Australian Soldiers in South Africa and Vietnam: Words from the Battlefield

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Description

The South African and Vietnam Wars provoked dramatically different reactions in Australians, from pro-British jingoism on the eve of Federation, to the anti-war protest movements of the 1960s. In contrast, the letters and diaries of Australian soldiers written while on the South African and Vietnam battlefields reveal that their reactions to the war they were fighting were surprisingly unlike those on the home fronts from which they came. Australian Soldiers in South Africa and Vietnam follows these combat men from enlistment to the war front and analyses their words alongside theories of soldiering to demonstrate the transformation of soldiers as a response to developments in military procedure, as well as changing civilian opinion. In this way, the book illustrates the strength of a soldiers link to their home front lives.

Reviews

Highly recommended Well researched and provides a fresh perspective on two distinct wars in which Australia fought, but in which its soldiers still shared a somewhat similar experience of warfare. * South African Historical Journal *
Karageorgo's book is meticulous and well research, filling a long-gaping hole in the historiography of the Australian military experience. * Journal of Military History Review for Australian Soldiers in South Africa and Vietnam *
To work through over 170 sets of diaries and letters is undeniably impressive, and there will be many passages of interest to historians of both conflicts. As a result, Australian Soldiers in South Africa and Vietnam has become the first word in understanding the experience of Australian servicemen in both conflicts. * History Australia *
The Boer War and the Vietnam War were crucial moments in Australian history. Both cast a self-consciously egalitarian nation in the apparently contradictory role of an imperial soldiery. Effie Kargeorgos does a brilliant job of exploring the experience of Australian troops in those two conflicts, widely separated in time, strangely similar in some ways, very different in others. In doing so, she makes a remarkable contribution to the study of war, giving the reader a work which bridges the fields of social history, military psychology and transnational politics. This book should fascinate all those interested soldiers' experience of modern war or in the making of Australian identity. * Jonathan Hyslop, Colgate University, USA *
Both the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) and the Vietnam War in the 1960s and early 1970s were in different ways imperial wars which drew in countries other than the main protagonists. Whilst the loyalty of the men from these nations was not really in doubt, they brought with them their lived experiences from their home countries, in this case Australia, which in turn influenced their outlook on the conflict. Cast in the mould of war and society studies, this book provides a revealing comparison of soldiery in different contexts over time and place. * Albert Grundlingh, Stellenbosch University, South Africa *

Author Bio

Effie Karageorgos is a Tutor in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia.