watched The War That Changed Us look at not have a strong or detailed image in your mind. Just write these questions again and see if you would change any of down what you think. You will be interested to see if your your answers.

1 5 RECORDING YOUR KNOWLEDGE 1 The First World War started in (month and year) and fin- 14 Where was the ‘Western Front’? ished in (month and year) STARTED: FINSIHED:

2 Name 3 Allied nations: A B C 15 What was ‘Trench warfare’?

3 Name 3 enemy nations: A B C 16 Name 4 main weapons of war. What does AIF stand for? 4 A A B I C F D

5 What does ANZAC stand for? 17 Were Australian soldiers all volunteers? A Circle: Yes No N 18 Did Australia introduce conscription during the war? Z Circle: Yes No A C 19 Were people jailed for protesting against the war? Circle: Yes No 6 How many Australians fought overseas during the war A 300 000 / B 500 000 / C 750 000 20 Was voluntary war effort the main role available to women during the war? Circle: Yes No 7 How many nurses served overseas? A 4000 / B 10 000 / C 15 000 21 Did women replace men in most jobs during the war? Circle: Yes No 8 How many soldiers and nurses died? A 60 000 / B 100 000 / C 200 000 22 Did soldiers spent months at a time in the front line? Circle: Yes No 9 Name 3 main areas (countries) where they fought 23 Were the bodies of Australians who died during the war A brought back to Australia? B Circle: Yes No C 24 What is meant by ‘Anzac Day’?

10 Name 3 main areas where nurses served A B C

11 When did Australian soldiers land at Gallipoli? SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 (date) (month) (year) 25 What is meant by ‘Remembrance Day’?

12 Which nation had the largest number of soldiers at Gallipoli?

13 How many Australians died at Gallipoli? A 4000 / B 10 000 / C 23 000 6 1 EXPLORING IDEAS AND ISSUES IN THE FILM

There are four episodes to The War That Changed Us. For each episode there are 5 key aspects to consider:

• What do we learn about the six main characters? • What do we learn about the nature of the fighting during the war and its impacts on people? • What do we learn about how Australian society responded to the war? • How do the filmmakers get these aspects across to us? • Is the series a fair and accurate representation of what happened?

Work through the questions and activities for this episode below.

gain a foothold on the peninsula. Soon after a sniper kills EPISODE 1 his best mate ‘Wagga’.

Melbourne solicitor Colonel Pompey Elliott’s decision to enlist is rooted in a sense of duty to defend his country and ANSWERING THE CALL his family. He farewells his wife Kate and their two young (1914-15) children, Violet and Neil, and leaves for the battlefront in the same convoy as Archie. Pompey is wounded on the first This episode looks at Australians’ initial reaction to the war, day of the Gallipoli landing, recovers from his wounds and the reasons why men enlisted, different reactions to the returns to the front line to lead his men. With the Australian war, and the landing at Gallipoli. soldiers stalled in the ridgeline above the beach at Anzac Cove both men become trapped in a stalemate with the ώώ SYNOPSIS Turks.

Tasmanian farmer Archie Barwick signs up with his broth- Nurse Kit McNaughton leaves her mother and brothers in er Len and heads off on the ‘great adventure’. He lands at the farming community of Little River in Victoria and looks Gallipoli with the first Anzacs where he and his comrades forward to a chance to see the world and to serve. After a journey peppered with ship board romances she arrives in Cairo to tend wounded Anzacs.

At home Melbourne peace activist Vida Goldstein pro- tests against the war she believes undermines everything she’s fought for and is gagged by the War Precautions Act.

Militant activist Tom Barker risks being arrested delivering a strident anti-war message in his speeches on Sydney’s SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 Domain and in his publication Direct Action.

Militant Melbourne blue blood Eva Hughes leads the most powerful women’s association in Australia to support King and Country, and the men at the front.

Watch this episode and answer these questions.

1 7 ώώ INITIAL REACTIONS

See Fig 1 on page 9

1 Why did the Australian government choose to go to war?

2 How do most Australians respond to this? Why? Look especially at the reaction of Eva Hughes.

3 Not all react in the same way. Look especially at the reasons and reactions of Vida and Tom. brave, fearless fighters, etc. How does the film depict the Australian soldiers? Does this fit that image of the Anzacs? 4 Why do men (and women) enlist? Look at the reasons for Archie, Pompey and Kit. ώώ HOME FRONT 5 Why do some men not enlist? Consider the reaction of the Little River farmers. 18 How was the landing reported in Australia?

6 What ideas and expectations did people have about the 19 The Australian people were not getting a full picture war? from the journalists or even from solders’ letters, but they were still getting a sense of the reality of the war. How? 7 Some critics say that Australia was joining ‘another nation’s war’? What does this mean? Does the film agree? 20 What tensions started to appear in Australian society? Why?

ώώ GALLIPOLI 21 What was the War Precautions Act?

See Fig 2 on page 10 22 How did the Government use it?

A main focus of this episode is on the landing at Gallipoli. 23 Do you think it was justified for a government in a war to restrict and control people’s activities? Explain your ideas. 8 Why was Australia involved in the campaign against the Ottoman Empire (or Turks) at Gallipoli? 24 What is your overall impression of the home front in Australia for this stage of the war? 9 What was the aim of the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915? ώώ THE CHARACTERS 10 What happens at the landing on 25 April? Compare the official account to the way the film presents it. How is this The focus of the film is on the characters, and what they tell presented? List words to describe the way the film presents us about the war, and the war’s impacts on them. the experience of the soldiers. You might focus on one character, or you might choose to 11 How did the three military characters (Barwick, Elliott look at them all. If you focus on one character you should and McNaughton) experience the landing and early fighting. team up with a group of others in your class so that between you all six characters are analysed in detail. 12 How do the soldiers behave? Does this fit your image of the Anzacs? Look at the Character Summary and recording what you discover about the character/s you are focusing on. There 13 What impact does the film show that the experience of is a page for the Military Characters (page 11), and one for the Gallipoli has on the soldiers? Civilians Characters (page 12).

14 What does the film show and explain about mateship at After you have summarized the character/s you can learn Gallipoli? more about them by looking at: SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 Australian Dictionary of Biography online http://adb.anu. 15 What is the outcome of the landing? edu.au for Elliott, Goldstein, Barker and Hughes.

16 We still commemorate Anzac Day. Why? You could also look at the books about these characters: Ross McMullin, Pompey Elliott, Scribe, 2008 17 Gallipoli was the start of the Anzac Legend or Anzac Janet Butler, Kitty’s War, UQP, 2013 Spirit. A particular image of the Anzacs was created – as Archie Barwick, In Great Spirits, HarperCollins, 2013

1 8 SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014

FIG 1

9 1 SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014

FIG 2

10 1 CHARACTER SUMMARY PAGE: MILITARY

ARCHIE BARWICK KIT MCNAUGHTON POMPEY ELLIOTT

Character at the start of the episode

Their main experiences

How they behave

Their attitudes and values

Their personal qualities

The impacts SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 of the war on them

11 1 CHARACTER SUMMARY PAGE: CIVILIANS

EVA HUGHES VIDA GOLDSTEIN TOM BARKER

Character at the start of the episode

Their main experiences

How they behave

Their attitudes and values

Their personal qualities

The impacts SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 of the war on them

12 1 ώώ THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FILM

Key features characterise all episodes of The War That Changed Us. Discuss these in the Key Features table on page 14. ώώ SERIES DIRECTOR & CO-WRITER DON FEATHERSTONE:

‘There have been many documentaries made about WW1 over the years. For the 100th anniversary, we wanted to make something quite different with a focus on Australia’s involvement in the war. Most documentaries have focussed on battle details, international politics, the reasons behind the war and other detailed political and military aspects. We chose to tell the story though the experiences of six real individuals – three on the home front and three on the bat- We wanted to revisit the actual landscapes where our tlefront. Their personal accounts take us through their war characters’ stories unfolded on both the battlefront and – Australia’s war. Throughout the series, we reveal how the the home front. We filmed evocative shots in the cities war changes them and the country they call home. and farms in Australia where our characters lived, as well as in iconic locations in Turkey, Greece and France. The By incorporating excerpts from the diaries, letters, speeches shots were carefully constructed to avoid modern features and editorials by our key characters, their experience of and using CGI we removed any modern structures that war provides the backbone to the story. We have chosen remained while adding cars, people and features from the characters whose writing is brimming with emotion, keen time. These evocative shots are woven throughout the observation and honesty. They were prepared to reveal all drama, helping to create a real sense of ‘being there’. as they put pen to paper. Our characters don’t just tell us what they experience; they tell us how they feel about what To provide insight and context we interviewed a range of they experience - consequently we get to know them, we are expert military and social historians. Having faithfully and interested in them, we care about them. Our three military convincingly re-created the world of 1914-18, we wanted and nursing characters reveal how they feel about facing the historians to inhabit it too. To achieve this we shot their death on a battlefield or in a hospital ward and we feel their interviews in period locations including historical houses, loss and their compassion and understand their connection clubs and government buildings. to those waiting for them on a distant shore. Through them, the series is able to paint a full and detailed portrait of the The War That Changed Us is different from most other WWI war - a war seen through their eyes. Their words are not dry, documentaries in another exciting way - the archive footage looking back from a great distance; these are words written is all meticulously colourised. We felt the black and white at the time, in the heat of the moment, often just after a bat- archive momentarily breaks the spell, taking the audience tle, in the fog of war, or having just finished work in a blood into a black and white world that never existed. If colour spattered ward. Our three home front characters’ words are film stock was available, the cameramen who filmed WW1 written in response to political situations they experienced would have used it. WW1 happened in colour; our characters and the social realities of the time. They witness a country experience it in colour, and so we wanted our audience to pulling itself together and then falling apart. Their words experience it in the same way. By experiencing the archive in connect us to this dramatic period in our history with honesty colour the audience can believe this war actually happened, and insight, reverberating with the passion, despair, joy and the people and places are ‘real’, and because the archive anguish that their authors felt at the time. is emotionally connected to our characters, the audience understands their experiences more personally. Recognising the stories are real, personal and immediate, we wanted to stay in the moment throughout the entire But ultimately, as well as documenting our six characters’ series. The stories are, in their own way, epic so the drama experience of war and the way it changed them and our needed to be just as big. We wanted the series to look like country, we wanted to celebrate the heroism of all those a cross between ‘Downton Abbey’ and ‘The Thin Red Line’. who served. Whatever their views, they had the best inter- This demanded we dramatise their experiences in a power- ests of their country at heart. That is the story we wanted to ful, rich, believable manner. tell. It has been a great honour and a great responsibility to SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 work on it.’ Incorporating high production values we enter the past – a world of troopships, trenches, billets, barns, hospital wards, Don Featherstone meeting halls, offices and print rooms, speaker’s corner at the Domain in Sydney, the Yarra bank in Melbourne, Don Featherstone co-wrote the series with historian Dr country farms and suburban houses – a huge palette of Clare Wright, based on her original concept. locations and sets – all absolutely convincing.

1 13 KEY FEATURES

FEATURE YOUR COMMENTS

1 How does the film re-create the feeling and characteristics of the historical period?

2 How does it use both original music (such as the theme song), and historical war songs? How do the filmmakers use visual images to create the impact that they want the songs to have?

3 The historic footage has been colourised from its original black and white. Why might the filmmakers have done this? Do you think it is effective?

4 There is a great deal of dramatic re- enactment in the episode. Do you think it is effective?

5 How does the film transition between historic footage and dramatic reconstructions. Is this effectively done?

6 How does the film balance narrative with voiceovers of the actual words of the characters? Is this effective?

7 The filmmakers have limited numbers of men available for fighting scenes. Look at how they overcome this problem – consider such aspects as how the shots are framed, editing, close-ups, sound, camera angles, special effects, lighting, etc. Do you think the battle scenes are realistic?

8 Identify and discuss other creative elements in the film that you notice — such as editing, lighting, sound, special effects and cinematography.

9 The film uses several historians. What is their role? Do they help persuade you of the accuracy of the events and characters being represented? SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014

10 Read the information on the making of the film by the series director and writer, Don Featherstone. Do you think The War That Changed Us has achieved what he wanted it to? Explain your reasons. 14 1 TESTING THE EPISODE’S Parliament, in a time of emergency there are no parties at all. We stand united against the common foe, … our last REPRESENTATION OF man and our last shilling will be offered and supplied to the WAR mother country in maintaining her honour and our honour, if we should happen to come into the conflict. ώώ 1. INITIAL REACTION Argus, Melbourne, 1 August 1914

Is The War That Changed Us a fair and accurate depiction SOURCE 3 of the Australian experience of the war? Claim by the Australian Governor-General in 1914 1 Look at the following evidence. Summarise what each There is indescribable enthusiasm and entire unanimity extract tells you about people’s attitudes at the time to- throughout Australia in support of all that tends to provide wards the different aspects listed in Table 2 on page 16. for the security of the Empire in war. Official History of Australia in the War vol XII page 12 2 Decide what overall impression The War That Changed Us gives about Australia’s reactions to the war. SOURCE 4

3 Compare this to the impression that the selection of The attitude of churches to the war — an Anglican evidence provides. Discuss why there might be similarities bishop’s response and differences between the two versions of history. Never before had such great issues been at stake. While he was speaking, things of enormous moment to the peace, SOURCE 1 freedom and stability of the Empire might be happening … They realized that honour had dictated this course. And Speech by Prime Minister Cook during the election honour had had compelled us to stand by our friends in the campaign present crisis, and every dictate of nationalism appealed to Whatever happens, Australia is a part of the Empire right us to try and uphold the nationalism of Denmark, Holland to the full. Remember that when the Empire is at war, so is and Belgium. If we stood outside, there would be the great- Australia at war … I want to make it quite clear that all our est danger that those three countries, each of whom stood resources in Australia are in the Empire and for the Empire, for certain principles in national freedom and life very dear and the preservation and security of the Empire. to them, would be mopped up in a great teutonic [German] Argus, Melbourne, 3 August 1914 Empire … Amid loud applause, Dr Long said we were not SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 going to add anything to the Empire by our present action, SOURCE 2 but we were going to preserve the peace of the world, and the best way and the nearer way to do that … was for the Speech by Labor leader (and soon to be Prime Empire to declare war. Minister) Andrew Fisher during the election campaign Bathurst National Advocate 6 August 1914 We are strongly opposed to the present Government in our Australian politics; but, as I have stated frequently in

1 15 TABLE 2

SOURCE RESPONSE TO ATTITUDE TO WAR ATTITUDE TO ATTITUDE TO ATTITUDE TO ATTITUDE TO THE WAR EMPIRE BRITAIN AUSTRALIA ENEMY 1

8 SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014

16 1 SOURCE 5

The attitude of churches to the war — a Catholic bishop’s response The war now broken out challenges the attention of all. The issues at stake are tremendous … War, being the worst of three evils by which mankind may be overwhelmed, cannot be regarded passively. War is worse than pestilence, worse than famine … Yet war evokes patriotism, courage, wis- dom, fraternal regard, individual heroism — all noble and manly virtues. Evil is not unmixed with good; yes, and when a just war, nobly waged, is crowned with victory, then out might be, Great Britain had made her voice known in the nation wins imperishable glory. Our present duty is [clear] … quarrel of the nations. we should stand shoulder to shoulder with our responsible The Argus 6 August 1914 rulers and leaders, in word and action, trusting one another. Daily Telegraph, Sydney, 8 August 1914 Among the ‘British’ in Australia were many hundreds of thousands of people who were born in Ireland, or were SOURCE 6 of recent Irish descent. Many Irish in Australia were also Catholic, and many of them wanted Ireland to have Home The attitude of the labour movement — The Worker Rule — independence from Britain — which the British [The Worker was the leading Labor newspaper of the day.] Government refused to allow. How would this affect at- Australia is as much part of the British Empire as England is titudes among these people to Britain and the Empire? … where is the man who would say to Australians: ‘It is no affair of yours to protect from aggression the motherland that SOURCE 9 was always ready to defend you?’ Shall we be content to be branded as a people willing to take the hand of a mother in An Irish organisation in Australia our time of need, and afterwards see her in trouble and not The manifestations of enthusiastic support [for the war] came go out to help her? Australian Labour has shown the world from many quarters wherein such fervour was not habitual. many object lessons in the way of standing shoulder to Meetings of the supporters of the Labor party ended with shoulder in time of trouble. And now that war has been pro- the singing of the National Anthem … The spokesman of the claimed, Australian Labour will stand shoulder to shoulder Melbourne Celtic Club, an Irish Nationalist organisation, on with old England in this her hour of storm and stress. August 5th said that, while the members of the club had been The Worker, 6 August 1914 keen participants in the Home Rule struggle, their sectional feelings were set aside during the present crisis; they felt that SOURCE 7 they were all Britons, and desired to stand by the Empire in its hour of need. At a crowded meeting of citizens convened The attitude of the labour movement — Labor Call by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne at the Town Hall on August [Labor Call was a radical Labor newspaper] 6th, Mr. John Gavan Duffy,” the bearer of a name famous On the other side[of the world], war is in the atmosphere. in Irish revolutionary politics”, said that he appeared as an This is not political warfare, but manslaying. It is unthink- Irish Catholic Nationalist, but “ in this crisis Irish Nationalists able to believe that because an archduke and his missus forgot all the grievances of the past. Justice was being done were slain by a fanatic the whole of Europe should become to them at the present time, and they were ready, eager, and a seething battlefield, and deplorable misery brought upon willing to stand shoulder by shoulder, knee by knee, fight- the people … What glory is there in today’s warfare? None, ing the battle of the great Empire to which they belonged.” whatever; it is only slaughter and carnage. Such declarations, and there were many of them in various Labor Call, 6 August 1914 parts of the Commonwealth, justified the description given by [Labor parliamentary leader] Mr. Hughes on August 9th: SOURCE 8 “With almost miraculous celerity the din of party strife has died down, the warring factions have joined hands, and the Public reactions to the war on learning that war had gravest crisis of our history is faced by a united people.” been declared Official History of Australia in the War Vol XII page 24 A seething crowd broke through the cordon at the [newspaper office] door and rushed the counter where the papers The episode shows the cartoon on page 19 from the SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 were being sold … In an incredibly short time … everyone Industrial Workers of the World newspaper, Direct Action. in the street seemed to have heard the news of the dec- laration of war. Some were enthusiastic, some evidently 4 Describe what the cartoon shows. gratified; some seemed overweighted by the import of the news, some were openly pessimistic, but the general feel- 5 Do you think it would have been very influential at the ing was one of relief that the terrible waiting and uncertainty time? Explain your reasons, including how you would de- of the last few days was over, and that, whatever the issue cide if it was influential or not.

1 17 haven’t had any rain for months so I thorrt I would join the army.

2 Bty SM G Ellsworth

[I]f I had stayed at home I would never have been able to hold my head up & look any decent girl in the face … Surely everyone must realize that the Empire is going thro a Crisis it has never gone thro’ before and that every one is expected to do his duty now.

3 Pte AJ McSparrow

I have [enlisted] … and I don’t regret it in the very least. I believe it is every young fellow’s duty. There are far better men than any of us have already gone … besides every paper one lifts it has something to say about young fel- lows being so slow in coming forward … we are the sort of young men who should go.

4 L/Cpl FC Mulvey

I have enrolled as a volunteer … one [son] can be spared for the defence of Australia and Australia’s fate is going to be decided on the continent and not out here … being suited in physique and occupation and being prompted by a sense of duty and spirit of adventure I can hardly do TESTING THE anything else but volunteer. EPISODE’S REPRESENTATION 5 Lt EH Chinner OF WAR [I am] very keen to get to grips with those inhuman brutes … to do something to help wipe out such an infamous na- See FIG 3 on page 19. tion. The Parson this morning preached on this text—‘What can a man give in exchange for his soul?’ But he altered ώώ 2. REASONS FOR ENLISTMENT ‘man’ to ‘nation’. I am sure that God will take a strong hand in the war and thoroughly punish Germany. 6 What impression does The War That Changed Us give of the reasons for people volunteering for the war? 6 Gnr RW Betts

7 Look at this collection of reasons, and write the main [T]he outlook of the war is getting worse … it is just … reason given for that person enlisting beside each. 12 long weeks of awful bloodshed, property smashing, killing and crippling of men to, today and may it all soon 8 Decide it the film provides a fair sense of reasons for be over, but I am afraid its not to be and we people of the enlistment. British Empire will all feel the strain of it … before the so called civilized and cultured nation of Germany is crushed [Note that spelling and punctuation in these extracts are as underfoot. they are in the original]

1 Corporal RE Antill

[I]f we go to war and they call for men here I will make one quick and lively. I think I know what it is to rough it now and SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 if it is my lot well here goes I am itching to get a dig at a few Germans … we have all got the war fever … its not bad money here 5/- a day and clothes and food that’s nearly as good as good Cabinet Making and not half so hard. You may thint it funny mee turning up such a good job but it was like this Philpott had only about 3 days work left for us and things are so bad out here for there is a drought on we

FIG 3 19 1 7 2/Lt AC Youdale

I thought that [the war] … was too colossal to last long and that Christmas 1914 would see it all over. But … I then realized that it was going to be a long struggle, and that it was time I got a wriggle on … [By January] I felt very fit for a big fat greasy German.

8 Maj Gen Sir G de L Ryrie

I don’t think they will take married [militia] officers of my age, but after thinking for years over it I feel I must offer my services. I know that you would not have it said … that although I talked a lot about loyalty and defence of the Empire &c, that I didn’t offer to go myself. I am worried to death about it. I would do almost anything in the World to avoid leaving you … but I feel I couldn’t look men in the face again … I must offer [to enlist].

9 Pte Bill Harney gotten rid of. Up to a few weeks ago the Government here seemed to be getting as many volunteers as they could or Another volunteer had been sacked after punching his wished to handle, and as fighting is entirely out of ‘my line’, boss; Bill Harney volunteered from the Queensland Gulf I did not feel called on to offer myself. However, they are country partly because his horses were poor; one or two now prepared to enroll as many as will come forward, and men, their enthusiasm no doubt quickened by alternative … I must not hold back any longer. offers of a prison sentence, accepted magistrates’ sug- gestions to enlist. Men offered because they had friends 14 Lt JA Raws in Europe, or mates enlisted, or because everyone else in the district had gone and they could not bear the abuse of The reduction of the standard has enabled me to get elderly women. The list was almost infinite. through … I was … [never] a great man for heroics but … there are some things worth more than life. I curse the sys- 10 Lt DG Armstrong tems of government … which permits this dreadful welter of blood and suffering to have enveloped the world … I go I am going to have a try for the war … I think I ought to go, … believing that the only hope for the salvation of the world they want all they can get and … I think it is the greatest is a speedy victory for the Allies. opportunity for a chap to make a man of himself, those that come back from this war will be the right sort that anybody 15 Capt RD Mulvey would be proud of. [T]housands should go before me—men who are more 11 Lt BW Champion physically fit and men who have made no sacrifice … But … in this struggle which will determine whether spiritual When the news of the Anzac Landing came through to principles or a military despotism will control this world Sydney, and the huge A.I.F. casualty list which soon fol- of ours, I feel … ‘twere better to die in fighting for such a lowed, my Dad at last unwillingly gave his permission for cause than to live in life long self-abasement for having me to enlist. failed to respond to ‘the Call’. Should we be defeated life would be intolerable. 12 L/Cpl J Gibbons 16 Nurse Evelyn Davies Things are now looking so serous, and the Russians and Allies are getting so many knock backs, that after a long I feel that now I have the opportunity, I ought to go. Nurses talk with the manager I have decided to [enlist] … the time are badly needed, goodness knows, and someone must do has come for every able bodied man without ties to go and it … I want to do the right thing. help. SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 Bill Gammage, The Broken Years, Illustrated Edittion, 13 Lt CH Alexander Penguin, Melbourne 1990 pages 8-11, 13-14 and Maryanne Barker, Nightingales in the Mud, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, I enlisted on last Sunday week … but whether I shall see 1989 page 16 any fighting or not, I sincerely hope not … but … I think the time has undoubtedly arrived when everything else … should be laid aside until this truly awful bugbear has been

1 20 TESTING THE EPISODE’S REPRESENTATION OF WAR ώώ 3. REASONS FOR NOT ENLISTING

In 1916 Prime Minister Hughes could conscript every ‘eligible’ man into the army. but he could not make them serve overseas without changing the existing law. Hughes believed he could change the law, and while that was happening he called up men to go into camp and start their training. People who thought they should not go into camp had to justify that in a special court.

9 What impression does The War That Made Us give of reasons why people did not volunteer?

10 Look at this list of reasons presented in 1916 by men who wanted to avoid serving in the army. Write the reason beside each.

11 Discuss the similarities and differences that you identify between the film and this small collection.

Henry Edge (33), cartage contractor, on the ground that he was unfit for active service, because of weak eyes and a deformed leg. Referred to the principal medical officer. Francis W. Cole (26), manager, on the ground that he was Reginald Emanuel (27), upholsterer, on the ground that the only son of the family. he was the sole support of his home, and that he had a Adjourned to enable applicant to get a copy of his parents’ brother already on active service. There were only two sons marriage certificate. in the family. Granted. Clarence Oscar Amott (22), butcher, on the ground that he was of material service to his parents in business, and that in his spare time he was being educated to design aeroplanes. Refused.

Leslie Robert Baynton (32), solicitor, on the ground that the total number of sons called up exceeded half the number of sons in that family. Adjourned.

Sydney Burton (23), chemist, on the ground that it was in the national interest that he continue in his present position. Refused.

James Joseph Guest (31), carter, on the ground that he was the sole support of his father, who was 75 years of age. Refused. SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014

Frank George Fehlberg (33), farmer, on the ground that he was a conscientious objector. As a Christian, he did not believe that he should take up arms against his fellow men. The law of God said ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ Refused. Hobart Mercury 19 and 21 October 1916

1 21 sigh of relief, the suspense is over! … some get ashore safely, some are hit slightly, others are drowned in only a couple of feet of water because in the excitement no one notices their plight … [One] fellow remains in the boat after all the others have disembarked … he … looks at us daz- edly, leaning forward on his rifle. A sailor … touches him on the arm, and the soldier falls forward in to the bottom of the boat, dead. Bill Gammage, The Broken Years, Penguin, 1990 pages 61- 63

SOURCE 2 CSM GS FEIST

I was in the second tow and we got it, shrapnel and rifle fire bad. We lost three on the destroyer and four in the boat getting to land. The Turks were close on the beach when we got there. We had to fix bayonets and charge. We jumped into the water up to our waists and some of them their armpits … we had to trust to the [bayonet] at the end of our rifles … I tell you, one does not forget these things … all we thought of was to get at them. One would hear someone say ‘They’ve got me’ and you register another notch when you get to them, that’s all. Gammage, page 63

SOURCE 3 CORPORAL JOHN STUBBS

TESTING THE EPISODE’S I cannot tell you what pain our boys went through and the pluck they kept through it all. We went up to one man to REPRESENTATION OF put him on a stretcher, he kept saying don’t trouble about WAR me boys, there are plenty worse than me up there. This was not the only case but you would hear it all over the place, ώώ 4. THE LANDING AT GALLIPOLI all that the poor chaps would say was ‘Give me a cigarette and a drink and I will be all right till the morning’, perhaps 1 The War That Changed Us presents an image of the na- the fellow would be bleeding to death. You could not imag- ture of the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April. Summarise this ine their bravery. image of the fighting. Jonathan King and Michael Bowers, Gallipoli. Untold stories from war correspondent Charles Bean and front-line Anzacs, Doubleday, 2 Look at the following extracts from accounts by soldiers Sydney, 2005, page 24 at the landing. Decide if each is reflected or represented in the film.

SOURCE 1 SGT WE TURNLEY

Shall we be seen or not? That’s our anxious question. ‘Why don’t the ------fire at us?’ ‘Look, there’s a light!’ ‘No, it’s only a bright star creeping up behind the hill.’

… no challenge rings out. How we wish they would fire — SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 or that we would land …! The suspense is nerve-racking. All we can do is follow the pinnace towing us about. The thought comes to me that perhaps we are the unfortunate ones to be sacrificed in drawing the enemy’s fire. Such a cheerful thought! … Oh, why the dickens don’t they fire at us! There are a couple of lights flashing about — they must have seen us … Crack! Swish! Ping! At last we breathe a

1 22 it would be, for no man could live erect in that tornado for many seconds. Gammage, page 66

SOURCE 7 MAJ W DARNELL

A brief pause on the beach to fix Bayonets and singing ‘This bit of the world belongs to us’ much swearing and cheering we charged up a hill so steep in places we could only just scramble up. No firing all bayonet work. Clean over a machine gun we went, men dropped all around me, it was mad, wild, thrilling … Not till I was near the top of the hill did I realize that in the excitement I hadn’t even drawn my revolver. Gammage, page 66

SOURCE 8 ANONYMOUS DIARY ENTRY

Now we have commenced up those steep cliffs, parts of SOURCE 4 CAPT DG MITCHELL which one has to almost pull himself branch by branch … in many places to fall back again … We are near them now, ‘Good!’ I remembered saying ‘the ----s will give us a go only 50 yards away … then a roar and a yell … as we are after all.’ ‘Klock-klock-klock. Wee-wee-wee’ came the lit- charging at them … they are out of their trenches … On tle messengers of death. Then it opened out into a terrific and on, up those awful cliffs and through the dense scrub, chorus … The key was being turned in the lock of the lid of where every few yards a Turk jumps out with his bayonet hell. Some men crouched in the crowded boat, some sat up ready … Then the second line of trenches and again the nonchalantly, some laughed and joked, while others cursed third, just as the dawn of a new but bloody day is breaking. with ferocious delight … Fear was not at home. The top of the mountain is now strongly outlined against Gammage, page 64 the grey morning sky (our goal) but yet fully two miles away. We now … form up in some sort of a line, that has been hopelessly confused … Now for the first time our rifles … SOURCE 5 PTE TOM USHER fire (10 rounds rapid is the order) charge magazines again and up and at them … until at last … we gain the mountain You’re up to your neck in water, and a lot get drowned with peaks. The goal is reached but at what a cost … As soon the weight of the packs and that. Then scramble ashore; as it grows dark the order is passed down to the officers take shelter as quick as you could. You’re only looking after to select so many men to go back to the landing place at yourself, couldn’t worry about the other bloke. Had to get the beach for ammunition … after nearly two hours we get ashore as quick as you could … just keep your rifle above there … But oh God the sight of the dead and wounded your head, keep it dry … Could see these cliffs, and I ran absolutely covering the little sandy beach … there is an for it. Didn’t care who you were with as long as you got enormous staff of medical men etc. there but it is absolutely away from the fire. I remember one bloke; he got hit in the impossible to attend to all, so that many a life … expires mouth and lost part of his tongue. Couldn’t understand what he was trying to say. Of course, they had to get some of them off back on to the ships quick as they could, but they weren’t ready for it, for the slaughter. Harvey Broadbent, Gallipoli. The Fatal Shore, Penguin, Melbourne, 2005 page 63 SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 SOURCE 6 CAPT DG MITCHELL

‘Fix bayonets and prepare to charge,’ came an order … I think about one man in six in that line was capable of advancing, the others were all dead or wounded. We re- joiced as we gripped our rifles. The long waiting should be terminated in one last glorious dash, for our last we knew

1 23 on the beach for want of looking after … [A]t midnight we regain the firing-line, worn-out, weary and hungry … No chance of sleep as the enemy are ever at us, and so the night advances to the dawn of a new day and thus was the work of our first day’s bloody battle. Jonathan King, Gallipoli Diaries, Kangaroo Press, Sydney, 2003 pages 27-28

SOURCE 9 SERGEANT GREG DONNELLAN

By 10.30 pm we had got rid of over 300 badly wounded men and our own portion of the beach was gradually getting cleared … About this time a ‘false’ order was received for the troops to retire on the ships, and for a short time the situation was rather nasty. The men were coming down the hills saying they had orders to get away, and at the same time reinforcements kept coming ashore … When the barges returned Mac and I got busy again, and by 2am on the 26th we had sent another 200 men away. King and Bowers, page 32

SOURCE 10 PRIVATE … They were bayoneted. Two others were caught by New BLAKE YOUNG Zealanders sniping at the Hospital Ship. Their heads were cut off by bill hooks which are none too sharp. Another The South Australians were sent straight into the thick sniper was found behind our lines in a well hidden dugout of it, and our first taste of fire affected me, at least, less in the cliff face. He had water & rations for a fortnight. The than I expected. I am not boasting, for I frankly admit that sniper behind our trenches is still busy. He still commands I dodged every shell that screamed overhead and it took Shell Green & got a few more of our chaps galloping for me some time to distinguish between the echo of the rifles water. and the ping of the bullets landing in the bushes near by. King and Bowers, page 54 Still, at times I found myself scarcely heeding the risks. Thus a week passed. Every case was a new experience, and another danger passed, and we became callous to the SOURCE 12 PRIVATE terrible sights. JOCELYN CARR King and Bowers, page 50 Have just taken a run right into the firing line … Chap there shot in head 1 hour ago, brain protruding, still alive. At SOURCE 11 PRIVATE 12 a call came for a stretcher in the firing trench and I ran JOHN TURNBULL up with two others. Regimental S.B’s. Bullet right through head very bad bleeding. Bandaged and carried him through Snipers have been caught behind our lines today with Aust. trench and the connecting trenches to Dressing Station. Uniform & equipment with a pocket full of our identity discs Very difficult to get it through and round the angles and to keep low to escape bullets. They caught a sniper up there and ran him through singing ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary’. Indians chopped the head off another. King and Bowers, page 57

I know it is right and proper that a man should go back and fight again but Sunday’s battle and the horror of the trenches Sunday night … have unnerved me completely … [We sailed] … off to death and ‘Glory’. What fools we are, men mad. The Turk he comes at one, with the blood lust in his eyes, shouts Allah! Australian like, we swear Kill or be

1 24 killed … Where are the rest of my 13 mates? 2 Clearly establish the historical context: Does it explain the Gammage, page 69 main characteristics of the time and place clearly and fully?

3 Develop historical empathy: Does it give a sense of what SOURCE 14 PTE AT ELWOOD it was like at the time for the people involved, and for their society? I am slightly wounded … but am leaving tomorrow for the front again and very pleased I will be I want to get my 4 Present a clear and persuasive analysis: Does it establish own back I got it in the head and right arm. Last Sunday it its message by addressing fairly all main aspects of all happened it has not healed up yet but I am quite fit to go competing points of view? back again. Gammage, page 71 5 Entertain and engage: Is the film constructed in a way that draws the viewer in? Has it done this? Justify your view. SOURCE 15 PTE RG RICHARDS

It was a remarkable day right enough and a day in which it CONCLUSIONS was easy to pick out the wasters and also the brave men. King page 41 1 Summarise what you have learned about Australia’s experience of

SOURCE 16 PTE FRANK PARKER • the fighting • the home front during the war. It was very steep terrain, and steep gullies, and it was very hard going. We didn’t see many Turks at all. It was just a 2 Go back to your original discussion of the image you had matter of going for your life. But we got all mixed up. There of the five aspects listed. Have you changed any of your was the 5th Battalion mixed up with the 6th, and the 8th — all ideas about them? over the place! The higher up we went the worse it got! We had to pull ourselves up in virgin scrub, and here they were 3 Go back to your quiz answers. Have you changed any of in trees and God knows what. They had a sitting shot at us. those answers? Then we started to get heavy fire and the casualties were high, very high. 4 The title of the film is The War That Changed Us. How do Broadbent page 69 you think the war changed Australia? Explain your ideas.

FINDING OUT MORE MAKING A JUDGEMENT ABOUT THE WAR THAT ώώ WEBSITES CHANGED US AS A Department of Veterans’ Affairs www.dva.gov.au/ REPRESENTATION OF commems_oawg/commemorations/education/Pages/ index.aspx HISTORY For education kits on Gallipoli, The Western Front, Schools and war, Australian Light Horse, Women in war, The War That Changed Us is a representation of history Indigenous service, Australian Flying Corps. — it is a selective version of what happened, and reflects Anzac Day Commemoration Committee (Queensland) the writers’ choice of what to include and exclude, what to www.anzacday.org.au emphasise and what to downplay, and how to present all Australian Government elements that make up the film. www.anzacsite.gov.au www.ww1westernfront.gov.au It wants to present a picture that tells the truth about www.defence2020.gov.au Australia and the war. SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 Books To do this successfully the film must do five things. It must: Joan Beaumont, Broken Nation, Allen&Unwin, 2014 Michael McKernan, The Australian People and the Great 1 Be historically accurate: Does it present all the important War, Nelson, 1980 and relevant facts? Peter Pedersen, The Anzacs, Viking, 2007 Bill Gammage, The Broken Years, MUP, 2010

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