A reply to ANZAC Heroes author, Maria Gill
By
Sam Price and Tom Peters
14 June 2017
Maria Gill, the author of ANZAC Heroes, responded to the WSWS review of her book, posted on March 24.
The review described ANZAC Heroes as “a glorification of war and nationalism aimed at children.” It attacked the book as part of the New Zealand and Australian governments’ multi-million dollar propaganda campaign, which is using the centenary of World War I to “encourage patriotism and respect for the military.”
Gill commented on the review: “Actually, I’m an anti-war person myself and tell these stories so that children can read historical accounts of what happened in the past so that we can learn from them and don’t repeat the same mistakes. I say in the introduction that the men and women enlisted because they thought it was going to be a great adventure but show in the stories that is the last thing they found.” Her full response can be read in the comments section below the original review.
Whatever Gill says now about her intentions, ANZAC Heroes is unambiguously a pro-war book. Her claim that she described the hardships faced by ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) troops to make a statement against war does not withstand scrutiny.
For children, or anyone, to learn from the wars of the past, they require an objective and historically accurate account. A genuinely anti-war history book would need to explain the real reasons why governments and politicians sent millions of young people to fight and die. It would also need to detail the mass opposition to war that emerged in the working class, and the ruling elite’s brutal crackdown on dissenters.
Gill’s book does none of this. Her introduction merely states that many soldiers “thought they were…