With the outbreak of war the new Commonwealth of Australia found itself willingly at war for the empire. Australian leaders were not consulted, but demonstrated their unqualified loyalty. Andrew Fisher, Labour prime minister from 1914 to 1916, declared that Australia would support Britain to 'the last man and the last shilling'.
Australia's dual loyalty was evident in the name of the volunteer force formed in September 1914, the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Its first members sailed for the war in November 1914. They had enlisted with mixed motives: to serve King and Empire, to have an adventure, to see the world, to do the right thing. One man in five had been born in Britain; many enlisted in the hope of a trip home before seeing active service.
Australia's dual loyalty was evident in the name of the volunteer force formed in September 1914, the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Its first members sailed for the war in November 1914. They had enlisted with mixed motives: to serve King and Empire, to have an adventure, to see the world, to do the right thing. One man in five had been born in Britain; many enlisted in the hope of a trip home before seeing active service.
What Training did the Soliders Receive?
Training had two main purposes in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Firstly, a new recruit had to be inducted into military forms of discipline, command and order. This was partially achieved through a program of basic training carried out in Australia, Egypt or England and, in a sense, was maintained for as long as a man was in the service. It involved marching and drilling with the rifle, cleaning and caring for personal equipment and being scrutinised and inspected in ways quite different to ordinary civilian life. For example, in May 1917, a memorandum to officers in the 12th Training Battalion from the Commanding Officer drew attention to the following:
"It was quite evident from the state of the boots in the huts that regular inspections are not made by the Officers and NCOs [non-commissioned officers]. No boots should be allowed to get in a bad state of wear but must be sent to the bootmaker without delay for repair.
Several men were found with hair long and unshaven. This is quite inexcusable."
Secondly, after basic training there followed the far more serious exercise of turning a man into a fighting soldier, at least partially prepared for the kind of warfare he was about to experience in France and Belgium. The topics and exercises in the syllabus of training for No 1 Training Company of the 15th Training Battalion during their last three weeks of the company's fourteen weeks of training was fairly typical. Basically, apart from daily physical training, the recruits covered the following: entrenching, wiring, firing rifle grenades, firing the Lewis light machine-gun, dealing with a gas attack, using hand grenades, using the bayonet, and routines to be followed in the trenches. These courses of instruction were then put into practice during what were called 'Field Days', when men would practice using the skills they had acquired in mock attacks both by day and by night. How well men had learnt to use their weapons in cooperation with each other in training would soon be tested in the harsh reality of the front line.
"It was quite evident from the state of the boots in the huts that regular inspections are not made by the Officers and NCOs [non-commissioned officers]. No boots should be allowed to get in a bad state of wear but must be sent to the bootmaker without delay for repair.
Several men were found with hair long and unshaven. This is quite inexcusable."
Secondly, after basic training there followed the far more serious exercise of turning a man into a fighting soldier, at least partially prepared for the kind of warfare he was about to experience in France and Belgium. The topics and exercises in the syllabus of training for No 1 Training Company of the 15th Training Battalion during their last three weeks of the company's fourteen weeks of training was fairly typical. Basically, apart from daily physical training, the recruits covered the following: entrenching, wiring, firing rifle grenades, firing the Lewis light machine-gun, dealing with a gas attack, using hand grenades, using the bayonet, and routines to be followed in the trenches. These courses of instruction were then put into practice during what were called 'Field Days', when men would practice using the skills they had acquired in mock attacks both by day and by night. How well men had learnt to use their weapons in cooperation with each other in training would soon be tested in the harsh reality of the front line.
Australian's in Egypt
The AIF first went to Egypt, destined to go the Dardanelles. On arriving in Egypt many of its members were struck by the contrast between themselves and the British soldiers they met. Though most Australians were city men, they had been raised in one of the world's most prosperous and progressive democracies. They towered above the shorter Lancashire territorials they called the 'Chooms', aware of the physical and even linguistic differences between the empire's armies. For the rest of the war, Australians would measure themselves against the British army. As their awareness of their own prowess grew, so would their disillusionment with their senior imperial partner.
Differences between the two emerged immediately. British troops insisted on rigid adherence to the forms of military custom, notably saluting. Australian volunteers, all citizen soldiers who regarded the army's demands as limited, especially out of action, tended to salute only those superiors they respected personally. A cartoon of 1917 hardly exaggerated: '"Why do you not salute?" a British colonel demands of a slouching Australian private. "To tell you the truth, digger", he replies, "we've cut it right out"'. British insistence prompted Australian resistance, generating friction throughout the war.
Sister Narelle Hobbes, an Australian who joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Medical Service in 1915 and died of illness in the Red Sea in 1918, was repeatedly frustrated by British military procedures and by condescension. 'Thank God I'm Australian!', she recorded in exasperation in her diary.
Differences between the two emerged immediately. British troops insisted on rigid adherence to the forms of military custom, notably saluting. Australian volunteers, all citizen soldiers who regarded the army's demands as limited, especially out of action, tended to salute only those superiors they respected personally. A cartoon of 1917 hardly exaggerated: '"Why do you not salute?" a British colonel demands of a slouching Australian private. "To tell you the truth, digger", he replies, "we've cut it right out"'. British insistence prompted Australian resistance, generating friction throughout the war.
Sister Narelle Hobbes, an Australian who joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Medical Service in 1915 and died of illness in the Red Sea in 1918, was repeatedly frustrated by British military procedures and by condescension. 'Thank God I'm Australian!', she recorded in exasperation in her diary.
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