Bad Characters: Sex, Crime, Murder and Mutiny in the Great WarAustralians have celebrated the Anzacs for nearly a century--but what do we really know of what war did to them? Charles Bean, historian of the citizen soldiers of the Australian Imperial Force, wrote that its history spanned 'the good and the bad'--but so far Australians have only looked at the good. Leading war historian Peter Stanley reveals the citizen soldiers the army regarded as its 'bad characters'. These were men who went absent and deserted, caught or concealed VD, got drunk and fought their comrades, who stole, malingered, behaved insolently toward officers or committed more serious offences, including rape and murder. This frank history--the first book on the AIF's indiscipline--shows that it became one of the war's most effective fighting forces in spite of its record for military misbehaviour. Stanley exposes, with a wealth of examples drawn from court-martial files and soldiers' letters, how the war turned some men into criminals, but also how bad characters made the AIF the superb force it was. |
Contents
The AIF in Cairo Australians criticised Civilians in uniform Anzac Criminals | |
VICTIMS | |
British and Australian discipline Field punishment Light horse and cameliers | |
Classic AIF discipline Sex in London Guardrooms and escorts Lewes | |
After the Armistice The Surafend and Shoubra atrocities Military prisoners | |
Index | |
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Common terms and phrases
absent AIF's Anzac Anzac Corps army army's arrested arrived attack Australian Division Australian Imperial Force Australian soldiers bad characters bastard Battalion battle became Billy Hughes Birdwood brigade Britain British Australasian brothels Cairo camp charge Charles Bean civilians colonel commanders comrades Corps courtsmartial crime David Croll death penalty depots described Desert Mounted Corps desertion Diary Digger discipline Douglas Haig drink drunk Egypt enlisted Eric Evans estaminet faced field punishment fighting files force France French front Gallipoli Gallwey German hospital HowellPrice infected killed larrikin leave Lieutenant light horse London medical officers Melbourne Monash months murder mutiny NAUK NCOs Norman Nicolson offences Oswald Blows platoon police Pozieres prostitutes provosts recorded reported returned Reveille Rupert Downes saluting selfinflicted wounds sentence sergeant Somme staff officers story Sydney told twoup units volunteers Wilfred Gallwey Wiltshire women wrote Zealand