Spirit of the Digger
Written by: Patrick Lindsay,
Pan Macmillan, Sydney, 2003,
ISBN: 9780732292751, 293pp.
Reviewed by: Brigadier John Essex-Clark (Retd)
Patrick Lindsay, who also wrote The Spirit of Kokoda, now gives us this 293-page exposition of the quality and character of Australian servicemen by a carefully selected use of lucid anecdotal cameos from the Boer War to Iraq in order to illustrate the qualities of the Digger which, as he describes, are no more than the essence of Australianism. This approach is appropriate because any military force is a mirror image of the society that it serves.
The author commences by using the bombing at Bali to show that the spirit of the Digger is synonymous with the best Australian qualities of mateship, courage, compassion. In war, Diggers tend to demonstrate endurance, selflessness, loyalty, resourcefulness, devotion, independence, ingenuity, audacity, coolness, larrikinism and good humour. These are, of course, all qualities that are needed by any good soldier or citizen of whatever race or creed. The author then turns the Digger ‘myth’ into a reality. What is surprising to the reader, militarily experienced or not, is how little these qualities appear to have changed in our Diggers over the years. To use a current buzzword, those qualities now appear to be ‘embedded’ in our national character, irrespective of cultural or ethnic background. This raises the question of nature versus nurture: are these qualities intrinsic in our nature, or are our attitudes and qualities developed by nurture, learning and training? Readers might ponder this interesting conundrum as they absorb the contents of this book.
Lindsay illustrates these qualities by taking us through many vignettes on a potted history of Australian military activity, starting even before the word ‘Digger’ was first coined. We hear the words of observers and war correspondents. We read the thoughts of many of our Diggers who fought in our efforts at Brakfontein on the Elands River in what is now Mpumalunga, South Africa, Gallipoli, and on through the horrific battles such as Fromelles on the Somme in World War I. We are then guided through Crete, Bardia, Tobruk, Alamein, the Kokoda Track and Balikpapan in World War II, and the horrors faced by our prisoners of war. Moving on to Korea, the author surveys the extraordinary battles of Kapyong and Maryang San. The author then presents anecdotes from Vietnam, and snapshots of peacemaking and peacekeeping operations, before culminating in a scene from Operation Falconer in Iraq.
In order to give us this panoramic overview, Lindsay has had to delve deeply and broadly to borrow from Bean’s magnificent volumes on World War I and from a large collection of official war histories and volumes about our ubiquitous military actions. Therefore, for the military historian there is little new, but for readers searching for an Australian identity, this book puts many ideas in a useful framework. Perhaps the author overemphasises the ‘other ranker’-versus-officer challenges and the ‘pommy bashing’—both of which reflect our Australian egalitarian quirk.
The author sensibly and understandably avoids any mention of controversial actions that might detract from the Digger myth, perhaps because there are so few. However, he also omits to illustrate some of the obvious faults of the Australian Digger, such as the ‘tall poppy’ syndrome, looking for weaknesses in others, and avoiding personal or group guilt by blaming others. Moreover, Lindsay too lightly glides over what might be considered as other primary qualities in our Diggers, such as pragmatism, stoicism and self-confidence. The author’s narrative could have done with some firm editing, since there is some jarring and incorrect military terminology. Ultimately, however, none of these minor deficiencies detract from the essence of the book.
Lindsay’s smooth narrative should be read by all interested in our national character when we are under pressure, and by those seeking to identify our national identity and style. The book should be studied by those who may be losing confidence in our youth of today, for most of our youngsters still show the best qualities of our Diggers, and, of course, some of them become Diggers. Finally, the book should also be read by any who aspire to lead Australians in war or in any other major venture—be it business, sporting, educational or recreational. Lindsay succeeds in making a myth real and accessible, and probably describes the essence of our Australian character as well as anything recently written.