Zombie Myths of Australian Military History

by Craig Stockings (Editor)

Overview

In this fascinating account, leading Australian military historians tackle 10 of the most enduring historical zombies, or national myths, that have staggered their way through the halls of military history for more than 200 years. From Aboriginal resistance and invasion to Australia’s recent involvement in East Timor, this record disproves the incorrectly memorialized and so-called gallant deeds of past Australian servicemen. Provocative and opinionated, this record attempts to correct the historical record.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781742230795
Publisher:	UNSW Press
Publication date:	08/01/2010
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Craig Stockings is a senior lecturer in history in the Australian Defence Force Academy at the University of New South Wales. He is the author of Bardia: Myth, Reality and the Heirs of Anzac and The Torch and the Sword.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Contributors viii

Introduction: The walking ‘undead’ and Australian

military history 1

1 The frontier war that never was 10

John Connor

2 Breaker Morant: The murderer as martyr 29

Craig Wilcox

3 The myths of August at Gallipoli 50

Rhys Crawley

4 Australians broke the Hindenburg Line 70

Elizabeth Greenhalgh

5 ‘There is an idea that the Australian is a born soldier …’ 93

Craig Stockings

6 Out in the midday sun: The loss of HMAS Sydney II 116

Peter Dennis

7 Dramatic myth and dull truth: Invasion by Japan in 1942 140

Peter Stanley

8 ‘Australia’s Thermopylae’? The Kokoda Trail 161

David Stevens

9 In every war but one? Myth, history and Vietnam 190

Jeffrey Grey

10 Two tales of Timor 213

Clinton Fernandes

Epilogue: Returning the zombies to their graves 234

Notes 239

Index 263