L A N r> AND W A T E R 
August 21, 1915. 
THE CONQUERORS OF ANZAG. 
By R. W. Campbell. 
[The ii'riler of this article, who is the author of 
"Private S[>ud Tamson," has just returned from the 
Dardanelles. He is a keen student of Australasia and 
has made an intimate study of Australasian military 
affairs in times of peace. So he speaks with authorily.l 
Long in tlie arm, 
Long' in the leg. 
Strong in the back, 
And quick in the head — 
Australian ! 
THIS is an old verse I picked up in tlie Biisli. It 
pictures exactly the type in tiie ranks of our 
Australasian forces. The Australasians have 
created a surprise in our niiiilar}' world. They 
liave achieved wliat seemed the impossible, 
and, in the doinff, wiped out the stifjma of " undis- 
ciplined " which they frequently earned during the 
South .'\frican War. 
When Lord Kitchener sent the Australasians to 
Egypt he must have had three things in view: (i) the 
defence of Hgypt, the terrorising of German and Turkisii 
agents, and the quelling of any attempts at a revolution ; 
(2) tlie training of these military Bohemians away from 
luxuries and amid surroundings which demand a severe 
routine and sound discipline; (3) their ultimate use 
against the Turks in Egypt or the Dardanelles. 
That decision was sound, for Lord Kitchener kiwws 
Egypt just as well as he knows Australia and New Zea- 
land. He had no need to press his bell and call for the 
opinion of a Staff Officer on the physique, morale, and 
organisation of the Australasian army. " K." had 
known these men in South Africa. It was also " K." 
who toured the whole of -Australasia and placed before 
the present Governments his scheme for the making of 
every Australasian a citizen soldier. Hence the presence 
of these gallant fellows at Ciaba Tepe— a landmark of 
heroism, persistency, and dourness— in the future to be 
known as Anzac. 
These men have been successful because they have 
been rebels— rebels against convention, caste, pettiness 
and machine-like rules of war. The Australasians are 
great because their fathers were great. These men are 
the sons of square-jawed pioneers. Their fathers had to 
carve wealth from a wilderness. The}- had to fight 
abongmes, bushrangers, Maoris, drought, disease 
poverty, and discomfort. With onlv their swag and 
billy can they tramped away from the lures and luxuries 
of home mto a lone interior, which only yielded its 
wealth to the^ hustler and sticker. The" Bush is now 
a land of sheep, cattle, fruits, cereals, and beautiful 
homes, but It used to be as bleak as Gallipoli and as 
stcken.ng as Achi Baba. The early pioneers hacked 
s'ucfess 'V' '"^ P'^'"^'^^ "^^'^ ^''^y '« comfort and 
JXt -covins: "" "°" "^"'^^^"' ^"^^^^'-'^ -d °- 
Only he u ho has visited Australia and New Zealand 
can understand the people. As a rule. Britons know 2 
much about these men as they do about the r Bibles 
\\e often p.cture them as wild men of the Moods Xle 
many of them .magine us to be either peers publicans 
or paupers. There is great need of a firmer entente' 
Perhaps Anzac will open the hearts of all 
all p-viot.rconS;;ro":s '"^.ri^sri"^^ '^-"""j 
.:!rT:'' ^^ rPresentative of the Imperial Govermnm." 
age. ! also met Mr. Pearce, a Labour Cabinet Minister 
— the Father of the Australian .Army, and the most solid 
advocate of Imperial Defence. Against that I listened to 
street orators, who talked of " cutting the painter." 
damning the British Navy, and demanding a Republic. 
All this placed me in a maze. This incomprehensible 
mfxture of Imperialism, Radicalism, and Socialism 
caused me to curse. 
I am now glad that I did not advertise my curses to 
the world. First impressions of Australia are wrong 
impressions. Such impressions always remind me of 
newly-made jam — you see the froth and not the sub- 
stance. I dismissed mv earlv prejudices and set about 
to inquire. I talked ' to "Andy" Fisher, "Jim" 
Scaddan, " Jim " M'Gowen, and " Genial " Denham, 
all Premiers, all Imperialists— all gentlemen. To these 
men I airily, and sometimes carelessly, spluttered out 
my immature judgments. Patiently they suffered, then 
they put me right. 
They took me behind the scenes. Much that was 
vague became clear. Australia and Australians be- 
came still more interesting, more fascinating. Little, 
irritating things passed avvay in the light of these revela- 
tions. I was asked to remember that in Hyde Park, 
on Glasgow Green, in Phoenix Park one could hear 
Socialistic adventurers rave of Liberty, Revolution, 
Anarchy, and the destruction of the Universe. Were 
these true Britons? No! What right, then, had I. or 
any other Briton, to judge of tlie froth and not of the 
substance of this Australian world ? 
" Seek and ye shall find," says the Bible. So I went 
out again and sought for more' patriotism and Im- 
penalism in the lone parts of the Never Never Land. 
And I found it in plenty— all of the rough diamond 
variety. I met squatters, cockles, shearers, cow- 
punchers, milk-squeezers, and wallaby men. They 
called the old land " home." And thev meant it. They 
couldn't quite explain why they loved' it, but thev did. 
And if the old Kaiser put up his fists thcv'd be ritrjit 
there with a gun-sure thing." That's just how they put 
It. But little did I think their patriotisin would be called 
on so soon . 
Then I poked my way into their defence scheme. 
1 found every man was a soldier. True, thev didn't 
quite like it at first. It was new, it seemed st'rait-laced 
and full of red tape. They kicked, the\- even chucked 
stones at the drill halls, and called the Instructors nasty 
names. But these Instructors stuck to their job. They 
showed them that they represented 6.c>oo,coo whites, 
against 360.000,000 coloured men. Their land was God's 
own country— a white man's country. Thev had to 
defend It. Common sense triumphed. And,'to-dav. in 
Australia, all are keen and enthusiastic supporters of 
National Defence. 
What I have said about Australian defence applies 
also to New Zealand. There, too. " Bill " Massey and 
General Godley have made a citizen army. It is true 
that these armies have none of the polish and flashwork 
of a European army. Gold lace is a rarity. " swank " 
annihilated, and efficiency demanded. Like all new 
schemes there are faults, but the general principles are 
sound, and the spirit of officers and men magnificent. 
Now these men do not march with their whiskers 
waxed at^d thumbs in line with the seams of the 
trews. They do not salute like a guardsman; they 
do not punctuate every three words with " Sir " The'v ' 
refuse to be "messed about." They loathe stupid 
officialdom, and will not suffer an order which has not a 
reason why. But they can shoot, they can march, and, 
by Heavens ! they can fight. Their initiative is amazin- 
—often unpleasant to a martinet of the old school " 
,, "/ A'- '? '■^''^'i''*^ by stich able young generals as 
General Birdwood. The men call him " Birdy." 
It is the Australian way 
rnated L, ..„ ...,,,,, ^,,3, p^^^.^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^_ WUitefriars. London. E.G. 
