Abstract
The 416,809 Australians who enlisted into the AIF formed roughly 13.43 per cent of the white male population, or about half of the eligible number believed to be available.1 This chapter focuses on the initial experiences of those recruits upon their enlistment. In particular, it considers the typical motivations felt by men to enlist, and explores the difficulties they faced in making the transition from civilian employment into a service contract with the military. Through a focus upon these motivating factors this chapter seeks to bring greater attention to the common expectations of individuals, and establish how the nature of these expectations subsequently shaped attitudes towards work within the military.2
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C. E. W. Bean, The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918, Volume I: The Story of Anzac, From the Outbreak of War to the End of the First Phase of the Gallipoli Campaign, May 4, 1915, 11th Edition (Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1941), pp. 42–43.
About 120,000 were eventually shipped overseas for service. R. Pearson, Animal Allies (Sydney: Australian Military History Publications, 2005), p. 8; J. Bou, ‘They Shot the Horses — Didn’t They?’, Wartime, 44, 2008, pp. 54–57.
S. Morris, Wagga Wagga: A History (Wagga Wagga: Bobby Graham Publishers, 1999), p. 116. See also McQuilton, Rural Australia and the Great War, pp. 179–181.
There is a wide body of literature on the increased organisation of the labour force during this period. See for example R. Frances, The Politics of Work: Gender and Labour in Victoria, 1880–1939 (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1993); L. Taksa, ‘“All a Matter of Timing”: Managerial Innovation and Workplace Culture in the New South Wales Railways and Tramways prior to 1921’, Australian Historical Studies, No. 110, 1998;and L. Taksa, ‘The Diffusion of Scientific Management: Reconsidering the Reform of Industry Related Training in the USA and NSW during the Early 20th Century’, Papers, School of Industrial Relations and Organizational Behaviour (Sydney: University of New South Wales, 1994).
C. Fox, Working Australia (North Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1991), p. x.
N. Joseph and N. Alex, ‘The Uniform: A Sociological Perspective’, American Journal of Sociology, 77(4), 1972, p. 719.
J. Williams, ‘Discipline on Active Service: The 1st Brigade, First AIF 1914–1919’, LittB, Department of History, ANU, 1982, p. 6.
For a detailed analysis of these traditions see, for example, I. F. W. Beckett, Discovering British Regimental Traditions (Oxford: Shire Publications, 2008).
Peter Stanley, ‘“Our Big World”: the Social History of the Light Horse Regiment, 1916–1918’, Sabretache, 39(1), March 1998, pp. 3–14.
C. E. W. Bean, The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918, Volume VI: The Australian Imperial Force in France, During the Allied Offensive, 1918, 1st Edition (Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1942), p. 5.
J. Bou, Light Horse: A History of Australia’s Mounted Arm (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 143.
D. Nelson, Managers and Workers: Origins of the Twentieth-century Factory System in the United States, 1880–1920 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995), p. 37.
The Daily Telegraph, 15 February 1916, p. 7. See also M. Darby, ‘The Liverpool-Sydney Riot’, MA Thesis, University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, 1997, p. 48 and Blair, Dinkum Diggers, facing p. 119.
For a series of discussions on the Eight Hour Day movement in Australia see J. Kimber and P. Love (eds), The Time of Their Lives: The Eight Hour Day and Working Life (Melbourne: Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, 2007). For an analysis of the celebration of the movement in the 1910s, see in particular B. Webster, ‘Celebrating the “Great Boon”: Eight-hour Day and Early Labour Day in Rockhampton, 1909–1929’, in Kimber and Love, The Time of Their Lives, pp. 45–64.
For similarities with nineteenth-century voyages see A. Hassam, Sailing to Australia: Shipboard Diaries by Nineteenth-century British Emigrants (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1995), p. 49. See also D. Kent, From Trench and Troopship: The Experience of the Australian Imperial Force, 1914–1919 (Alexandria: Hale & Iremonger, 1999), p. 17.
E. J. Leed, The Mind of the Traveler: From Gilgamesh to Global Tourism (New York: Basic Books, 1991), pp. 44–45.
Salisbury Plain in England was initially intended to be the training centre for Australians, but the recent entry of the Ottoman Empire into the war and the poor quality of facilities in England led the Australian commanders to decide to stop in Egypt instead. S. Brugger, Australians and Egypt, 1914–1919 (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1980), pp. 20–21, see also Molkentin, ‘Training for War’.
C. E. W. Bean, What to Know in Egypt: a Guide for Australian Soldiers (Cairo: Societé Orientale de Publicité, 1915). See also White, ‘The Soldier as Tourist’, p. 122.
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© 2014 Nathan Wise
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Wise, N. (2014). Civilian to Soldier: The Transition of Men From Civil Employment to Military Service. In: Anzac Labour. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137363985_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137363985_2
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