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practical example: Australia’s participation in WWI. Even in context of the military blunders
of Gallipoli, military allegiance to Great Britain is expressed in the following passage:
The Australians lost 8500 men killed and over 19, 000 wounded at Gallipoli. But it
brought renown to Australia, for seldom before had the daring of our soldiers been
equalled and never had it been excelled...the strength of each Australian was the
strength of ten because his motive was pure. He fought, not just for glory, but to
release the world from tyranny, to establish the cause of freedom and justice, and to
use the words of the President of the United States, to make the world safe for
democracy. The soldiers who Germany had thought would renounce their allegiance
to the British Empire as soon as war was declared, gave startling evidence of their
loyalty to the Mother Land and their kinsmen throughout the world. (Cramp, 1927, p.
218-219, emphasis added)
Despite the substantial loss of lives, which represented a significant percentage of the
Australian population, this loss is not mourned rather it is legitimised and accepted by
justifying death as an honour. First as an Australian described as “daring of our soldiers been
equalled and never had it been excelled” (Cramp, 1927, p. 218); and second as a loyal British
subject created as a binary against the representation of Germany (an anonymous, generalised
opinion that Germany, as the enemy, apparently held, but is not substantiated with sources)
through the statement: “The soldiers who Germany had thought would renounce their
allegiance to the British Empire as soon as war was declared, gave startling evidence of their
loyalty to the Mother Land and their kinsmen throughout the world” (Cramp, 1927, p. 219).
So, the participation of Australian soldiers in this conflict, whilst “daring”, containing the
“strength of ten”, “pure”, “not just for glory”, and “to release the world from tyranny”
(Cramp, 1927, p. 218), is also attributed to “their allegiance to the British Empire...evidence
of their loyalty to the Mother Land” (Cramp, 1927, p. 219). No other reason is given for
Australians volunteering to enlist, of which there were many. This is despite government
advertising of the time suggesting the conflict as a way to see this world, as an adventure. As
seen in the extract from the Cramp textbook, formations of the myth making of the Anzac
Legend, although not explicitly articulated are emerging.
The inclusion of Australia’s involvement from the perspective that it was a minor player in
WWI is demonstrated in the following statement: “Before narrating events that followed the
signing of the Armistice, we must give some attention to the part played by Australia in the
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