Fragments of the First AIF - The Australian "National Character"

So we all know about the Australian soldier in the First World War, right? They were all tall, courageous larrikins who took the war in their stride and their British officers for a ride. Obviously. But in fact, all sorts of people made up the First AIF - tall courageous larrikins of course, but also short, fearful larrikins, and tall, morose cowards and everything in between. This podcast series will be taking a tour of the AIF through the individuals that made it up, one person a week, warts and all. But before we begin, what did Australians think of themselves as they sent their young men to war? What made up the Australian national identity? Just thirteen years after Federation, the First World War had Australians wondering about that themselves.

Fragments of the First AIF - The Australian "National Character"

Sources:

• Marcus Clarke, The Future Australian Race, Melbourne : A.H. Massina & Co, 1877.

• Percy F. Rowland, The New Nation: A Sketch of the Social, Political, and Economic Conditions and Prospects of the Australian Commonwealth, London : Smith, Elder, 1903.

• ‘Australian National Character,’ Western Mail (Perth), 4 October 1902, p.32.

• ‘Australian Character,’ Port Lincoln, Tumby, and West Coast Recorder, 21 October 1908, p.2.

• ‘The Australian National Character,’ Sunday Times, 6 March 1910, p.13.

• ‘The Character of Australian Soldiers,’ The Maitland Daily Mercury, 24 September 1915, p.2.

• ‘Making Australian Character,’ Daily Examiner,  7 August 1919, p.4.

• ‘The Australian Soldier: Character in the Crucible,’ Daily Mercury, 19 February 1917, p.3.

• ‘The Australian Soldier: As Seen through Italian Eyes,’ Kyneton Guardian, 29 January 1918, p.4.

• Philip Gibb, Now It Can Be Told, London, New York : Harper, 1920.