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Entertaining the troops, “The Kiwis” concert party
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The campaigns of the Western Front saw men serving in frontline combat positions in the trenches usually for a few days to a week at a time. In between, units were rotated back to ‘reserve’ positions several kilometres away from the Front, where boredom was yet another enemy to contend with.
In an attempt to keep the troops entertained, concert parties were formed by the men, with names such as “The Pierrots”, “The Tuis” and “The Kiwis.”
Bill McKeon, who served in the Wellington Infantry and had been in a concert party himself, had fond memories of “The Kiwis” and the high-quality shows they put on at Nieppe, near Armentieres in 1917, which he recalled in a radio interview with Neville Webber.
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“The Answer to Declining Enlistment Numbers”
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This pro-conscription cartoon appeared shortly after August 1915. Although Australia had not long been involved in the war, it was already becoming apparent that casualty rates in Turkey were extremely high.
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Within Our Gates
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After the outbreak of war there was a growing public opinion that all Germans in Australia were a threat to security and should be interned. In this cartoon, this attitude appears as a fear that employees of German origin are protected in government jobs.
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Regarding the epidemic of marriages
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A report issued in March 1916 observed that wounded and convalescing Anzac troops were falling in love with their nurses, and marrying them. Officials were concerned that these marriages, made in haste during exceptional circumstances, might not be wise. The situation became further complicated as servicemen applied for grants to bring their new brides back to Australia.
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Brother Turk Thankful
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Harry Julius’s clever animated comment on the fighting spirit of Australian forces against the Turkish enemy.
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‘Miss Australasia’
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Miss Australasia is the first segment in this episode of the satirical weekly newsreel Cartoon of the Moment. Harry Julius’s animated cartoon was inspired by news reports that only products made in Australian could be relied upon to be available for sale. The second item satirises Germany’s Crown Prince as he congratulates Turkish leader Enver Pasha on Turkey’s victories over the Allies at Gallipoli. The third item illustrates Colonel Cameron’s statements in support of compulsory national service and the need for more Australian men to enlist in the war.
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“The Rushin’ Bear and the Flying Turk”
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Australian sketch artist and caricaturist Harry Julius often ridiculed the enemy by using the techniques of political cartoonists. In this episode of his weekly Cartoons of the Moment, ironically captioned The German Dove of Peace, an eagle represents Germany. His second sketch deals provocatively with contemporary fashion trends, while the third refers to the ‘Rushin’ Bear’ and the ‘Flying Turk’ to show the capture of the eastern Turkish city of Erzurum by Russian forces in February 1916.
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The turkey, the eagle, the lion and the dove
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'The War Zoo' is the original title of this animated cartoon by the renowned Australian caricaturist Harry Julius. The miserable fez-wearing turkey represents the battered Turkish forces. The ferocious German eagle is approached by the ‘dove of peace’ and the British lion, ‘still the king of all’. Cartoons like this one, screened about 1915, were a direct and light-hearted form of war news and propaganda for the public at home.
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‘Worst comes to wurst’
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A German soldier’s horse is turned into German sausage (or ‘wurst’) in the first sketch in this weekly episode of Harry Julius’ Cartoons of the Moment. Next, a battered fez-wearing turkey represents the beleaguered Turkish forces. In the third sketch of this clip, Kaiser Wilhelm II – the Crown Prince of Germany – is caricatured with human skulls adorning his uniform to emphasise the enormous loss of life suffered by German troops.