1917 The First World War

The First World War, known to many as ‘The Great War’ was a war of vast proportions. Its origins were extremely complex, its impact on military operations was revolutionary and its extent of destruction was horrifying. In Australia, around 416,809 men enlisted , of whom more than 61,532 were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner . A nation that had been meticulously built over 176 years was torn apart by a single war. But, as horrifying as ‘The Great War’ was, is it possible to select a single year of profound tragedy? Was 1917 the worst year of this tragic war for Australia and Australians or, is this statement a mere attempt at consolidation, one hundred years after the devastation of 1917? The statistics of The First World
War do not necessarily reflect the degree of trauma inflicted on an individual, town or Australia as a whole.
On the 4th of August 1914, Britain declared war against Germany. Australia, being a colony of the British Empire, was automatically also at war. Thousands of men rushed to volunteer to fight for their mother nation with most being accepted into the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Australian troops were sent straight to Egypt to be trained and to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East. After four and a half months of training in military camps near Cairo, the Australian men departed by ship for the Gallipoli peninsula, along with troops from New Zealand, Britain, and France. On 25th of April 1915, members of the AIF landed on Gallipoli in Turkey. This began the well-known battle on the shore of Gallipoli now known as ANZAC cove, which ended in December 1915 when troops withdrew from the coastline. For the next two years of
this dreadful war, Australian forces fought campaigns on the Western Front and in the Middle East. Throughout these years, losses were heavy and gains seemed nonexistent. But finally when 1918 came, the Australian troops fighting performance peaked in the battle of Hamel on 4th of July, which was the beginning of the end to a long war. In early November 1918, Germany surrendered. After thousands of battles, the British had finally won, but for Australia, the First World War was and remains the foulest conflict in terms of deaths and casualties. Whilst death tolls clearly state that in 1917, Australia suffered their greatest loss, this does not in any way prove that 1917 was the worst year of a hideous war for Australia and Australians because of one simple fact, Australia is its people and for each individual of Australia, a different year was their worst.
For many, war seemed as though it would be an excursion that they would return from as heroes. But, this was not quite the reality. For many thousands, the echo of gunfire was the final noise they heard. On the 19th of July 1916, the 53rd Battalion of the AIF suffered huge losses on the front lines at Fromelles. The battalion had arrived in France on 27th of June 1916, entering the front line for the first time 14 days later, instantly becoming embroiled in their first major battle. Fromelles ended in disaster will all battalions suffering grievously. The 53rd battalion lost all but three of their men. For those three Australian men, 1916 would be their worst year. These three men, although a miniscule part of Australia are Australians and they did not find 1917 their worst year. There are many more examples of the suffering in every year of World War 1. Simply reading a diary entry from Corporal Williams of the 55th Battalion in the 5th Australian Division shows how much every individual suffered. He writes:
The bodies of the dead men lay thickly along its length. Here the [55th] Battalion moving up had suffered severely in the passage. The German shells still searched this sap and blew great craters along its length as we struggled through, trampling underfoot the dead that cluttered it. All the while we were losing men. Some of the wounded lay in pools staining the water with their blood…The smell of the fumes of high explosives, and the unforgettable odour of death made this trench a place of horror.
But tragedy, death and misery did not only fall upon those in the battlefields. Every day, in Australia, another woman would succumb to a lifetime of mourning as she realized the one she loved would never return from battle.
In looking back at the carnage upon thousands of battlefields, we are often blinded by infamous numbers and statistics. We are misguided by meaningless figures that record death not life. We forget that those statistics of battle were people, individuals who faced their demise every single minute to fight for their nation. Whilst it stands blatantly obvious that records show 1917 was statistically the worst year for Australia-with 76,836 casualties in battles such Bullecourt, Messines and The Battle of Passchendaele-one cannot conclude that a single year was emotionally the worst for every single Australian. Some may argue that as the majority of Australians suffered the worst in 1917, it was the worst year for Australia and Australians. But, this idea of ‘majority’ is not applicable when one is speaking of something as personal and as grave as war. In Australia, we idolize our war heroes, commemorating those who lost their lives and celebrating those who returned from battle. And yet, when Max Blenkin writes “1917: The worst year of a hideous War (For Australia And Australians)”, he forgets those heroes. He forgets that each figure in a tally of death or casualties was a person. He forgets that Australia is its people. He forgets that no law of ‘majority rules’ should ever apply when speaking of every single Australian individual involved in a calamity such as war.
As horrific as 1917 was, one cannot say that this year was the worst.
We do not classify Australia by its economic standings nor economic growth, we classify Australia by its individuals-a nation defined by its people. In the same way, we cannot name a year the worst of WWI because each individual, each citizen of Australia will have a different year that was their worst. For the young, brave soldier who watched almost every single member of his battalion (the 53rd battalion) die beside him on the front lines at Fromelles in 1916, that year will be his worst. No death toll or vast number of casualties of the years before or after will compare to what he saw that day. When looking back upon WWI, think not of the war itself, think not of a single year, think not of the death tolls or statistics of battle. Instead think of the people, the men who so naively stepped into battle, think of the women who lost their loved ones, think of Australia as a nation of individuals who all suffered in years of a hideous war. Perhaps then, we will finally be able to see war as something too brutal to classify and too dark to speak lightly of. A disturbing reality of suffering, cruelty and
death.