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War of Words: Children's war literature
BY MAJOR GENERAL (RET’D) MICHAEL O’BRIEN
The scope and extent of Australian children’s literature can be surprising. It has early roots, flourished in the Victorian age, sought to inspire during the First World War and, in recent times, has been a source of syllabus-based education.
Is the thought of children’s books on the grim subject of war bizarre? Children can be victims of war and frequently they are the first to suffer from it. Should children be sheltered from the realities of war? I am attracted to the view that Marsha Rakestraw penned for the Institute of Human Education:
The extent of children’s literature on war is wide–books, DVDs, posters and beyond. The coverage includes war, post-war, other conflicts and terrorism. There are books for juveniles (the preferred term for librarians) and about them. Some aim to educate about past wars, often guided by an age-specific syllabus. Genres also vary widely too, with narrative books, plays, picture books, comics, collector’s cards, myths, fables, legends, biographies and poetry–all covering themes of conflict
A 1901 edition of Fitchett’s book.
Reproduced courtesy of the Royal United Services Institute of Victoria
Using Trove, an online library database maintained by the National Library of Australia, I recently discovered that there were at least 333 Australian book titles found by using subject searches for First World War, Australia and juvenile (and 157 for New Zealand). There were 361 for the Second World War (NZ 72), 20 for the Korean War (NZ 5) and 61 for the Vietnam War (NZ 13). Later conflicts also featured. This sort of search depends on the scope of collections and their cataloguing. Nevertheless, it is a considerable volume of literature and indicates the presence of a wide market for publishers.
In the early twentieth century, the stories told were often inspired by patriotic propaganda, reinforced by tales of derring-do and heroism, with little emphasis on harsh realities. Many of the historical accounts were aligned with these thoughts. The perceived superiority of the British Empire loomed large. Some purported to be first-hand accounts.
Australians in Action: The Story of Gallipoli, 1915.
Reproduced courtesy of the Royal United Services Institute of Victoria
During the First World War, the bravery of the Empire troops was contrasted against the brave Turk or the fiendish Hun. Echoing British books, the public schoolboy was depicted as a natural leader with idealised masculinity. Descriptions of air combat emphasised its chivalrous characteristics. Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians were seen as natural warriors. Some of these idealised characterisations deteriorated as the war progressed. Disproportionate credit was accorded to the contribution of tanks to final victory. Overall, it was depicted as a good war fought by young heroes for a just cause.
However, best-selling Australian books aimed at children has an earlier genesis. The book Deeds that Won the Empire by W. H. Fitchett, a founder of the Methodist Ladies’ College, Kew, made him a household name throughout the British Empire. The book was ‘in a sense a literary accident’, arising from his journalism. Sir Cyprian Bridge, commander of the Australian Station in 1896, asked Fitchett to write commemorative sketches on anniversaries of notable events in British history. These became an Argus Saturday feature running for sixteen months under the pen name ‘Vedette’. The articles were pirated in India, republished in a London weekly, published in shilling form in Australia and finally, as Deeds that Won the Empire (1897). The book was placed by the Admiralty in all warships’ libraries, adopted as a holiday-task book in some great English public schools and printed in Braille. There were 100,000 copies of the six-penny edition eventually sold.
The School Paper for Grades VI and VIII, November 1914.
Reproduced courtesy of the Royal United Services Institute of Victoria
Schools, or perhaps more accurately, education departments, have played an important role in informing children about war, frequently as events unfolded. In a 1916 example of Victoria’s The School Paper a photo of crowds of men coming to enlist in the Army is shown with texts denouncing the German enemy and praising military volunteers. The New South Wales Department of Public Instruction was able to issue this pamphlet to school pupils jointly written by C.E.W. Bean and Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett some 23 days after the Gallipoli landing. This prompt production would be enviable today!
Sometimes, attempts to convey the story of a war are subject to alterations or even distortions, perhaps to make them more friendly to their intended audience. The 2015 book Meet the ANZACS by Claire Saxby portrays youths in uniform in a manner hardly representative of the reality. However, it can be seen as an example of an artist trying to lessen the reality of war by depicting it as a youthful adventure.
Claire Saxby & Max Berry, Meet the Anzacs, 2014.
Reproduced courtesy of the Royal United Services Institute of Victoria
Another way to somewhat downplay some of the effects of war is to concentrate on the role of animals in wartime. Perhaps the most well-known example is Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse, firstly a British book, then a Steven Spielberg film and an internationally successful play seen in 11 countries. Australian children’s books in this genre include ones on donkeys–yes, several on Simpson–dogs and pigeons.
Vashti Farrer & Mary Small, Feathered Soldiers, 2006.
Reproduced courtesy of the Royal United Services Institute of Victoria
In more recent times, children’s books have been written on many of Australia’s military campaigns including Korea, Vietnam and Timor Leste. These books are primarily educational and closely follow the requirements of state curricula.
It is sad that there is a range of books on the juvenile experience of war at first hand. The 1942 Australian Ministry of Home Security civil defence publication The Care of Children in Wartime is a good example. The Canadian Red Cross has a series of publications called Facing Fear: Helping Young People Deal with Terrorism and Tragic Events in four graded versions for children aged 5-16 with lesson plans and teacher notes.
Mrs. Hope James, President of the Kindergarten Committee at Iwakuni, headquarters of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force Air Group in Japan, reading a story to a group of children (ca.1945 – ca.1952).
Image reproduced courtesy of State Library Victoria. (1724044)
Even sadder is the fact that more than one billion children, almost a sixth of the total world population, were living in conflict or areas emerging from war according to recent estimates. P.W. Singer’s Children at War (2006) is the first comprehensive book to examine the growing and global use of children as soldiers. Indeed, the first American serviceman killed by hostile fire in Afghanistan–a Green Beret–was shot by a fourteen-year-old local boy.
There are many more examples of children’s books on war, and at least 250 such titles are held as a small part of the extensive military collection in the Library of the Royal United Services Institute of Victoria, situated within Victoria Barracks on St Kilda Road. The collection has been rated as one of national significance. It is open to the public and its use is encouraged. It may easily be visited by appointment.
An exhibition on children’s experience of war through popular culture will open at the Shrine in August 2023.
