W (part 2): Australians at war

This class is all devoted to Australians at war - WWI, WWII and Vietnam.


1. The Boer War

This was the first major conflict Australians were involved in (or rather dragged into by the British) before they even became the Federation. One of the most controversial events of the war was the trial of Harry Morant and his two colleagues. The story was brought to screens in the famous Australian film, Breaker Mornat. Watch the trailer below.



Synopsis:
Breaker Morant concerns the murder trial of three Australian Army officers of the Bushveldt Carbineers serving in South Africa during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). Lieutenants Harry "Breaker" Morant, Peter Handcock, and George Witton are accused of the murder of one Boer prisoner and the subsequent murders of six more. In addition, Morant and Handcock are accused of the sniper-style assassination of a German missionary, the Rev. H.C.V. Hesse. Their defence counsel, J.F. Thomas, has had only one day to prepare their defence.

Great Australian War Drama based on a true story.


2. World War I (the "Great War")

see:  Battle of Gallipoli.

3. World War II

WWII for Australians meant involvement in the military operations in the Pacific Ocean arena (e.g. bombing od Darwin), but Aussie soldiers were also fighting in Europe. It was another important time for shaping national identity.

Mateship was defined through the experience of trench warfare, concentration camps, hunger, injury, forced labour and the boredom and terror of war.

In the [Japanese POW] camps the Australians discarded their differences and became a tribe, a tribe which was always the most successful group. The core of this success was an ethos of mateship and egalitarianism which not only survived the ultimate dehumanising duress of the death camps, but shone through as the dominant Australian characteristic.
Paul Sheehan, Among the Barbarians, 1998

Mateship between soldiers helped define their manhood, and in turn, this helped define Australia as a nation.

4. Vietnam

The Vietnam War was the longest war Australia was ever involved in. Australian involvement in the Vietnam War was marked by controversy and significant levels of public opposition to conscription and concern about casualties. The Vietnam War was also the first war witnessed 'live' on television.

It was also a war in which ANZAC fought a battle against all odds, one that they should have lost - 108 people against Viet Cong's troops of 1,500-2,500. They didn't have any chance to win... but they did.

OPTIONAL MATERIAL:

Below is a truly brilliant documentary on the Battle of Long Tan. It may make a difficult listening (no subtitles) but I think it is really worth your while. Such honest and heartwrenching accounts of human bravery and mateship are rare these days.



5. Recent Australian involvement

I think Aussie attitude is best summarised in this short clip.

Oz trivia

source: https://www.facebook.com/AdventureToursAustralia/

Quiz 2: LETTERS G-W

I know how much you dislike writing tests. But we have to. Such is life!
You can log on to take the quiz HERE.

(contact me if you've forgotten your login/password)

It will be active for a week and close at midnight next Sunday (27 May).

As usual you have three attempts and I will take your highest score.

If you keep failing a particular question, go back to this blog and search for the info.

Good luck and have fun :)

25 April - ANZAC Day

Another important symbol of Australia is the ANZAC tradition. It was born during the Gallipoli campaign of WW1.

World War I (the "Great War")

Australian were sent to both Eastern and Western fronts.

Read this general introduction first.

Click the picture below to enter a great interactive website that will help you learn the story behind the tragic Battle of Gallipoli. As you remember it was a turning point in Australian history and an abrupt change in Australia/Britain relations. It gave rise to a strong sense of Aussie identity and resulted in development of "broad" Aussie accent.

Please click on all interactive elements on the website. It will take you around 20 minutes to watch/listen/interact with information there and you will need some of the facts for the test. So please do do it!




Western Front and the controversy of "voluntary" enlisting - click here.

W (part 1): Waltzing Matilda

Original song (or at least one of its existing lyrics versions)



Lyrics and glossary.


And here is the promised version in the style of Eminem ;-)



And here you can look up the "updated" lyrics.

S (part 3): Sport and science

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 1. Sport

"Australian sport deserves quality piss taking or none at all."

Australians are a nation of active people and they like to joke that they spend more on excercising than on education, but it doesn't mean that they are going to worship their sportsmen and sportswomen blindly. They always retain a healthy dose of irony and humour.

Asked about cricket, they would say something like that:

Cricket is a game that moves about as fast as a Jamaican on valium. It involves watching 11 men in white clothes stand around a field for a few hours, then break to have lunch, stand around, then break again to have a cup of tea, stand around, then go home. The same thing occurs for another 4 days, and then after all that effort, both teams call the whole thing a draw...

Remember, "Australian sport deserves quality piss taking or none at all." So true ;-)


Australians pride themselves on inventing football. That's correct. Football. (see the link under science). However "footy" may mean different games in different states. More on that here.

Some of you know already that I'm hopelessly in love with AFL

*** We'll watch the video below together in class




Click HERE to watch an episode of Australia’s Heritage – National Treasures which explains the story behind writing the rules of AFL (this is something you'll need for the test).

Talking about sport, we can't possibly forget about Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.















Sydney was the second Olympic Games organized by Aussies. The first one was in Melbourne in 1956.

That date also marks Aussies' love affair with swimming.

Another sport which is synonymous with Australia is surfing. Click HERE to re-watch the video we used in class.

Surfing was also important for local industry. In class we watched a trailer for a movie called Drift. Filmed on location on Western Australia's spectacular and rugged coastline, it is a story of two brothers and the birth of modern surf industry in the early 1970s.

Still, whether you are a professional athlete or an amateur, the main point is to be able to have fun.

Have a listen to this commentary. Pay attention to how Polish audience react to Aussies scoring goals, and how the Australian commentators react to the goal scored by Poland (first two minutes). A bit eye-opening, eh?




2. Science and the inventive Australian mind.

Have a look at the long list of Aussie inventions.

Here is the history of one of them:



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