In the myth of Anzac, military achievements are exalted above civilian ones; events overseas are given priority over Australian developments; slow and patient nation-building is eclipsed by the bloody drama of battle; action is exalted above contemplation. The key premise of the Anzac legend is that nations and men are made in war. It is an idea that had currency a hundred years ago. Is it not now time for Australia to cast it aside?
[Henry Reynolds and Marilyn Lake, What's Wrong with Anzac?, 2010, p173]
Ads that played into the ANZAC values (strength, power, determination, competition) were used to convince people to enlist
The ANZAC legend showcases the spirit in which Australians remember World War 1. The myth details the characteristics maintains during the victories and hardships in the trenches. A quote from Charles Bean, a pillar in creating the legend of contagious spirit states, " Anzac stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship, and endurance that will never own defeat." This quote by Bean focusses on the values based on white male soldiers in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Another instrumental voice of the ANZAC legend is Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett who was a reporter in Gallipoli where he got first hand experience of the ANZAC legend. His writings and records privilege those who were at the forefront of fighting in the trenches. The lens of the myth avoids other prominent members of the war such as women, First Nations, Chinese and Asians members. Whilst the ANZAC myth entails the stories of perseverance and a fighting attitude of White male AIF members, there are a plethora of important stories that are disregarded in the legend.
TO WHAT EXTENT DO WAR MEMORIALS, SUCH AS THE WOMAN'S MEMORIAL IN ANZAC SQUARE, SHOW THE FULL RANGE OF EXPERIENCES OF WORLD WAR 1 (1914-1918)
Notes- Click on 3D print link to learn more about ANZAC Square, ANZAC legend and WW1
The Women's memorial in Anzac Square is a prominent sculpture that pays tribute to the women in World War 1 (WW1) however, it privileges male soldiers in the AIF. Between the years of 1914-1918, women were still trapped in the societal boundaries that they were below men and therefore could only be mothers, nurses and so called 'lesser' roles within the war. This sculpture is an unintentionally ironic ode to the lens that the Great War was viewed. A quote from the State Library of Queensland by ANZAC Square worker Elise Weightman states that the memorial " is… an acknowledgement of the grief felt by Queensland women, their families and communities, when a generation of men, and a significant number of women too, went to war and never came back, or never came back the same." The key words in this secondary source written in 2021 is "a significant number of women." This source is highly useful in showing the agenda of the Women Memorial. The Women's memorial details the grief of women at home, the women working as nurses and the hardships of fighting women but only one woman is shown in the entire memorial. 19 soldiers, 4 horses, 2 Navy members and 1 female, a nurse. This memorial implies that the only members, or the only important members of the war, were male AIF soldiers; female soldiers and the single nurse on the wall weren't supposedly a large contributing factor to the Australian WW1 story. A video from Australia's national film and sound archive details one of the only videos of women contributing to the war, as a nurse. This incredible primary source shows the useful message that women were in Europe to help the men not help the war. There are multiple women shown carrying injured men and nursing them back to health. The Women's memorial in ANZAC Square attempts to pay tribute to the women of WW1 but its misrepresentation leads to an accurate depiction for some members of the war but disregards others whom were just as instrumental.