The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #99152   Message #1980161
Posted By: Rowan
26-Feb-07 - 04:19 PM
Thread Name: Absurdities in songs - any examples?
Subject: RE: Absurdities in songs - any examples?
Teribus gave some figures for the Gallipoli theatre as
"Casualties for the entire campaign were as follows:
Turkish Forces - 250,000 total - 65,000 killed
British Forces - 205,000 total - 43,000 killed
ANZAC Forces   - 33,600 total - 11,200 killed
French Forces - 47,000 total - 5,000 killed"

I can't remember all the figures now but I seem to recall that the forces described as British in most accounts include all the Australians and New Zealanders, as well as from the other British Dominions of the era; South Africa and India come to mind and I seem to recall the Indians had more casualties than the Anzacs. The French forces were similarly French mostly in their colonial status. My recollection is that most were Senegalese and their casualties also were greater than the Anzacs; Teribus' figures support such a recollection.

But the Australians generally don't seem to remember such things, as their own activities became part of the myth establishing nationhood. The irony is that the same campaign had the same effect (establishing nationhood, that is) for the Turks, leading to their emancipation from the Ottoman Empire. Their songs, being in Turkish, aren't as well known in the Australian folk repertoire. The Armenians don't have anything to celebrate from that era and their songs of mourning are hardly known at all.

Sigh, Rowan