Byron Shire Echo – Issue 29.41 – 25/03/2015 by Echo Publications

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An insight into the Anzac personality and tradition With the centenary of the Gallipoli landing just a few weeks away the Brunswick Heads–Billinudgel RSL encourages everyone to attend their local commemorations. At the Brunswick Heads Dawn Service a Rotary initiative will see school children planting small crosses to commemorate the lives lost on that far-off Gallipoli beach, so long ago. You will also be able to get breakfast in the park and enjoy the fire engines and exhibits. We might begin the commemorations by reflecting on what this day means and why.

Lives on line

Rex Fisher served in Vietnam as a technician with the Army’s 110 Signals Squadron 1969–70.

Although the number of ageing veterans is rapidly declining the public seem to be coming to Anzac ceremonies in ever-increasing numbers. Huge numbers of people are trekking to overseas battlefields, in what is sometimes described as a rite of passage. Why? The day can hardly be seen as a celebration, given its solemn remembrance of the huge numbers who have died or suffered in so many ways. Honour rolls in country halls often reveal how several members of the same family were lost, with what must have been devastating consequences for their relatives and community. A recent Four Corners documentary illus-

trated that our very youngest veterans are still suffering the same invisible wounds of trauma as their ancestors going right back to Gallipoli. These and other consequences of war are hardly cause for celebration but they do warrant commemoration, reflection, recognition. There have long been arguments that these ceremonies somehow glorify war and I remember having to write an essay on that subject in high school. If I had been posed the same question a few years later, after serving in Vietnam, I would have simply responded that the proposition is quite absurd. War is an horrific affair. It results, at the very least, from

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a breakdown in sensible, human interactions, at worst from maniacal quests. It results in the utter degradation of humans in so many ways. Year after year on Anzac Day we hear old combatants making statements along the lines that ‘war is bloody stupid’. How war can be glorified I will never know and I note The Echo’s recently expressed similar sentiments. I seriously doubt that glorification is a motivator for today’s crowds. Some feel that Gallipoli marked Australia as a young nation new on the world stage. While the campaign would have fused national unity and awakened international attention that proposition also attracts debate from

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those who ask if we really want our country to be recognised on military terms.

Our character However, what might have emerged is that the Gallipoli experience highlighted certain aspects of our character which facilitated our performance in adversity. While those characteristics would have applied in many civilian endeavours before Gallipoli, they may have then become more evident as something universal and defining about us. There are many tales of larrikin, laidback Aussies, with little regard for pomp and ceremony, who performed incredibly well in all forms of

We might also be thinking about why our service-people have continued to put their lives on the line. For some, and I include myself, there was a boyish sense of adventure. However that soon, and sometimes literally, gets blown out of the water when the reality strikes. I suspect that the common factor is a desire to preserve the ability of our, or another, country to choose its own destiny. While such freedoms may be the goal it takes another critical character trait to do what our troops, and undoubtedly many civilians, do. That trait is selflessness. Our day-to-day lives are often about personal reward for our efforts. However, there is no personal reward in risking one’s life knowing you will probably die for something bigger than you. Even surviving heroes, who are awarded medals, are usually very humble and quiet about what they did. A web search about Paddy Bugden, a WWI

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VC recipient from this area, will reveal his humility. In my time the Army deliberately bred a selfless culture, decrying anyone who displayed a ‘stuff you Jack, I’m alright’ attitude right from day one of recruit training. It is no myth that in times of extreme adversity one can be more concerned about others than oneself. I believe that selfless bravery is an ‘X factor’ underlying what our forces achieve.

Gratitude So is Anzac Day about gratitude and recognition? Gratitude for our freedoms? Recognition that preservation of freedom can unfortunately involve warfare at times? Recognition that beyond military skills, success in war requires extreme bravery, selflessness and sacrifice? Gratitude for those who gave that service? It took me 25 years to attend an Anzac Day march and what struck me most were the banners and voices saying thank you. Gratitude means a lot and I still get a bit teary about it. But we might also recognise that veterans are often hurting on Anzac Day as memories come back. As brave as they may be they are human beings with compassion. Without compassion they may not have given so much for something bigger than themselves.

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battle. Mateship is also recognised as a strong part of the that Anzac personality. Perhaps not so well known is a sense of humour in adversity that has strengthened bonds and helped service-people to cope in adversity. From what I see, reflection on the Australian character that served us well is in many minds on Anzac Day.

Rex Fisher

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