St John's Cathedral, Brisbane and the Anzac Legend

S t J o hn’s C a t hedra l

St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane and the Anzac Legend

The Cathedral’s memorials to Australia’s service personnel who have served and fought in the Anzac tradition

Denzil Scrivens

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II

St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane and the Anzac Legend

PREFACE to the online edition

A number of very minor amendments have been made to the files of the printed editions of this book, to enable and enhance the functionality of this online, interactive edition and to accommodate the hundreds of links – both internal cross-references and external materials – which have been incorporated. Internal navigation is facilitated from start – direct links from the Contents, Memorials list and Cathedral floorplan locations (pages 1–3) to the relevant memorabilia – to finish, with direct links from the Index entries (pages 90–93) to subjects and topics on particular pages. Externally, a rich selection of links – including videos, documents, images and additional materials – has been carefully curated and compiled to bring the stories behind the Cathedral’s Anzac memorials even more vividly to life. Each has been individually viewed, read and appraised for its relevance, suitability and value, and exhaustive efforts have been made to provide a diversity of viewing and reading options in the selections made. Of course, this has been a subjective assessment process: much was considered but omitted, the goal being to ‘whet the reader’s appetite’ and prompt further investigations by this book’s audience into the many facets of the Anzac Legend within and beyond the walls of St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane. In support of this, some external links may be to ‘top-level’ website domains, to mitigate the (inevitable) risk of more detailed links breaking over time – and to encourage readers to make and extend their own exploration. Both the internal (navigation) and external (materials) hyperlinks will be highlighted onscreen; hovering over the highlighted link should, in most cases, display the destination link – either page number or external address. YouTube videos (most likely indicating only ‘YouTube’) should be identified by a faint ‘Play arrowhead button’ and should display within your screen window; on some devices they may open in a new tab or browser window. In PDF form (either pages downloaded from the onscreen FlippingBook tm or sections uploaded to the St John’s Cathedral website) embedded or placed links should remain active but will each open in a new tab or window. Please note that all external links and materials are provided in good faith and for educational information and that neither St John’s Cathedral nor the Queensland Government can be in any way responsible or liable for the veracity or otherwise of such links and their content, and that their selection for this online edition does not in any way reflect endorsement by nor the views of St John’s Cathedral and the Queensland Government. Moreover, the various disclaimers set out on the Impressum page (iv) of the print editions apply in similar measure to this online edition. If readers find a link is broken or are concerned that it may have been compromised, please email the Cathedral to advise any issues. (Please, first, check the link/s using a different browser or device, as not all links may perform the same way across all platforms.) As always, the online reader is advised to exercise safe internet browsing and strong cyber-security practices. All external links were functioning, correct and appropriate as of 19th December 2018.

St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane and the Anzac Legend

The Cathedral’s memorials to Australia’s service personnel who have served and fought in the Anzac tradition

Denzil Scrivens

This project is proudly supported by the Queensland Government.

Impressum

First published by the Corporation of the Lesser Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Brisbane, 2018. ISBN: 978-0-6481086-1-0 Text: Copyright © Denzil Scrivens 2018 Editors: Peter Collins, Glynis Scrivens, Bronwyn Pagram, Svyetlana Hadgraft Design: Masthead Design & Creative, Brisbane Printers: First edition: Print Works, Brisbane QLD Second edition: Defence Publishing Service, Laverton VIC Typeset in 9.5/10 Bell MT 3 5 7 9 8 6 4

MASTHEAD DESIGN CREATIVE

This book is available online through the St John’s Cathedral website: www.stjohnscathedral.com.au/the-anzac-legend/ Views expressed in this book are those of the author, contributors and commentators, and may reflect community, social and political language and attitudes prevailing or in popular use at the time of writing, particularly so in respect of historical material referred to or cited; they do not necessarily reflect those of St John’s Cathedral and the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane and may not be indicative of broader community and political views today. Any images, maps, charts, plans, logos, brands, graphic identities and trademarks used, depicted or referred to in this book are the property of the respective copyright holders, agencies and registered owners, which are identified to the extent such identification has been possible. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 /

You are free to:

Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format Adapt — remix, transform* and build upon the material

Under the following terms:

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. Australian War Memorial (AWM) images — May not be cropped, altered or overprinted in any way. Visit https://www.awm.gov.au/media/conditions for more information.

*With the exception of:

This is not an official publication of the State of Queensland. The material contained in this publication does not represent the views of the Hon. Annastacia Palaszczuk MP or Queensland Government policy. The State of Queensland makes no statements, representations or warranties in relation to the information in this publication (including the accuracy, completeness, reliability, currency, or suitability for any particular purpose). The State of Queensland does not accept any responsibility or liability howsoever arising (including, but not limited to, liability in negligence) for any loss, damage or costs (including consequential damage) relating to any use of, or reliance upon, the information in this publication. For the avoidance of doubt, the State of Queensland accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever for any errors, faults, defects or omissions in the information contained in this publication.

Contents

Floorplan of St John’s Cathedral: locations of memorials

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A message from the Premier of Queensland

5

Foreword by the Dean

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Introduction

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1 The Gallipoli campaign and the Cathedral’s Anzac flag

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2 Canon Garland and the origins of Anzac Day

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3 Commemorating the service and sacrifice of all who served in the FirstWorldWar 3

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4 The ‘Old Contemptibles’

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5 Nurse Edith Cavell

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6 The Shellal Mosaic and the “bravery of our Anzacs in Palestine” 48

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7 The All Hallows stone — remembering the Battle of Britain and the London Blitz in the SecondWorldWar 7

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8 Commemorating the Australian-American alliance during the SecondWorldWar 8

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9 Honouring the New Guinea Martyrs

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10 Field Marshal Montgomery, the Australians and the Battle of El Alamein 10

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11 The HMAS Voyager disaster and the Seffrin Crucifix

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12 The Cathedral’s regimental colours

84

Index

90

A prayer in memory of Anzac

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ST JOHN’S CATHEDRAL: Locations of memorials

Page

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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Gallipoli Anzac Flag

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South Transept FirstWorldWar windows

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The ‘Old Contemptibles’ window

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Nurse Edith Cavell window

48

Shellal Mosaic

49.7m

51

Na’aran Mosaic

37.0m

54

All Hallows Stone

60

Australian-American windows

68

New Guinea Martyrs window

10 11 12

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Stone of Remembrance

78

Seffrin Crucifix

84

Regimental colours

79.2m

Walk through this historic building at your leisure St John’s Cathedral is the centre of Anglican heritage and Christian welcome in the city of Brisbane. Here, God is worshipped through music, art, words and silence. The Cathedral is open to visitors between 9.30am and 4.30pm daily, except Boxing Day (26th December), services and other events permitting. Building dimensions St John’s Cathedral has an external length of 79.2m and an external width of 37.0m . The internal height is 18.2m and external height is 49.7m (the top of the West End spires). Tours Group and school tours of the Cathedral’s war memorials, or tours of the Cathedral generally, may be arranged by telephoning (07) 3835 2222 during Monday—Friday office hours, or by sending an email to: guides@stjohnscathedral.com.au

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Adelaide Street

1964–1968 1989–2009 Completed Building work began 1906 1906–1910

SANCTUARY CHANCEL

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LADY

SOUTHERN

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CHAPELS

CHAPEL

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1 2 4

NORTH TRANSEPT

SOUTH TRANSEPT

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NAVE

ALSO CLICK ON

FLOORPLAN FOR VIRTUAL TOUR OF CATHEDRAL INTERIOR

Font

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NARTHEX

PORCH

NORTH

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On-street meters 11.00am—2.00pm

Central 300m

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Ann Street

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Foreword by the Dean

St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane, was built in three stages. When stage one was completed in 1910, just a few years before the outbreak of World War One, much of the stained glass had not been designed and installed. It is little wonder then that much of the glass commissioned in the years following the Great War should commemorate the fallen and seek ways to have the Christian faith speak to the horror of war and its aftermath. The anguish and the seeking for meaning associated with those years is forever etched into the fabric of the cathedral. In this significant book Denzil Scrivens captures the ways in which the Cathedral has been used to recording and honour the incomprehensible effects of The Great War and the subsequent conflicts that have contributed in part to the shaping of the Australian psyche. With great care and sensitivity, Denzil helps us understand the significance of the items that were gifted to the Cathedral for safekeeping by those who wanted the Cathedral to be a place of remembering and remembrance. He also takes us on a tour of the various memorials, which in many cases, record highly personalised testimonies to the cost of war. I am grateful to Denzil for this important work and for the role it will play in helping readers to appreciate the human cost of war and the need for us to be intentional in our dedication to peace making.

The Very Reverend Dr Peter Catt Anglican Dean of Brisbane

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This sketch shows members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landing at Ari Burnu (Anzac Cove) on 25 April 1915 at the opening of the Gallipoli campaign. Traditional illustrations such as this one suggest that the landing on the beach was a scene of carnage. However, most of the 2000 Anzac casualties on the first day of action occurred as the Anzacs attempted to penetrate the steep cliffs and gullies above Anzac Cove where the Turkish defenders were concentrated.

The Gallipoli campaign was a military disaster for Britain and its allies like Australia. Yet the outstanding performance and sacrifice displayed by Australian and New Zealand soldiers at Gallipoli created the ‘Anzac legend’.

Artist: William McInnes, Melbourne, c. 1925. Medium: gouache on board. Australian War Memorial ART92417

Introduction

On the 25th day of April each year, a day known as ‘Anzac Day,’ Australians across the world remember the service and sacrifice of Australian military personnel who served and fought in the First and Second World Wars and in subsequent conflicts. The original Anzac Day ceremonies established in 1916 were intended to remember the terrible sacrifice of Australian soldiers—members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC)—killed or wounded in the militarily disastrous campaign in 1915 to secure the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey during the First World War. More than 2000 Australian and New Zealand casualties (deaths and injuries) were experienced on the first day of the Gallipoli campaign, 25 April 1915. That day saw the Anzacs land at dawn at an isolated Turkish beach—later to become known as ‘Anzac Cove’ —in the face of fierce resistance. The Anzac Day commemorations were timed each year to coincide with the date of the dawn landings and were originally designed to commemorate the Gallipoli campaign. But, over the years, Anzac Day in Australia became an opportunity to remember all Australian Defence Force personnel who have served with honour—and in many cases given their lives—in the service of their country. The original Anzacs at Gallipoli, and the Australians who followed them in other conflicts, gave rise to what has become known as the ‘Anzac legend.’ This is a belief that Australian servicemen and women have served their country with certain distinguishing qualities which have made them outstanding warriors in all of the engagements in which they have taken part. These qualities include courage and tenacity in battle and endurance in the face of physical hardship. They also include a tradition of humour, egalitarianism and shared ‘mateship’ for their comrades. St John’s Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane has long cherished the memory of Australians, and particularly Queenslanders, who have fought and served in the Anzac spirit. The Cathedral was one of the first institutions to commemorate the dawn landings at Gallipoli, conducting a requiem Eucharist for “The Fallen” on 10 June 1915, a mere 46 days after the landings. Since then the Cathedral has recognised Australia’s sailors, soldiers and air force personnel—as well as British, American and other allied personnel who fought alongside them—in several ways. Two of the buildings in the Cathedral Precinct were on different occasions erected in memory of those who had served in times of war.

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One of these is St Martin’s War Memorial Hospital, built between 1919 and 1922, adjacent to the Cathedral and dedicated to all those who had served and died in the First World War (1914-1918)—including the Anzac campaigns in Gallipoli, the Middle East and the Western Front. The Hospital was funded by public subscription. Returned servicemen who had fought in the war, their dependants and former war nurses were treated at the hospital free-of-charge. The hospital was closed in 1971 and partially demolished, but the front section of the building, renamed St Martin’s House, was preserved. It now contains the offices of the Anglican Church Southern Queensland and of St John’s Cathedral. The second stage of the Cathedral itself, built between 1964 and 1968, was also dedicated as a memorial to Australian service personnel, particularly Queenslanders, who had taken part in war, in this instance the Second World War (1939 -1945). A further way in which the Cathedral has honoured our armed services has been through the erection over time of a series of memorials within the Cathedral recording specific events in both World Wars, and in other battles and conflicts where Australians, including Queenslanders, have taken part.

Soldiers of the Australian 9/49th Battalion marching to St John’s Cathedral in 1935 prior to laying up their ‘colours’ (standards) in the Cathedral. The Battalion fought in numerous battles on the Western Front in France and Belgium during the First World War.

Australian War Memorial 044619

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These memorials include stained-glass windows, artefacts, regimental colours and flags, and commemorative plaques. Together, they make St John’s one of Queensland’s most notable ‘Shrines of Remembrance.’ In commemorating our Defence Force personnel, the Cathedral has not sought to romanticise or glorify war. Jesus Christ said “ blessed are the peacemakers” and instructed his followers to invoke the power of love rather than enmity toward their enemies. Accordingly, as part of the Christian Church, the Cathedral advocates peaceful and non-violent means as the preferred way to resolve conflicts between nations, ideologies and communities and to achieve reconciliation and fraternity among all peoples. The great British wartime leader Winston Churchill once acknowledged in a speech to the United States Congress that war is evil, and indeed wars often bring horrific suffering to soldiers and civilians alike. Even the Gallipoli veterans themselves cautioned against romanticising war. The last survivor of the Anzac dawn landings, Sapper Albert Edward (“Ted”) Matthews, said just before he died in 1997 “The whole thing [Gallipoli] was a terrible mistake, so…when we’re all gone, don’t glorify Gallipoli”. 1 Many other Anzacs shared similar views about the horrors and suffering at Gallipoli, some even becoming pacifists as a result of what they saw and experienced at Anzac Cove. More recently, veterans’ groups in Australia have urged us to give as much attention to supporting present veterans dealing with the emotional scars of war as we do to Anzac Day commemorations. They note the comparatively higher suicide rates among returned soldiers, particularly those suffering PTSD or ‘Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD is a potentially severe mental health condition common among those who have experienced significant trauma, but only now beginning to be fully acknowledged and reflected in improved services for veterans. Notwithstanding the very real trauma and terrors of war, historically democratic countries like Australia have on occasion found it necessary to take up arms against countries or groups which have sought to subjugate or terrorise communities through force. Waging war has seemed the lesser evil than allowing oppression to persist or tolerating the victimisation of the innocent. Australia has been among those countries willing to send military contingents to contain those who have sought to impose their will on peoples or nations through force or violence. This book depicts the Cathedral’s memorials to many historic military campaigns, battles and war time events in which Australians, particularly Queenslanders, have participated. Each of these memorials is described and what they depict. It is hoped that this book will encourage more people to visit the Cathedral and view the memorials for themselves. In doing so the contribution which our Defence Force personnel have made in the name of human freedom and dignity, as well as the stories of heroism, suffering and sacrifice which have accompanied their participation in war, may be kept alive. A key inspiration for this book has been the rediscovery that one of the memorials housed in the Cathedral is the last known flag flown at the evacuation of the Anzacs from Gallipoli in December 1915.

1 Quoted in Jonathan King, Gallipoli Diaries: the Anzac’s Own Story Day by Day (Scribe, Melbourne, 2014).

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This historic flag and national treasure had hung in the Cathedral for many years. Legend had it that it was used during the Gallipoli campaign but all records relating to the flag—when it was presented, who presented it and its history at Gallipoli—had been lost by the Cathedral over time. However, in 2017, a chance discovery of a newspaper article dating from 1929, and subsequent research, revealed that the flag was used by an Anzac chaplain—Captain the Reverend Alexander Maxwell, a Queenslander— throughout the Gallipoli campaign. Importantly, Maxwell carried the flag through Anzac Cove, under enemy fire, on the very last day of the evacuation of the Australians and New Zealanders, and he presented the flag to St John’s Cathedral on Anzac Day 1929. The fact that the flag is the last known to be displayed by an Australian or New Zealander at Gallipoli is of considerable historical and sentimental interest.

Australian naval ratings march outside St John’s Cathedral during the Second World War. The former St Martin’s Hospital, dedicated as a memorial to those killed in the First World War, can be seen in the background.

State Library of Queensland

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This book is divided into 12 sections. Section 1 opens with the Gallipoli campaign, where the Anzac legend was born. It recalls the key features of the campaign, the events surrounding the evacuation and the story of the Cathedral’s Gallipoli flag on the final day at Anzac Cove. Section 2 recounts the work of Lieutenant-Colonel the Reverend David Garland, a canon of the Cathedral and one of the principal architects of Anzac Day commemorations. Canon Garland established the model for a non-denominational citizens’ service on Anzac Day each year which could be attended by the whole community and which would honour both New Zealand and Australian soldiers. He is also credited with initiating the Anzac Day march, the returned soldiers’ luncheon and perhaps the most poignant moment of Anzac Day: the one minute’s silence. Section 3 of the book describes the Cathedral’s stained-glass windows in the South Transept which recall Australian service personnel who served, and in many cases gave their lives, in all theatres of the First World War. The windows give particular prominence to the many nurses who volunteered for active service, working in military hospitals, hospital ships and trains, or in casualty clearing stations close to the front line. Section 4 illustrates a window in the Cathedral commemorating the ‘Old Contemptibles’ —soldiers who fought in the regular British Army on the Western Front against Germany in the opening stages of the First World War in 1914. The Army was virtually wiped out but managed to hold off the German advance. Section 5 describes another Cathedral window which honours English nurse Edith Cavell who was captured and executed by the Germans for smuggling over 200 allied soldiers to safety from German-occupied Belgium in 1915 Nurse Cavell is remembered not only for her courage but also for her refusal to show bitterness towards her German captors. Section 6 relates how the Anzacs fighting against the Turks at the Second Battle of Gaza in Palestine in 1917 uncovered a mosaic from a 6th Century church which became known as the ‘Shellal Mosaic.’ A fragment lies in the sanctuary floor of the Cathedral and commemorates the Battles for Gaza, including the decisive engagement at Beersheba won by the Australian Light Horse—one of the last battles in which horse-mounted troops were deployed. Section 7 tells the story behind a piece of stone in the Cathedral from the ruins of the Church of All Hallows Barking, in London. During the Second World War this ancient church was bombed by the German Air Force in the ‘Blitz.’ The stone commemorates those who died in the Blitz but also recalls the sacrifice of young Australian airmen who, in the Anzac tradition, fought heroically in the vital air war against Nazi Germany. Section 8 relates two striking windows commemorating the military alliance between Australia and the United States during the Second World War, when both nations fought to reverse Japanese aggression in the South West Pacific. The alliance became a major force in the defence of Australia and in the eventual defeat of Imperial Japan and its military subjugation of Asian and Pacific countries. Section 9 describes a stained-glass window in the Cathedral that recalls a series of atrocities committed by the Japanese Army on Australian missionaries working with local indigenous communities in the Australian- administered territories of Papua and New Guinea. These missionaries— who became known as the ‘New Guinea Martyrs’ —showed extraordinary courage, remaining in the territories as the Japanese invaded, refusing to leave their posts. Their brave decision was to seal their fate, but also to leave a lasting legacy.

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Section 10 recalls the ‘Stone of Rememberance’ at the Cathedral, unveiled in 1947 by the leading British general of the Second World War, Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery, which commemorates the service of all Queenslanders who served in that conflict. In Australia, Montgomery is best remembered for his association with Australian troops at the Battle of El Alamein in North Africa. There, in 1942, British, Australian and New Zealand forces defeated the German and Italian forces in a battle which owed much of its success to the fighting qualities displayed by the Australian 9th Division, facilitating a victory which marked a major turning point in the land war against Nazi Germany. Section 11 features a Cathedral crucifx which commemorates the 1964 HMAS Voyager disaster when, on peacetime manouvres, the Australian destroyer was involved in a collision with the aircaft carrier HMAS Melbourne with the loss of 82 sailors. The memorial recalls the event, including the acts of heroism that were displayed by rescuers who, in the Anzac spirit, risked their lives to save their sailor ‘mates.’ The final section, section 12, illustrates the enduring ties between St John’s Cathedral and Australian Army personnel reflected in the regimental banners (or ‘colours’) that lie in the Cathedral. For soldiers today, as in the past, regimental colours are sacred to their mission and to the lives they honour. Since the First World War, St John’s has been a noted repository for numerous colours laid-up by Queensland regiments including the 9th Infantry Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment, which had the first man ashore at Gallipoli. Throughout the sections of this book, small thumbnail plans of the Cathedral identify the locations of the respective artefacts, and these are combined in a more comprehensive floorplan at the front of the book.

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1

The Gallipoli campaign and the Cathedral’s Anzac flag

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This historic flag was the last to be flown at Anzac Cove during the evacuation of the Anzacs from Gallipoli on 19 December 1915. The flag hangs in the South Transept of St John’s Cathedral.

Mark Baker

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On the South Transept wall of St John’s Cathedral hangs the last flag flown at the evacuation of Australian and New Zealand troops from the legendary Gallipoli campaign of the First World War. The war—alternatively known as ‘The Great War’—began in the Balkans in late July 1914 and ended in November 1918, leaving 17 million dead and 20 million wounded. The war pitted Britain and its Empire (which included Australia and New Zealand), France, Russia and Serbia against Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. The latter controlled large parts of the Middle East, including Palestine, and at its centre was Constantinople, now Istanbul, the capital of what is now modern day Turkey. The campaign at Gallipoli was the first major engagement of Australian troops in the war. It was also one of the most harrowing. The Australian soldiers, all volunteers, formed part of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) comprising the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and the First New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Australia had enthusiastically entered the war on the side of Britain and its allies, answering the call to defend the interests of Britain as the ‘Mother Country’—Australia then forming part of the British Empire.

Queensland soldiers leaving Brisbane on a troopship bound for Egypt, where they assembled and trained before departing for Gallipoli.

State Library of Queensland

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Austro-Hungarian Empire

Black Sea

CONSTANTINOPLE

Bosphorus

Sea of Marmara

Ankara

Dardanelles

Ottoman Syrian Provinces

Cyprus

Egypt 310 miles / 500 km

Crete

Mediterranean Sea

Above: relief map of Turkey, straddling the boundary between Europe and Asia, controlling the landlocked, narrow waterways of the Dardanelles and Bosphorus Straits, and the Sea of Marmara. These passages, under Ottoman Empire control, with German military support, linked the Mediterranean and Black Seas but their potential value was not to be realised in the bloody Gallipoli campaign — although Constantinople (today Istanbul), straddling the Bosphorus, ultimately fell to the allies three years later. The inset box at top left indicates the close-up map of the Dardanelles on the opposite page.

The Gallipoli campaign began on 25 April 1915 in a series of dawn landings by British, French and ANZAC forces on the Gallipoli Peninsula in the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) near Constantinople. The aim was to secure a foothold on the shore which would enable the Anzacs, in concert with the British and French, to advance on Ottoman (that is, Turkish) positions, capture Turkish forts and open the way for British and allied Russian naval convoys to pass through the adjacent Dardanelles Strait. But upon disembarking the Anzacs found that they had been landed at the wrong beach, a place called Ari Burnu which quickly became known as ‘Anzac Cove.’ Instead of encountering relatively flat fields which they had expected, Anzac Cove proved to be a narrow beach perched under steep cliffs and ridges manned by seasoned Turkish defenders. The Anzacs met increasing resistance from Turkish shells and gunfire as they ascended the heights and, by the end of that first day at Gallipoli, more than 2000 Anzacs lay dead or wounded.

Following the initial landings, and over the course of the next eight months, the Anzacs found themselves pinned down at Anzac Cove, or in positions just inland from the sea, unable to penetrate long distances over the high hills and ridges against the strong Turkish defences. In August 1915 a series of major offences against Turkish positions at The Nek and Lone Pine were launched from Anzac Cove, but all attacks ended in failure with huge loss of life. At the Battle of Lone Pine seven Australians won the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest military award for bravery. During their time at Anzac Cove, apart from constant bombardment from the Turks, the soldiers also incurred many casualties from sickness (including cholera) and exposure. It was only the special quality of the Australians to endure hardship, honed from many years of settling the Australian Outback, and their renowned capacity to maintain humour in the face of adversity, that kept morale among the Anzacs positive.

Opposite page background: First World War topographic map of the Dardanelles Strait and Gallipoli Peninsula with terrain shown by colour shading and contour lines. This was adapted from captured Turkish maps and annotated with location names used by the allied forces. The Anzac Cove area enlarged on the inset map is outlined. By Egypt. Maslahat al-Misahah; Great Britain. War Office. General Staff. Geographical Section - State Library of New South Wales Map Z/M3 390.8/1915/2, Mitchell Map Collection, Public Domain, https:// commons.wikimedia.org/w/index. php?curid=31433936 Opposite page inset below: Topographic map close-up, with Anzac Cove centre left, showing Anzac and Turkish posts, trenches, tracks and roads, and approximate landing places. Terrain shown by contours and spot heights, based on 1915 Turkish maps with Anzac trenches as at September 1915. Gerald R. Campbell (map face); H.E.C. Robinson (publisher); – National Library of Australia MAP G7431.S65 1916

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Gallipoli Peninsula

Transport mules at Anzac Cove killed by shrapnel from Beachy Bill, the Turkish Gun battery on the heights at the southern end of the Cove.

Photo: State Library of Queensland

Transport mules at Anzac Cove killed by shrapnel from Beachy Bill, the Turkish Gun battery on the heights at the southern end of the Cove.

Photo: State Library of Queensland

Dardanelles

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The Turkish defenders had been grossly underestimated as a foe. Despite this, most of the Anzacs had fought gallantly, overcoming their fears. In doing so they won the admiration of their senior British commanders and, back home, the Australian and New Zealand peoples, although it was some time before the full extent of the casualties was officially made known to the public. Both the heroism and the suffering of the Anzacs awakened great pride and sentiment in their achievements and their resilience. The Gallipoli campaign became a defining moment in the development of Australia’s sense of identity and nationhood. But, by the closing months of 1915 it became apparent the campaign could not be sustained and it was decided to evacuate all allied forces from the peninsula. The evacuation was meticulously planned. It was imperative that the Turkish Army should not get wind of the withdrawal in case they launched a devastating attack on the retreating soldiers. The War Office in London had estimated that an evacuation could result in the loss of 50,000 men and Lord Curzon, a British Cabinet member, had warned that withdrawal from Gallipoli would be a piteous disaster.

He had forecast a panic retreat at night, “the crowding into the boats of thousands of half-crazy men, the swamping of craft…the agony of the wounded, the hecatombs of slain.” Fortunately, this dire forecast was negated by the careful planning of the evacuation. In the case of the Anzacs, the plan was to withdraw soldiers gradually from Anzac Cove over a period of time, and then for all remaining soldiers to be withdrawn secretly in darkness over two single nights—the nights of 18-19 and 19-20 December. As it transpired, the evacuation was a complete success without a single loss of life. Indeed, militarily, the evacuation was the only successful part of the entire Gallipoli campaign which had claimed 26,111 Australian casualties, about a third of whom were killed. One of the most important ways that Australian Churches helped support the Anzacs at Gallipoli, and in other First World War theatres, was by contributing chaplains to serve alongside Australian troops. Affectionately known as ‘Padres’ (from Italian, Spanish and Portuguese meaning ‘priest’), the chaplains were serving priests or ministers from the Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian and other Churches.

Anzac Cove looking north from Hell Spit in 1915. Note the seemingly impenetrable coastal terrain which gave the Turkish defenders atop the cliffs an unassailable advantage.

State Library of Queensland

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Volunteering their skill sets to the Army, these clerics in military ‘clobber’ sought to provide support and comfort to Australian servicemen in the face of wounds, grief, despair and suffering. The chaplains helped organise entertainments, games and sporting events, as well as holding prayer meetings and services and providing emotional support and spiritual counselling to individual soldiers. More sombrely, they helped as stretcher-bearers in carrying the wounded to safety, conducting funerals for the dead, recording the details of those who had died and writing letters to their relatives at home. Chaplains from many denominations still serve in the Australian Defence Force to this day. During the First World War, 22 clergy from the Brisbane Anglican Diocese served as chaplains in the First AIF. One of these was the Reverend Alexander Maxwell (1856-1933). At the time of his enlistment he had been the parish priest at Sandgate, on Brisbane’s northern Bayside. He enlisted on 8 February 1915 as a chaplain, with the honorary rank of Captain, attached to the 2nd Light Horse Brigade, whose recruits came mainly from Queensland and northern New South Wales. Maxwell was 59 years old when he enlisted which was highly unusual, as the age limit for chaplains engaged for “continuous service” was 48, and 52 for “voyage only”. He must have obtained special exemption to enlist given his age, which was almost twice that of many other padres. He first sailed on the Australian- leased troopship Star of England (A15) to Camp Mena near Cairo in Egypt, which was the staging-post for Australian troops en route to Gallipoli. Maxwell then spent much of the Gallipoli campaign as a hospital ship chaplain, assisting in the repatriation of some of the more than 5000 sick, wounded and dying Anzacs who were cared for on just that one ship alone.

At one point, over a three-day period during the bloody August offensives, Maxwell buried 67 men at sea. Sunday 19 December, however, found Maxwell at Anzac Cove where he had gone ashore from his hospital ship which was anchored off the beach. The morning dawned fine but cold. It was the last full day of the evacuation, and all remaining Australian and New Zealand troops would be withdrawn by 4.10am the following day, bound for Egypt. The 10,000 soldiers still left at Anzac Cove on the 19th spent part of the day destroying stores and items of potential use to the Turks. It was a tense time for the soldiers—there was considerable anxiety lest the Turkish defenders realise that most of the Anzacs had withdrawn and only a small number remained, making them even more vulnerable to attack.

Two Australian soldiers in slouch hats in their trench posing for the camera at Anzac Cove in 1915.

State Library of Queensland

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Accordingly, the troopers continued to stage routine activities on the beach, including intermittent firing of rifles and artillery, to offset any impression by Turkish observers that a full-scale evacuation was under way. Others were digging up the hardened floors of their trenches so when they slipped away that night to the evacuation barges the noise of their boots would be muffled by the soft earth. Empty sandbags and scraps of blanket with which to wrap the men’s boots were being collected, again with the intention of muffling their sound on departure. Still other soldiers were setting up rifles with delayed timing devices that would make them fire shortly after the Anzacs had departed the beaches, further reinforcing the impression that the Australians and New Zealanders were still in the fight rather than withdrawing completely. Maxwell had taken to the war a flag which he had used in 1903 to commemorate the centenary of European settlement in Victoria, at a spot where now stands the town of Sorrento near Port Phillip.

Maxwell packed his flag in his kit bag for the Front and then used it in the course of his chaplaincy duties throughout the Gallipoli campaign. There is a tradition that, among other purposes, he used it as an altar cloth for Holy Communion (Eucharist) services (although no actual record of this exists). On 19 December, Maxwell had the flag with him at Anzac Cove while he was helping to evacuate the sick and wounded and record the names of Anzacs buried at Hell Spit Cemetery, one of 20 gravesites established by the Anzacs on the peninsula. At about 1.30 that afternoon he was returning from the cemetery and was carrying the flag with him when he and the flag were fired on three times by Beachy Bill. ‘Beachy Bill’ was the nickname given by the Anzacs to a battery of Turkish guns located at a position just a few kilometres inland south of Anzac Cove. Fromthere the enemyhada clear vantage point of sections of the beach. Throughout the campaign Beachy Bill’s gunners fired at will onto the beach, inflicting more than 1000 casualties.

Transport mules lie dead in a trench at Anzac Cove, killed by shrapnel from Beachy Bill, a Turkish gun battery on the heights at the southern end of the Cove.

State Library of Queensland

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Shells would burst above the heads of troops whether standing or lying down, sending shrapnel in all directions. Hell Spit was located at the southern end of the Cove and closest to Beachy Bill. Hell Spit Cemetery had been closed because Beachy Bill’s gunners were in the habit of firing at burial parties there, so Maxwell took considerable risk in visiting the cemetery with his flag on that final day at Anzac. The shells fired at Maxwell and the flag fortunately missed their mark, although shrapnel from an exploding shell grazed one of Maxwell’s pockets. In April 1916 Maxwell returned to Brisbane from chaplaincy duties. In 1920, after thewar, hewas invited to show the flag that he had flown on the last day at Anzac Cove to General Sir William Birdwood (later Field Marshal, Lord Birdwood of Anzac and Totnes) who was on a visit to Brisbane as part of a wider Australian and New Zealand tour. Birdwood, a British officer with the nickname ‘Birdie,’ had been commander of the ANZAC sector at Gallipoli.

Though not an outstanding military tactician—indeed, few of the senior officers with oversight of the disastrous Dardanelles misadventure were—Birdwood nevertheless earned the respect and affection of his Australian and New Zealand soldiers. He made a habit of living with his troops (unlike many British generals) and visiting them in the trenches. Indeed, he came to be dubbed ‘the soul of Anzac’ for his close personal identification with the Anzacs and his quick appreciation of their ardour and fighting qualities. He was also a courageous man, taking regular swims in the waters off Anzac Cove, in full sight of the Turkish guns, to show his men that he was prepared to share in the dangers. It was he who gave the name ‘Anzac Cove’ to the beach where the Anzacs landed and encamped. South East Queensland alone has 14 streets named after the Anzac leader. Maxwell showed Birdwood his flag at Government House in Brisbane where the General was staying. Birdwood expressed great interest in the flag and he signed his name on its top right corner.

An Anzac war cemetery on the hillside at Gallipoli in 1915.

State Library of Queensland

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On Anzac Day 1929 the Reverend Maxwell formally presented the flag to St John’s Cathedral at a commemoration service attended by senior government and military representatives, and he was interviewed by The Brisbane Courier (now The Courier-Mail ) before the event. 2 Maxwell told the newspaper that the flag was the last one flying at the evacuation at Gallipoli, a fact of both considerable historical and sentimental interest for Australians. There is another flag at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra which hitherto was thought to be the last flag flown at Anzac. It was removed from a pole above one of the signals offices at Anzac Cove by official war correspondent Charles Bean, whose subsequent history of the Gallipoli campaign was instrumental in helping establish the Anzac legend (see further below). However, Bean removed his flag on 18 December, the second last day of evacuation, at least 24 hours before Maxwell took his flag ashore and carried it along the Cove. 3 Maxwell’s flagwas the last known flag to be displayed at Anzac just before the final group of soldiers departed in the early hours of 20 December 1915.

Maxwell’s flag was the ‘Union Jack’—the flag of Britain and the British Empire—which was officially used by Australian as well as British forces during the First World War. Uniquely Australian flags—the ‘Australian Red Ensign’ (emblazoned with the Southern Cross and the Federation star) and the ‘Australian Blue Ensign’ (a blue version of the former)—were carried or flown from time to time by individual Anzacs in the war. But it was not until 1954 that the Australian Blue Ensign became the official flag of Australia. In 1915 Australian soldiers naturally rallied to the Union Jack as the flag of Britain, the Mother Country at a time when most white Australians regarded themselves as British, and officially in battle the Union Jack took precedence over Australian flags. The flag removed by Charles Bean from Anzac Cove on the second last day of evacuation was also a Union Jack. Birdwood’s signature on Maxwell’s flag was overstitched in cotton, and the words “ANZAC 19th DEC 1915” appear underneath the signature, also in cotton. The words, quite possibly inserted by Birdwood, were backdated to reflect the day on which the flag was carried through Anzac Cove by Maxwell during the evacuation. Matching Birdwood’s signature on the top left hand corner of the flag is some wording which has since decayed and is now virtually illegible. The original wording read “Victoria, October 16, 1803– October 16, 1903,” commemorating the centenary of the first British settlement in Victoria, celebrated in 1903 by the Reverend Maxwell.

Close-up enlarged extract of Birdwood’s signature and date on the Anzac flag.

Mark Baker

2 The Brisbane Courier, 24 April 1929, “Anzac Souvenirs Presentation to St John’s Cathedral”. The article appears in the National Library of Australia ‘Trove’ online database. Maxwell’s presentation of the flag to the Cathedral was also reported in the Brisbane Telegraph in an article entitled “Flag and Cross Presented” published on 25 April 1929, the day of the flag’s presentation. The Register News-Pictorial of Adelaide also reported the event in an article entitled “Last British Flag Flown at Gallipoli Presented to Cathedral” and dated 26 April 1929. 3 Accounts differ as to when Bean was evacuated from Gallipoli but all agree it was before 19 December. Dr David Cameron in Gallipoli: The Final Battles and Evacuation of Anzac, (Big Sky Publishing, Newport, NSW, 2016, p.296) records that Bean was evacuated on 18 December. However, Bean’s biographer Peter Coulthart states that Bean was evacuated on the night of the 17th (Charles Bean, HarperCollins, Sydney, 2014, p.187).

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Also inscribed on the flag are the words “EGYPT” —where the Anzacs and Maxwell assembled before transportation to Gallipoli; “ANZAC” —the beach where the Australians fought at Gallipoli and where

Maxwell had served as a hospital chaplain; and “SALONICA” —an allied battlefront in Greece where the padre was stationed on a hospital ship for a brief period in early 1916. 4

The Anzac commander General Birdwood from a photograph published in 1916. Birdwood’s signature may be found on the Cathedral’s Gallipoli flag.

State Library of Queensland

4 Maxwell’s movements during the War are recorded in his War diary and papers housed in the National Archives of Australia: Service Record NAA: B2455, Maxwell, Alexander

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The Cathedral’s Gallipoli flag is exhibited as a permanent memorial to the Dardanelles campaign and to the sacrifice of Australian and New Zealand soldiers during this momentous episode in the life of the two nations. It was a particularly formative moment for Australia which in 1915 was a young country, only recently federated (1901) from a collection of separate, self- governing British colonies into a single nation. Gallipoli was the first military conflict in which Australian troops had fought as Australians rather than as New South Welshmen, Victorians or Queenslanders. However, militarily the Anzac campaign at the Dardanelles was a disastrous and misguided folly, fought against impossible odds, ill-thought and at times poorly led by the British Army High Command and the British War Cabinet. It was also—as retired Australian Brigadier Chris Roberts has more recently established— dogged by inexperience on the part of the Australian troop commanders. This inexperience resulted in a number of costly tactical errors and breakdowns in communication, resulting in failure to exploit initial Anzac successes immediately after the dawn landings and helping the Turks hold down the Anzacsonanarrowbeachof notactical importance. Yet Gallipoli created the Anzac legend, a set of beliefs that Australian troops—known as ‘Diggers’ (see section 3)—had special qualities that set them apart and reflected uniquely Australian characteristics of humour, courage, tenacity, ruggedness and ‘mateship’ plus elements of irreverence and ‘larrikinism.’ These characteristics were reflected in the renowned fighting quality of the Diggers displayed in all subsequent wars and engagements in which Australian Defence Force personnel have taken part. This includes the decisive Battles of Beersheba, Amiens, El Alamein, Kokoda and Milne Bay during the First and Second World Wars.

A Queensland school text book notes: “Put simply this legend was that a group of ordinary Australians took on the enemy under great difficulties, fought magnificently, endured where others might not have, showed great human qualities, and then had to withdraw because of the incompetence of the planners of the campaign. They did not win this battle strategically, but they set a standard and an example which others then could live up to. These soldiers showed what Australians were.” Another comment on the Anzac legend comes from a former chief of the Australian Army, General Sir Cyril Brudenell White—like the Reverend Maxwell a Queenslander and who as a colonel at Gallipoli had been responsible for the meticulous planning of the evacuation of the Anzacs: (Robert Lewis and Tim Gurry, The Anzac Experience, Anzac Day Commemoration Committee of Queensland, 1999).

“Who will say that Gallipoli was a failure if from the trials endured there, and in memory of the unconquerable spirit of those who died, Australia should have developed a nationalism based on the highest ideals.”

(Peter FitzSimons “Gallipoli” , Heinemann, Sydney, 2014).

Maxwell also underscored the Anzac legend when he preached to a packed Cathedral on the presentation of the Gallipoli flag to St John’s on Anzac Day 1929. He spoke of his time as a hospital ship chaplain ministering to the many thousands of young Anzacs who passed through his care. For Maxwell the two qualities which stood out most among the Anzacs were their courage and their sense of mateship towards their fellow soldiers. A newspaper reported Maxwell’s prophetic words:

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