https://dx.doi.org/10.32912/bulletin/21/9
Abstract
Afghanistan veteran Ben Roberts-Smith is one of the most well-known faces of modern conflict in Australia. The decorated special forces soldier is frequently at the forefront of commemorative initiatives, has become a spokesman for health and sport, and is popularly portrayed as the embodiment of the modern ‘Anzac’. But Roberts-Smith’s social currency as a hero is not a recent phenomenon. It has its origins in 1917, when decorated soldiers were first used to advertise the war effort. This was a tumultuous year for Australians deeply embroiled in the First World War. A failed conscription plebiscite—and another looming—and increasing devastation on the battlefield had led to a growing sense of war weariness. Amidst this discontent, the State Parliamentary Recruiting Committee of Victoria launched the Sportsmen’s Thousand, an army recruitment initiative designed to encourage the enlistment of athletic men.
The posters released for the campaign featured a portrait of a fit, young uniformed man—Lieutenant Albert Jacka, an accomplished sportsman and decorated ‘war hero’. The Sportsmen’s Thousand used Jacka to invoke the connection between masculinity and heroism by suggesting that talent on the sports field would translate to prowess on the field of battle, just as it had for Jacka. This article explores how ‘heroes’ like Jacka were increasingly used in Australian war propaganda and recruitment initiatives from 1917 to inspire enlistment and promote a sense of loyalty to the war effort. I argue that the success of these propaganda initiatives set the scene for the similar use of ‘heroic’ men throughout later conflicts, creating a legacy of the promotion of martial heroism and military celebrity that is reflected in Roberts-Smith’s status today.
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Citation
Abraham, Bryce. 2020. The politics of heroism: propaganda and military celebrity in First World War Australia. Bulletin of the Auckland Museum. 21: 53–60. https://dx.doi.org/10.32912/bulletin/21/9