Wounded Anzacs not forgotten
27 Mar 2009
Shattered Anzacs: Living with the Scars of War (UNSW Press), by La Trobe University historian Dr Marina Larsson is the first full-length study of Australian soldiers disabled during the First World War. It reveals the hidden histories of these servicemen and the thousands of Australian families that welcomed them home.
'Disabled soldiers don’t really fit into the Anzac legend as they represent the horrors of war, and challenge the heroic rhetoric of the Anzac legend,' says Larsson.
'The Anzac legend encourages us to find purpose in war through soldiers’ sacrifices, particularly the war dead who heroically made the ‘Supreme Sacrifice’, but it’s much harder to find purpose in war by talking about the damaged bodies of young men,' she adds.
From the arrival of the first men ‘damaged’ at Gallipoli in 1915 to the end of the 1930s Depression, Shattered Anzacs offers a poignant account of the lasting impact of physical injury and psychological scars upon returned soldiers and their loved ones. For these families, the trauma of war did not end in 1918 – instead the aftermath began.
'My book explores the effects of physical and mental disabilities on soldiers who returned from the First World War, and also examines the impact of disablement on their families,' Larsson says.
'For every 10 soldiers who went to war, two were killed and a further three were disabled. These men brought the devastation of the war home with them. The book shows that war does not just wound soldiers – it also wounds their families.'
Dr Larsson interviewed a number of children of disabled soldiers for the book, about what it was like to grow up with a war-disabled father. She found their stories both moving and diverse.
'Betsy spent most of her childhood visiting her father in a mental institution. Keith’s father suffered from debilitating headaches due to a severe head injury. Margaret’s father lost a leg, but the family actually coped well because he was employed,' she says. 'While these stories are told within families, they are not part of our larger national histories.'
Dr Marina Larsson is an award-winning historian who lives in Melbourne. A promising early career scholar, she received the Australian Historical Association’s biennial Serle Award in 2008 for the best postgraduate thesis in Australian History. Marina has held lecturing positions at La Trobe and Monash universities, and has published and presented widely on war and repatriation history.
For media interviews contact:
Marina Larsson Mobile: 0425 767 119
Book Details:
Marina Larsson, Shattered Anzacs: Living with the Scars of War, UNSW Press.
Available now, $39.95
Listed on UNSW website
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