Greetings,
There are lots of movies available which demonstrate the qualities of the soldier. There are fewer which discuss the qualities of the Australian soldier. The following primarily discusses two shows (one movie, the other a series) which are available on Netflix, at the time of writing, but is a discussion in general of much of Australia's early military history, or at least her military history to the end of World War II. These two shows highlight much of the Australian distrust of British command of Australian military forces in the later wars. It also highlights the weakness of the Australian Government to stand up to the British Government for the sake of its own military forces, and even the sake of itself.
Reviews
"Breaker Morant" is set toward the end of the Boer War (1899 - 1902) which took place in South Africa. It was essentially a struggle for independence fought between the British and the Boers, a white South African people of primarily Dutch stock. This was a war of insurrection according to the British Empire and was fought using guerrilla tactics. The Boers would organise themselves into groups or "commandos" and raid the British. This is, indeed where we get the name from.
The movie is a court-room drama which focuses on the courts-martials of Lieutenant Harry 'Breaker' Morant and two of his subordinates who were arrested for shooting Boer prisoners, and the killing of a German missionary. The movie takes place both in the court-room and also out on the veldt where the Morant's unit, the Bushveldt Carbineers, is seen in action, along with some other action.
"Gallipoli" is a multi-part mini-series which focuses on the Australian involvement in the Dardanelles Campaign in World War I. Rather than examining the battle from the position of the High Command or other leading or officer units, it tends to focus more on the man in the trenches, giving a very personal view of the war.
The show does give some of the High Command perspective this shows in sharp contrast the lives of the enlisted man as compared to that of the officers, especially in High Command positions. It also shows the distinct difference in knowledge of what is assumed to be the ground as compared to what the actual ground and situation was like; none more so than the Australian 3rd Light Horse charge at the Nek. There is also an interesting perspective supplied when the war correspondents are introduced to the series and their perspectives of the battle are introduced.
The Origin of Australian Mistrust: The Australian Larrikin?
There are some who will claim that Australian mistrust of authority is the result of Australian nature. One of our most famous Australians is Ned Kelly an infamous bushranger, our people are well-known for being the people with the smile on the face, somewhat rebellious, and this it is sometimes accused because we originated as a penal colony. Indeed it has even been stated as such in the movie the "Princess Bride" that we were "peopled by criminals". From the perspective of our military there is a lot of reason that we have to mistrust authority, and especially British authority.
Bad Dealing
Just using the cases before us. Just using the cases presented in the movie "Breaker Morant" and the series "Gallipoli" there can be found examples of failures of trust being given, and extreme bad dealing on the part of the British with Australian military forces in both cases. It must be remembered that these two cases were less than a decade a part, easily within the lifetime of many of the men that served, and easily within the remembrance of many of the men that served. While the story may not have been publicised much in the papers, news of such occurrences do get out.
In the case of "Breaker Morant", two Australians were shot, and another was sent to prison as scapegoats to prove that the British could be impartial. This was so they could come bring the war to a close, this was nice for all of the men who were able to get home as a result, but expensive for the Australians who lost their lives, and ostensibly for doing their jobs. They were sent out to fight the Boers as they were being fought, and it wars this does tend to involve killing them. More of this will be discussed further along.
In the case of "Gallipoli", the British High Command looked at the maps they had before them and determined how the battles and the campaign would go. They had no knowledge of the actual ground they would be fighting on. Indeed, they failed to read the maps properly resulting in the Australians hitting ANZAC Cove which was supposed to be gently sloping, which was anything but that. The Australians simply forged on. There were also incidences where there were simply cases of bad orders from High Command where men were sacrificed for pointless objectives, and pointless assaults, the Australian 3rd Light Horse assault on the Nek being a prime example.
"For the Empire"
In this period, that spans these two movies, and even beyond it, the Australian Government did not support its troops. It simply went along with what the High Command, and thus the British generals wanted, and so the British Government wanted. They Australian leadership simply followed along and did what was best "for the Empire" without any consideration for what was best for their own men.
There was little resistance offered to the trial of the Australians in "Breaker Morant" and what resistance was given was minimal. When telegrams of protest about the trial were sent to the Australian Government, they were ignored. When telegrams asking for intervention in regard to the orders for execution were sent, they were also ignored. Morant and Handcock were simply offered up to the British to be tried and executed.
There were Australian commanders present during the Gallipoli campaign, but they were under the orders of an over-reaching British command structure. British officers would command Australian commanders below them. British commanders would rarely command Australian troops, because aside from their rank, Australians would mostly ignore them. It was evident that Australian commanders had the concern for their troops in mind, but they were often hamstrung by the British higher up. The Australian Government refused to get involved, because they were "serving the Empire."
A similar situation occurred in World War II, when Australian troops were sent to the Middle East to fight the Germans and Italians (we have the movie "The Rats of Tobruk" showing an example of their courage). This was to protect the interests of the Empire. The Australian Government did not resist, even as the Japanese got closer and closer, invading Asian nations one by one, pushing the Americans back. This resulted in reserve troops, militiamen and conscripts of the 39th Battalion, men who did not qualify to serve in the 2nd AIF, having to be called up to defend Papua New Guinea as seen in the movie "Kokoda". Now, we defend other empires.
No Surprise
With the bad dealing and lack of support from their own government, it is of little surprise that the Australian soldiers stuck so well together, and do stick so well together; that there is a bond of friendship and camaraderie which lasts long after the rifle has been given back and the uniform put away; that the Australian soldier fights more for the man at his side than any other cause. The name "digger" was earned by the Australian troops during the Gallipoli campaign on some advice that they were given by a commanding officer, "Dig, dig, dig, until you are safe." With this sort of command, is there any surprise that the Australians had little faith in British leadership after Gallipoli, especially on the background of the "sacrifice" of Morant and Handcock.
There is an quote which comes from during the charge scene in "The Lighthorsemen", "Who do you think is shooting at us the Turks or the silly bloody British?" which somewhat summarises the attitude of the Australian soldier, light horse, or simple soldier to his British commander. They simply did not trust them or understand them, they thought command's job was simply to sacrifice the foot soldier so they could get more medals. The Australian soldier is one of the most respected soldiers in the world, ironically, the people who seemed to respect him least were his own people, in the form of his own government, and his own officers, especially the British.
Cheers,
Henry.
