Page 46 - Australian Defence Magazine May 2019

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COMPILED BY PETER MASTERS | BRISBANE
THE NAMELESS NAMES
RECOVERING THE MISSING ANZACS
By Scott Bennett Published by Scribe RRP $49.99 in hardback ISBN 9781925713558
Of the 62,000 Anzac soldiers who died in WWI, over one-third are still listed as ‘missing’, with no marked graves, the only reminders of their sacrifice the many names inscribed on ageing war memorials, many
of which are found in small towns and hamlets throughout Australia. I often look at these when
VIETNAM
AN EPIC TRAGEDY 1945-1975
By Max Hastings Published by William Collins; Dist. By Harper Collins
RRP $34.99 in paperback ISBN 9780008132996 Variously described by English reviewers as his ‘masterpiece’ and a ‘masterful performance’, this latest book from distinguished British author Max Hastings is a monumental undertaking for a single volume (722 pages). It is a work the author himself describes as being for the general reader.
I’m travelling and reflect
on the sacrifice of local families. Bennett has used the personal experiences of three sets of brothers — the Reids, Pflaums, and Allens. He traces the brothers’ paths from small, peaceful towns to three devastating battlefields of the Great War: Gallipoli, Fromelles, and Ypres. He reveals the carnage that led to their disappearance, and their family’s subsequent grief and endless search. When the war ended, there were attempts to recover
the dead. One confronting photograph shows the bodies of Australian soldiers laid
out in rows, awaiting reburial at a cemetery near Villers- Bretonneux. Fast forward to 2009, retired schoolteacher Bryan Pflaum receives a request from the Fromelles Project Team for family details and a DNA sample, which ultimately solves the mystery of his uncle's death.
He begins by setting the
record straight about war in general and the Vietnam war in particular, which he describes as ‘an Asian tragedy, upon which a US nightmare was overlaid’. Hastings spent three years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs. Where many have treated the war as a US tragedy, Hastings sees it as a tragedy for the Vietnamese people, of whom 40 died for every American. Among his conclusions, Hastings states that ‘the American commitment was fatally flawed by its foundation not upon the interests of the Vietnamese people, but instead on the perceived requirements of US domestic and foreign policy’. Hastings has delivered a stunning and highly readable political and military narrative with his customary clarity and brilliance.
FOR VALOUR
AUSTRALIANS AWARDED THE VICTORIA CROSS
By Craig Blanch &
Aaron Pegram
Published by New South/ Australian War Memorial RRP $79.99 in hardback ISBN 9781742235424
As might be expected from an AWM publication, this book is beautifully presented and carefully researched.
It tells the stories of the
100 Australians who have been awarded the Victoria Cross for exceptional acts of bravery and self-sacrifice in battle. From Captain
CAPTURED LIVES
Australia's Wartime Internment Camps By Peter Monteath Published by NLA Publishing
RRP $ 39.99 in paperback ISBN 9780642279248
In November 2018 edition
of ADM, we featured the book Dunera Lives. The
story of the Dunera boys resurfaces in this book too along with the stories of countless other supposed enemy aliens, a term that was to become familiar in Australia in both World Wars. My own grandfather, a Swiss
Neville Howse of the NSW Army Medical Corps in
1900 to Corporal Cameron Baird of the 2nd Commando Regiment in 2013, heroic actions in the Boer War appear alongside those from WWI, North Russia, WWII, Vietnam and Afghanistan. The biographical profiles offer the reader insights into the lives of the recipients beyond their wartime service, detailing the events for which they received
the highest military award. It’s clear the writers have benefitted from access
to the AWM’s extensive archives, including artefacts, photographs and artwork, all of which add immeasurably to the publication. This book is indeed a fitting tribute
to the valour of all the VC recipients. It will be a worthy addition to your library of military history though at 2.5kg it will need a sturdy shelf!
national with a German name later anglicised by
my father, was threatened with internment if he did not join up. The fear of enemy aliens on national security grounds masked deep seated prejudices, the like of which we see today. In two World Wars, Australia interned people of German, Italian, Bulgarian, Austro-Hungarian and later Japanese origin. Some were naturalised Australian citizens. Others had been born in Australia to foreign parents. Most were interned without a shred of evidence that they posed
any threat to Australia. This
is why books such as this
are important and deserve
a wide readership. If we do not understand the past and confront our own deep- seated prejudices, are we not bound to repeat them? It begs the question: why are we so afraid of difference?
46 | May 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au
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