Photo: The flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Paris. Credits: Romain Fathi

 

Commemorations

Much of my published work on war commemorations has examined the process of assembly, projection and performance of an aspect of Australian national identity: Anzac and its central role in the national narrative. 

For years, I have collected archives on the Western Front, in France, in Australia, but also in the UK and several other countries to document First World War commemorations and their evolving patterns; how states, communities and people commemorate the First World War, and why they do so in a myriad of different ways.

Over the past few years, I have attempted to internationalise Australia’s First World War history. My latest book Our Corner of the Somme (CUP, 2019) has increased awareness about the shortcomings of monolingual and national(ist) research in studying Australia in the First World War. 

My methodological contribution has been to use French and foreign primary sources to study Australian extraterritorial commemorations of WWI, creating significant new knowledge of a phenomenon previously undocumented: the way Australians and their representatives have staged French gratitude in Australia’s war remembrance.

Acknowledgement of Country

I acknowledge the Kaurna People as the traditional owners and custodians of the land in which I am privileged to live and work. I pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging, and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples across what is now known as Australia.

I recognise the importance of continuing to educate myself about the ways in which these living cultures have developed over tens of thousands of years, and I express my sincere gratitude for being able to share a small part of this ongoing journey. As a historian, I support the Uluru Statement from the Heart and I remain impressed by its generosity.