Dissertations / Theses: 'Australian Army history'

1

Mallett, Ross A. History Australian Defence Force Academy UNSW. "Australian Army logistics 1943-1945." Awarded by:University of New South Wales - Australian Defence Force Academy. School of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2007. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/38708.

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This thesis examines the logistical support of the Australian Army???s operations in the South West Pacific from January 1943 to August 1945. It begins by examining the strategic context. Succeeding chapters then examine various topics, including doctrine, base development, problems of storage and tropic proofing, inland water transport, road construction, air supply, amphibious operations and the support of combat operations. In this thesis I argue that the Australian Army???s logistical acumen and ability steadily grew with each campaign, resulting in a highly effective military organisation that inflicted a series of crushing defeats on the Japanese.

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2

Verney, Guy. "The army high command and Australian defence policy, 1901-1918." Thesis, Department of History, 1985. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/8921.2.

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In 1976, the publication of A History of Australian Defence and Foreign Policy, 1901-1923: Volume 1 — The Search for Security in the Pacific, 1901—1914 by Dr Meaney focussed attention on the advice given by professional naval and military staffs to Australian Prime Ministers and defence ministers in the formulation of an Australian defence and foreign policy from 1901 to 1914.

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3

Stockings, Craig Humanities &amp Social Sciences Australian Defence Force Academy UNSW. "The torch and the sword : a history of the army cadet movement in Australia 1866-2004." Awarded by:University of New South Wales - Australian Defence Force Academy, 2006. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/39751.

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The aim of this thesis is to provide a general history of the army cadet movement in Australia from 1866 to 2004 by tracing the interactions between four fundamental forces that have stood as its foundation for almost 140 years. In various guises military, educational, social, and financial factors are the pillars on which the cadet movement has always rested. Over time the balance and relative dominance of each has determined the shape and state of the cadet organisation and will continue to do so in the future. When these four forces have been aligned the movement has thrived but when they have pulled in disparate directions it has faltered. Throughout the thesis, contextualising these four key concepts, are two more general themes concerning the influence of conservative politics and a recurring state school/private school divide. The history of army cadets, and therefore this thesis, is an investigation into the interplay of these dynamics. With such a purpose and methodology the thesis begins by tracing the development of the movement from its nineteenth century origins by identifying issues and circumstances that led some colonies to maintain thousands of cadets while others struggled to field any. It goes on to examine the formation, five years after Federation, of a Commonwealth cadet scheme birthed only to be swamped by the era of compulsory military training in Australia from 1911-29 which saw, at its peak, almost 100,000 schoolboys in khaki. The thesis analyses the re-organised voluntary cadet system in place from 1930-38 which, matching the circumstances of the adult army, faltered in numbers and support as it was restructured into dual 'Regimental' and 'School' branches. It goes on to assess the impact of the Second World War and the renewed impetus it provided to the cadet organisation before investigating the prosperity of the movement throughout the 1950s and 1960s in spite of the complexities raised by National Service and Australian involvement in conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Malaya and Borneo. Particular attention is paid to the early 1970s and the machinations surrounding the unexpected decision to disband the cadet organisation announced by the Labor government on 26 August 1975. The cadet story does not conclude at this point, however, with Vice Regal controversy and a subsequent Liberal-National election victory resurrecting the movement. The re-styled cadet scheme of 1976-83 is investigated followed by twelve years of division and distress under consecutive Labor federal governments between 1984-95. The thesis concludes by examining the reversal of fortunes for the movement from 1996-2004 which saw the cadet system develop, by the end of the period, into a well led, resourced and motivated organisation of almost 17,000 members. The research informing this thesis is based on documents held in National Archives of Australia offices in all state capitals, as well as those held in the Australian War Memorial. In addition, all state public record offices have yielded significant material, as have a wide range of private and school-based archives. More recent primary source information has been gathered from sources within the Department of Defence Archives, Queanbeyan, NSW, while select active and closed files from Headquarters Australian Army Cadets and the Directorate of Defence Force Cadets were graciously provided to the author. The study has also been informed by a wide selection of official, privately published and unpublished secondary sources spanning more than a century.

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4

McCarthy, Dayton S. History Australian Defence Force Academy UNSW. "The once and future Army : an organizational, political and social history of the Citizen Military Forces, 1947-1974." Awarded by:University of New South Wales - Australian Defence Force Academy. History, 1997. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/38747.

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This thesis examines the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) from 1947 until it ceased to exist under that name with the release of the report of the Millar Inquiry in 1974. This thesis examines three broad areas: the organizational changes that the CMF adopted or had imposed upon it; the political decision-making surrounding the CMF; and a social analysis of the CMF which questions the viability and validity of a number of the CMF???s long held precepts. The thesis will show that the majority of circumstances and decisions surrounding the CMF were beyond its control. For example, the CMF could not change the prevailing military thought of the post-war period which emphasized increasingly the role of smaller, professional, readily-available armies. The first three chapters recount the CMF???s ???heyday??? in which the Army, assisted by National Service after 1950, was based around it and its influence at the highest levels was strongest. The next two chapters chronicle the background to Australia???s adoption of the ???Pentropic??? organization and the repercussions this had on the CMF. Chapters Six and Seven examine the consequences of the introduction of a second compulsory service scheme and the concomitant result which precluded the CMF from operational service in Vietnam. Chapters Eight and Nine deal with the Millar Inquiry, which offered the CMF a new hope, but in some regards, brought forth little beneficial gains for the CMF. The final chapters analyze some of the characteristics unique to the CMF, such as territorial affiliation, high turnover rates amongst the rank and file and the concept of the ???brilliant amateur???. This thesis concludes that, despite the mixed performance of the CMF, there is still a place for the citizen soldier in contemporary warfare, but far more consideration at the highest political and military levels must be given to the peculiar and difficult, but by no means insurmountable, problems citizen soldiering encounters in Australia.

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5

Mackay, Christopher Don, and n/a. "Sepulture perpetuelle : New Zealand and Gallipoli : possession, preservation and pilgrimage 1916-1965." University of Otago. Department of History, 2006. http://adt.otago.ac.nz./public/adt-NZDU20070504.145719.

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Constructions of memory, myth and legend relating to Gallipoli have dominated the academic assumption which suggests that this dimension alone has allowed for the reawakening of the exceptional interest in the Anzac tradition; a tradition that has converged at the physical site in modern day Turkey. While these intangible constructions have waxed, waned, and re-emerged over the Twentieth Century, possessing the site to commence the construction of an Anzac Battlefield Cemetery has been ignored in academic enquiry. This significant series of events from 1916 to 1965 were indispensable to memory perpetuation and essential to the commemorative primacy that this preserved headland now enjoys. The desire to repossess, and then own in perpetuity the battlefield in order to attach the appropriate masonry adornments, is in itself unique. This dimension has not been academically scrutinised by any historian until now. Nor has the deliberate desire to construct an Anzac shrine that would someday attract pilgrims from the Antipodes been studied. Present day site-sacralisation by rite-of-passage pilgrims, thoroughly emersed in the Anzac tradition, suggests the convergence of the two dimensions is complete. To counteract this problem of the �hegemony of the intangibles� this thesis explores primary sources, gleaned largely from archival records, then evaluates the significance of the history of �physical Gallipoli.� Thematic approaches based upon the lines of possession, preservation and pilgrimage argue that this parallel dimension has played an indispensable role in shaping the end result today. Tens of thousands Australasian travellers now flock to this preserved battlefield to encounter the actual physicality of the tradition. The battlefield cemetery, complete with botanical emblems of ownership, had been out of the reach of the very generation who had created, acquired and constructed the battlefield landscape. The New Zealand public had to be content with assorted forms of vicarious pilgrimage coupled with widespread domestic memorialisation. New Zealand�s post-evacuation experience at Gallipoli became a story completely distinctive from that of Australia or Great Britain. The deliberately constructed Anzac Battlefield Cemetery is a unique landscape artefact that a proud but mournful generation set out to create. They eventually achieved this end by a complicated mixture of conquest, occupation, careful preservation, and commemorative ownership. These efforts were assisted by the vagaries of economic happenstance and international politics that left this remote Peninsula isolated and off-limits to human encounter. Fortuitously frozen in time, this landscape artefact, so steeped in Classical history, has emerged as one of the most sacred, and perhaps the most recognisable, geographic features associated with Australasia. Overriding these plans for shrine construction had been the stated goal of securing a reverent final resting place for those who fell during the creation of the Anzac legend in 1915. Sepulture perpetuelle became the post-evacuation catchphrase that propelled this Great War generation to go almost to the brink of war to secure the principles of this phrase. This lofty goal of permanence, by passage of time and the re-appropriation of nature, had mercifully been completed before the current �second invasion� that commenced in the 1980s. The Anzac Battlefield Cemetery is now a victim of its own very successful physical preservation.

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6

Bou, Jean Humanities &amp Social Sciences Australian Defence Force Academy UNSW. "The evolution and development of the Australian Light Horse, 1860-1945." Awarded by:University of New South Wales - Australian Defence Force Academy. School of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2005. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/38689.

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Despite the place that the Light Horse occupies in Australia???s military history and the national martial mythology, there has not yet been a scholarly attempt to investigate the evolution and development of Australia???s mounted branch. This thesis is the first attempt to fill this gap in our knowledge and understanding of the history of the Australian Army. In doing so it will consider the ways in which the Light Horse evolved, the place it had in defence thinking, the development of its doctrine, its organisational changes and the way in which that organisation and its men interacted with their society. This thesis firstly analyses the role and place of the mounted soldier in the British and colonial/dominion armies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries before going on to examine what effects the debates about this had on the development of Australia???s mounted troops. It will find that in the nineteenth century the disparate mounted units of the Australian colonies were established mainly along the organisational model of the mounted rifleman. Influenced by social ideas about citizen soldier horsemen and a senior officer with firm views, this model continued to be used by the new Light Horse until well into the First World War. During that war it was gradually discovered that this military model had its limitations and by the end of the war much of the Light Horse had become cavalry. This discovery in turn meant that during the inter-war period cavalry continued to be part of the army. Analysed in depth also are the many organisational changes that affected the mounted branch during its existence. Some of these reflected doctrinal and tactical lessons, and others were the result of various plans by the government and military authorities to improve the army. It will be seen that regardless of these plans part-time citizen horse units continued to have many problems and they rarely came to be what the government wanted of them. That they were as strong as they were was testimony to the efforts of a dedicated and enthusiastic few.

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7

McCarthy, Dayton. "The once and future army an organizational, political, and social history of the Citizen Military Forces, 1947-1974/." Connect to this title online, 1997. http://www.library.unsw.edu.au/~thesis/adt-ADFA/public/adt-ADFA20020722.120746/.

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8

Orbach, Dan. "Culture of Disobedience: Rebellion and Defiance in the Japanese Army, 1860-1931." Thesis, Harvard University, 2015. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:17467476.

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Imperial Japanese soldiers were notorious for following their superiors to certain death. Their enemies in the Pacific War perceived their obedience as blind, and derided them as “cattle”. Yet the Japanese Army was arguably one of the most disobedient armies in the world. Officers repeatedly staged coups d’états, violent insurrections and political assassinations, while their associates defied orders given by both the government and high command, launched independent military operations against other countries, and in two notorious cases conspired to assassinate foreign leaders. The purpose of this dissertation is to explain the culture of disobedience in the Japanese armed forces. It was a culture created by a series of seemingly innocent decisions, each reasonable in its own right, which led to a gradual weakening of the Japanese government’s control over its army and navy. The consequences were dire, as the armed forces dragged the government into more and more of China in the 1930s, and finally into the Pacific War. This dissertation sheds light on the underground culture of disobedience that became increasingly dominant in the Japanese armed forces, until it made the Pacific War possible. Using primary sources in five languages, it follows the Army’s culture of disobedience from its inception. By analyzing more than ten important incidents from 1860 to 1931, it shows how some basic “bugs” programmed into the Japanese system in the 1870s, born out of genuine attempts to cope with a chaotic and shifting reality, contributed to the development of military disobedience. The culture of disobedience became increasingly entrenched, making it difficult for the Japanese civilian and military leadership to cope with disobedient officers without paying a significant political price. However, every time the government failed to address the problem, it became more acute. Finally, disobedient military officers were able to significantly influence foreign policy, pushing Japan further towards international aggression, limitless expansion, and conflict with China, Britain and the United States.
History

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9

Robespierre, Claire de. "La renaissance du mythe d'Anzac dans l'Australie contemporaine : la représentation de la Grande Guerre dans les films de cinéma et de télévision des années quatre-vingt et son emprise sur l'imagination nationale." Paris 4, 1996. http://www.theses.fr/1996PA040069.

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Né dans les tranchées de la Première Guerre Mondiale, Anzac est le plus grand mythe de l’Australie blanche. La participation des troupes de l'Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) au conflit a marqué la véritable naissance de la nation et a laissé une empreinte indélébile dans la conscience australienne. La fascination exercée par ANZAC sur l'imagination nationale a été particulièrement évidente dans les années quatre-vingt, durant lesquelles plusieurs films de cinéma et de télévision ayant la Grande Guerre pour sujet ont été produits. Ces représentations obéissent à une volonté commune de réillustrer le mythe dans sa forme traditionnelle et de résister à la démythification, révélant l'état d'esprit de l’Australie durant cette période
Born in the trenches of World War I, Anzac is white Australia’s greatest myth. The involvement of troops from the Anzac (Australian and New Zealand army corps) in the conflict is considered as the turning point in the nation's history and has made a lasting impression on the Australian consciousness. The fascination which Anzac exerts on the national imagination was particularly obvious in the 1980's, when the great war was the subject of a few films and television series. These portrayals show a common will to reillustrate the myth in its traditional form and to resist demythification, thus revealing Australia’s state of mind during this period

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10

Regan, Patrick Michael Humanities &amp Social Sciences Australian Defence Force Academy UNSW. "Neglected Australians : prisoners of war from the Western Front, 1916-1918." Awarded by:University of New South Wales - Australian Defence Force Academy. School of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2005. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/38686.

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About 3850 men of the First Australian Imperial Force were captured on the Western Front in France and Belgium between April 1916 and November 1918. They were mentioned only briefly in the volumes of the Official Histories, and have been overlooked in many subsequent works on Australia and the First World War. Material in the Australian War Memorial has been used to address aspects of the experiences of these neglected men, in particular the Statements that some of them completed after their release This thesis will investigate how their experiences ran counter to the narratives of CEW Bean and others, and seeks to give them their place in Australia???s Twentieth Century experience of war.

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McPherson, Ailsa School of Theatre Film &amp Dance UNSW. "Diversions in a tented field : theatricality and the images and perceptions of warfare in Sydney entertainments 1879-1902." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Theatre, Film and Dance, 2001. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/18264.

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This thesis examines the theatricality which accompanied the establishment, development and deployment of the colonial army in New South Wales during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. It investigates the transfer to the colony of the military ethos of the Imperial power, and explores the ways in which performances of military spectacle, in both theatrical and paratheatrical contexts, were interpreted by the colonists. The primary sources for the research are the Sydney press and the Mitchell `Australiana' collection of the State Library of New South Wales. The framework of the argument is presented in five chapters. The first, Displaying, investigates the relationship between civilians and the military forces at training camps, and then the performances of sham fights. The second, Committing, explores the attitudes of civilians and soldiers at the departures of New South Wales troops to the Soudan and Boer Wars. Informing, thirdly, investigates how the Imperial military ideology was conveyed through performance, and how this information was interpreted in the colony. Accommodating analyses songs and theatre performances which first reflected colonial anticipations at the commitment to conflict and then attempted to accommodate the actuality of the experience. Lastly, Desiring, explores the colonists' endeavours to invent traditions which satisfied the discrepancy between their hopes and their experiences of Imperial war. This thesis asserts that the colonial reinterpretation of military ideology was influenced by concepts both of service to the Imperial power and of national identity. The interplay between these influences led to the colonists' idealising the Imperial association. This ideal was not demonstrated in the practice of association. The result of this experience was a defining of the differences between colonial and Imperial perceptions, rather than a reinforcement of their similarities. Much of the exploration of thesis also prepares the ground for a fuller cultural understanding of the issues at play in the final emergence of the Anzac tradition at the engagement of colonial soldiers against Turkish troops at Gallipoli in April, 1915.

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12

Hurst, James Peter. "Dissecting a legend : reconstructing the landing at Anzac, Gallipoli, 25 april 1915, using the experience of the 11th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force." Phd thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/150129.

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This thesis re-examines and reconstructs the Anzac Landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 by applying a new approach to an old topic - it uses the records of a single battalion over a single day to create a body of evidence with which to construct a history of the battle. This focus on the battle's participants might be expected to shed light only their immediate experience, but it also creates a profile of the fighting on this day. This is in part due to the methodology developed to assess and compile accounts, but also to the fact that the chosen battalion, the 11th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade, 1st Division, Australian Imperial Force, landed with the covering force for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and its members fought from Fisherman's Hut to 400 Plateau, on Third Ridge and Battleship Hill. This study therefore places much of the battlefield under the microscope. The use of veterans' accounts to re-tell the story of the Landing is not new. Anecdotes are often layered over the known history, established in C.E.W. Bean's Official History of Australia in the War, The Story of ANZAC, Volume I, to colour narrative and connect with personal experience. Less frequently are they reliably used as historical evidence. In this thesis, letters, diaries, memoirs, manuscripts, photographs, maps, diagrams and other information, collected from private collections, libraries, museums, archives and period newspapers, the battlefield and many secondary sources, are used as evidence to construct events, chronologies and frames of reference in order to reconstruct the history of the day. This thesis will argue that eye witness testimony can be extremely unreliable when taken in isolation, but when verified, contextualised and validated by a thorough and robust methodology, can provide valuable information with which to re-examine some of the battle's significant events and outstanding questions. Why did the advance stop? Why was the high ground not taken? Why do the accounts of the adversaries of the best known clash of the day not match? The missing evidence may lie in the smallest of fragments - not in isolation, but when examined in aggregate. This shift in the way evidence is collected and analysed leads to a shift in the way the battle is interpreted. The Landing has not previously been studied at this level of detail. Bean amalgamated the disparate and confused accounts of that day into a canvas; this thesis digs deeper into the foundation data to analyse, verify, add to and reconstruct the day. It builds on and complements Bean's work, confirming and enriching some aspects of his account, filling gaps, and, in some aspects, potentially re-writing the history of the Landing. There has been much rhetoric over the years and many myths and legends surround this battle. This thesis will argue that even though nearly 100 years have passed since the Landing, and well over 1000 books written on the campaign, much can be learned by returning to the 'primary source, the soldier'.

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13

Pavils, Janice Gwenllian. "ANZAC culture : a South Australian case study of Australian identity and commemoration of war dead / Janice Gwenllian Pavils." 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/22186.

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"December 2004"
Bibliography: leaves 390-420.
vii, 420 leaves : ill., maps, photos. (col.) ; 30 cm.
Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics, Discipline of History, 2005

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Pavils, Janice Gwenllian. "ANZAC culture : a South Australian case study of Australian identity and commemoration of war dead / Janice Gwenllian Pavils." Thesis, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/22186.

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"December 2004"
Bibliography: leaves 390-420.
vii, 420 leaves : ill., maps, photos. (col.) ; 30 cm.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics, Discipline of History, 2005

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15

(13157530), Vanessa Seekee. "Horn Island, Torres Strait and the 1939-1945 Star Medal." Thesis, 2003. https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Horn_Island_Torres_Strait_and_the_1939-1945_Star_Medal/20380137.

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This dissertation explores the anomaly of Horn Island, Torres Strait, being classified a non -operational area during World War Two. It explains why this designation was wrong, and why it needed to be changed in order that the men and women who served there be accorded the recognition that they had been striving for since the war concluded. The concrete measure of that recognition comes in the form of the 1939- 1945 Star Medal. This prestigious award is for duty in an area that came under enemy attack during the Second World War, until 1993 restricted to those who served overseas. The dissertation plots the activities of Air Force and Army squadrons and units at Horn Island, both Australian and American, draws on an extensive bank of oral evidence, and focuses on the experiences of those who served there. Their histories portray what life was like at that Advanced Operational Airbase, and demonstrate the effect Horn Island service had on veterans. These are tangible demonstrations and are attested to by the fact that 60 years later the men and women have begun to return. They are being drawn back to their island of service, to walk in the steps of their youth, recapturing a past that will soon be lost to memory. Many bring their descendants to pass down their family's wartime heritage. On 26 October 2001 the 1939-1945 Star Medal finally was awarded to qualifying Tones Strait veterans, a decision that affected thousands of men, and a handful of women, who now hold the physical symbol that their wartime service has been acknowledged. However, for many other Horn Island veterans there is still unfinished business.

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Dean, Peter John History &amp Philosophy Faculty of Arts &amp Social Sciences UNSW. "'The making of a general: lost years, forgotten battles' lieutenant general Frank Berryman 1894-1941." 2007. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/40644.

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This thesis examines the early military career and life of Lieutenant General Sir Frank Berryman from 1894 through to the end of his involvement in the Middle East campaigns. It begins with his family background and education on the outskirts of Melbourne before tracing, in detail, his personal life and military career until the end of 1941. The specific focus of this investigation is not just his military education and his role in the Cyrenaica and Syrian campaigns, but also the development of his personality and character. Personality and character provides a window of insight that not only helps to illuminate Berryman?s performance as an officer and his professional relationships but it also allows for a deeper understanding of this complex individual. This thesis argues that these, the 'lost years' and 'forgotten battles' , are integral to developing an understanding of this exceptional officer. In Berryman we see an important staff officer and commander whose place in Australia's military history has been largely overlooked. One of the central themes of this work is that Berryman has been misunderstood and misrepresented within the existing historiography. He was one of the most important figures in the Australian Army during the Second World War and it was during the period covered in this thesis that he established his reputation as a commander and staff officer. Key to this investigation, therefore, is the themes of Berryman's developing leadership and culture of command. This work seeks to reveal the nature and experience of a highly successful officer who is also, to a great extent, representative of a generation of permeant Staff Corps officers who have largely been ignored within the genre of Australian military biography. Ultimately this thesis concludes that Berryman was a central figure in the Australian Army's success in Cyrenaica and Syria. He demonstrated all of the qualities essential for a successful commander and senior officer and it was in these battles and his earlier military and life experiences that set the stage for his exceptional performance and contribution to the success of the Australian Army, not only in the Middle East but also later in the South West Pacific Campaigns.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Australian Army history'

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