I'm a regular visitor to the Otago Settler's Museum, it's a great place for my 2 year old boy to run around in and occasionally look at the exhibits. The 'Dunedin's Great War' exhibit has been going for several months now, and over time I have managed to look at a few snippets of it when I am not busy looking after my boy. The title of the exhibit, and the central image of the small child saluting the union jack, I find highly objectionable. The emphasis on remembrance of the dead and military history, and the marginalisation of almost all other aspects of the war is not really very surprising. These more or less obvious ideological points aside, I was motivated to write a letter to the curator because of some factual innaccuracies and omissions. I think I have succeeded in being polite and reasonable sounding, while at the same time not pulling any punches:
TO: The curator of the 'Dunedin's Great
War' exhibit
I would like to make
a few comments about some of the parts of this exhibit. The topic of
New Zealand's involvement in the first world war is a topic which
interests me, and I have recently conducted a fair amount of
independent research into this subject. Philosophically and
politically I am deeply critical of the overall tone of the exhibit –
the hugely prominent image of a small child saluting the union jack,
for example, provokes within me a keen sense of shame, embarassment
and anger rather than the expected response of pride and poignant
feelings. Putting my ideological differences to one side, however,
there are some points of historical fact which I would like to
address:
- The 'Swotty Aitken's violin' exhibit
The text reads: OBHS
old boy Alexander Aitken was a brilliant mathematician who served
with the Otago Infantry. At Gallipoli he played nightly concerts in
the trenches on this cheap violin, won in a raffle. Aitken took the
violin on to France where he was wounded at the Somme in 1916.
I
have recently read Aitken's memoir 'Gallipoli to the Somme', so I
appreciated being able to view his violin. The claim that “he
played nightly concerts in the trenches” however is very
misleading. Shortly after arriving at Gallipoli, Aitken leaves his
violin with an Australian stretcher bearer (see p.24, ibid). He goes
on to describe his experiences in the trenches fighting. Near the end
of the Gallipoli campaign, when the Allied forces were preparing for
evacuation, Aitken is “detached for remote duty”. This new
location, away from the action, provides the remarkable setting of
his violin concerts: “I brought up the violin, which for weeks had
lain in the empty dug-out of the Australian stretcher-bearer, he
himself being by now ill or wounded. Each night we had a muted
concert in the largest dug-out ...”. (p. 35, ibid)
This
observation might seem to be pedantic, but to me it seems like quite
an important detail. The impression that conditions within the
frontline trenches at Gallipoli allowed nightly violin concerts
should be avoided. The text could be easily altered to qualify the
statement to avoid this impression.
I
also think it is regrettable that Aitken's memoir itself is not even
mentioned. Alongside Archibald Baxter's 'We Will Not Cease' and Robin
Hyde's 'Passport to Hell', this book is a singular contribution to
New Zealand literature. I think it is significant and interesting
that Aitken himself was the exact opposite of the 'larrikin'
stereotype. The title of “Swotty Aitken” is rather puerile in my
opinion.
- The “Hi Jinks in Egypt” exhibit
The text reads: The Main Body reached Egypt in November 1914. They
set up camp at Zeitoun, just 9 kilometres and 20 minutes by train
from Cairo. In between long bouts of training in the sand there was
plenty of time to explore the city. As well as innocent tourist
pursuits – visiting the Pyramids and the Sphinx – there was also
trouble to be found. Venereal disease rates skyrocketed with almost
5% infected by April 1915.
If it was true that the 'trouble' involved nothing more than drinking
and having sex with prostitutes, then the title of 'Hi Jinks in
Egypt' could be an appropriate title (although arguably quite a
tasteless one). I appreciate also that a direct reference to
prostitution in the text might be considered by many people to be
inappropriate in a museum which attracts visitors of all ages. The
problem is that the 'trouble' involved quite a lot more than sex and
drunkenness, it also involved a considerable amount of violence and
destruction of property. The so called 'Battle of the Wassir'
involved around 2,500 Australians and New Zealanders who set fire to
buildings, assaulted Egyptian citizens and caused a huge amount of
damage to property. The undertones of this violence, which without
question reflect a deep seated racism and a fragile sense of
masculinity, are the dark and seedy underbelly of the Anzacs. To
sweep this incident under the carpet of 'mischevious hi jinks' is
highly questionable. Even if we are hell bent on glorifying and
sentimentalising the brave Anzacs, are we not mature enough after a
full 100 years to face up to the human reality of these soldiers
warts and all??
- The “Dissenters” exhibit
The text reads: Most Dunedin citizens strongly supported the war
effort. Some small groups and individuals, however, refused to
participate for political, religious or moral reasons. But there was
little tolerance for dissent in wartime society. Conscientious
objectors, such as the pacifist Archibald Baxter from Brighton, paid
a heavy price for their stance. Irish republicans in New Zealand were
also opposed. The Green Ray, their flagship journal published
in Dunedin, was suppressed in 1918. Its editors were jailed for
sedition.
I appreciated the information about the Irish dissenters and the
'Green Ray' journal. This is a subject I would like to know more
about, so I am grateful for this information. The overall tone and
framing of this part of the exhibit however I find extremely
perplexing. What exactly were those 'political, religious or moral
reasons' the blurb refers to?? I am aware that there is limited space
and that too much text would be impractical, but I don't think that
too much space would be needed for Archibald Baxter's most important
pacifist argument. Simply stated, Baxter rejected the idea that the
war was a 'war to end all wars', he argued that any sort of victory
would only be temporary because the underlying tensions would not be
resolved by military means. Depending on how you read history,
Baxter's argument was validated: WW1 set the scene for WW2, and many
other wars, including those in the middle east today. Of course there
are many historians who would still object to Baxter's pacifism, and
this sort of issue is a field of contention and debate.
Unfortunately, nothing in this exhibit helps people to understand the
content or nature of these important debates. If space for text is an
issue, may I humbly suggest that the dozens of square metres
dedicated to children saluting the union jack were somewhat
excessive?
Although it is undoubtably true that 'empire' patriotism was a very
strong force in 1914 New Zealand, there were still many who
questioned the legitimacy of the war in various ways. Baxter's
principled and uncompromising objection is one extreme, whereas the
people involved in the anti-conscription movement are another. Irish
republicans, Maori loyal to Te Puea, socialists, pacifists and
anarchists were all opposed to the war for different reasons. To
characterise these people as 'some small groups and individuals'
seems remarkably deprecating. They might have been a minority, but
they were surely a very brave and important minority speaking out in
the context of a very conformist dominant culture. At the very least,
as with poor old 'Swotty Aitken', you could have mentioned Baxter's
book 'We Will Not Cease'. Four words of text is not too much to ask,
and then interested visitors could check out for themselves why he
opposed the war.
Finally, a few more comments on Robin Hyde's book 'Passport to Hell'.
Alongside Baxter's 'We Will Not Cease' and Aitken's 'Gallipoli to the
Somme', this is an important book in a very tiny genre of New Zealand
books based upon first hand experience of World War One. Based upon
interviews with Private J. D. Stark (8/2142, Fifth Reinforcements,
Otago Infantry Battalion), it is a powerful and action packed story
of a New Zealander's experience in the trenches of Gallipoli and
various other battlefields. The only other similar books I know of
are written by Aucklanders – John A. Lee's 'Citizen into Soldier'
and Ormond Burton's 'The Silent Division'. So out of five books,
three are written by Otago natives, which to me is a noteworthy fact
deserving some sort of recognition.
References:
Aitken, Alexander. 1963. “Gallipoli to the Somme”. Oxford
University Press.
Baxter,
Archibald. 1968 (1939). "We Will Not Cease".
The Caxton Press, Christchurch.
Hyde,
Robin. 1986 (1936). "Passport to Hell". Auckland University
Press.
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