Friday, June 27, 2014

WHITE FEATHER FOR " COWARDS " IN THE WAR TO END ALL WARS

Rare white  feather  postcard ,with an actual  feather , from the  collection of  Gary Davies , Magnetic Island  , printed  by  Mudie  and  Westbury, 420 Little  Collins  Street ,  Melbourne .
During an  ABC  talk about  the  NSW Library Life Interrupted Exhibition ,which draws on  the letters , diaries   and  personal stories of  Australian soldiers in WWl , an extract  from a  young  soldier disclosed  his  reaction  and  the  carnage  about  him  in  the first few  days of fighting . On the third , after seeing  many  killed around  him,  he  said he  felt  like running away from it all, but did not want to show " the  white  feather" . This had  been overcome  by  a  bayonet charge . White  feathers were often sent  by  women to conscientious objectors , regarded as  cowards , letting  their  mates  fight and die . As the slaughter continued , the " coo-ee '' call   from  the  front  for more   men   to  join up  and  fight    became  stronger. This  writer  once owned a  South Australian  country  newspaper  in  which  every  advertisement  included   a   call   to  join  up  and  fight , which  undoubtedly would have  put immense  pressure  on  all  young  men in  the district to sign up.  White feathers were also  issued  during  WWll.   Author  Xavier  Herbert  received a white feather and claimed it came from his mother. He joined up and served in the NT and also explained the meaning of  life to groups of  soldiers  at  Melbourne Zoo.  His wartime observations enabled him to write the novel  Soldiers' Women .  More  special  Anzac  related  posts  to  come .