Scarecrow Army: the Anzacs at Gallipoli

Leon Davidson (author)

Black Dog Books, Australia: 2005; 177pp

ISBN: 1876372605

Genres: history, war

Issues: truth, perspectives, sacrifice

CBCA Shortlist 2006: Eva Pownall Award for Information Books

Most readers know the reason for Anzac Day - the memorial of the landing of Australians and New Zealanders at Gallipoli. This mixture of fact and factual fiction attempts to help the reader comprehend why so many Australian men went to war in the first place and what they experienced when they got there.

Through fictional diaries based upon existing letters home, war diaries and journalists' reports, Davidson turns the faceless multitude of an army into people who could have been our brothers, our fathers, our sons. He also tries to balance the account by examining the Gallipoli landing from the perspective of the Turkish troops.

More sensitive readers will be distressed by the blunt recitation of the reasons for the disastrous Gallipoli campaign: poor communications; incompetent leadership with little understanding of the realities of modern warfare; appalling conditions and bad nutrition. Disease, fear, mistakes - these are not glorious things to remember about those who died at Gallipoli. But they are real and bring the reader considerably closer to understanding the mateship and loyalty the Anzacs developed towards one another at a time when they felt they could not rely on anybody else.

Scarecrow Army challenges the boundaries of the ‘information text' genre in a way that maintains reader attention, making this an absorbing, accessible read. This is a confronting book. It does not pull punches or glorify Australians or New Zealanders and has a strong anti-war subtext without in the least denigrating or diminishing the bravery of the men who fought. Simply by showing the waste of lives, the loss of so many for so little gain, Davidson questions whether war in general ever really achieves anything.

Scarecrow Army would make an excellent class text for Yrs8-10 to integrate with HSIE/History.

Highly recommended.