Should be to educate, not celebrate
The Australian War Memorial’s top historian and Boronia Travel Centre battlefield guide,
Ashley Eikins, hopes that the next four years will expel some ANZAC myths and educate Aussies about the truth of the Great War.
According to Mr Ekins the mythology began on day one of the ‘doomed’ campaign on April 25, 1915 when diggers landed at Gallipoli against relatively light resistance compared to what British forces faced further along the Turkish coastline.
The principal historian said the real ANZAC story unfolded during the following weeks and months when the raw Australian troops dealt with what was a “costly, ill-conceived and futile” campaign.
“The ANZAC
cialis viagra pas cher story is eight months of enduring, of hanging on,” he said. “The real story is what those soldiers did ... the story of suffering and the Australian character.”
Over the next four years, Australia and other countries will hold major events to remember the centenary of significant battles such as the landing at Gallipoli. Mr Ekins explained that these activities should be driven by understanding and not celebration.
Mr Ekins said some planned events “turned too close to celebration rather than remembering”.
After all the discussion about WWI, he hoped that Australians would come to understand their country played a central role in fighting for democracy in Europe. An important part would be a better understanding of the great victories on the Western Front during 1917 and 1918.
“Australians were at the spearhead of a large British army ... that
brought the war to an end,” Mr Ekins said. “This is the story of victory in 1918.”
Article source: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2694629
