What Should You Know About Anzac Spirit

ANZAC Spirit in Japanese Prisoners of War Camps

The Anzac Spirit, as Australian World War One Currespondent, C.E.W. Bean:

But ANZAC stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship, and endurance that will never own defeat. (Bean, 1946)

The Anzac Spirit was responsible for the success of the Australian soldiers at the Japanese prisoner of war camps to a minimal extent because Australian soldiers did not show much courage, they did not follow orders and they lacked a will to survive – they gave up too early.

The Australian soldiers that were captured by the Japanese soldiers did not show enough courage. The troops did not fight hard enough when protecting the allied colonies, they therefore surrendered when they realised they might lose and when they were captured and put into the Prisoner of War camps, they didn’t try to escape. Although Australia still had a force of 22,000 men, they decided to surrender. As C.E.W Bean stated in the book Anzac to Amiens, Anzac stands for resourcefulness, comradeship and endurance that will never own defeat. Unfortunately, the Australian soldiers that were captured by the Japanese were not resourceful. If we compare them to the real ANZACs in World War One we would realise that the real Anzacs would create different types of contraptions to give them the best chance of winning. If the Australian soldiers used comradeship, they would have made the most of their 22,000 men and made the best attempt they could to win. Instead, over half of this number died anyways to the harsh treatment of Prisoners of War by the Japanese. The Anzac spirit was responsible for the success of the Australian troops minimally because they did not show enough courage.

Australian soldiers were given specific orders to attempt to escape in the event that they got caught by the Japanese. 27 of the 22,000 men that were caught decided to attempt an escape like they were instructed. “And I think what happened to them was that they would look around and see fellows dying around them and think, ‘Oh, it’s too hard, no, let me go.’” (Richards,2016). This evidence tells us how many didn’t even want to live, let alone escape. From the awful treatment of the Prisoners of war by the Japanese guards many could hardly move. Sickness would also impact them. Many Prisoners of War had cholera; malaria; dysentery; scrub typhus, a fever, primary lesion and macular rash inducing disease transmitted by mites; and beriberi. Beriberi decreases the victims’ ability to use their muscles, especially in their legs. It also causes a pins-and-needles sensation in the feet and hands and it creates confusion mentally. Prisoners of war that suffered from this disease had to endure extreme pain brought from the symptoms, discomfort from the addition of other diseases such as dysentery and malaria and abuse from Japanese guards. Many were forced to work while they had such conditions. However, at the start of their time in the Japanese prisoner of war camps, they were healthy and had the chance to escape. Australian soldiers that were captured did not follow orders to attempt to escape the prisons, therefore impacting the war effort minimally.

Many captured Australian soldiers in Japanese prisoner of war camps lacked the will to survive. Among Australian soldiers, the death rate was much higher when compared to other allied soldiers from different countries in the same situation in the Japanese camps. “I had always believed that there was a will to live and if that will to live disappeared, well, you died. There’s much more to it than that, I’m sure of that. It’s a bit like bone pointing. You point the bone at yourself I guess. I’ve seen many cases of fellows who have been nigh unto death for maybe a couple of weeks, semiconscious most of the time, being handfed by their mates, amazing to still stay alive. And then when they recover from that and they’re starting to be getting better, or think they’re getting better, they just up and die on you.” (Richards, 2015). The evidence above gives us information on how they would give up too soon from a former POW’s perspective. It is unlike the original ANZAC spirit to give up, especially giving up too early. Many historians blame the high death rate because of lack of will to survive. The Australian soldiers that lacked the will to survive did not show true ANZAC spirit so it had minimal impact.

The Australian soldiers that were captured by the Japanese and put in Prisoner of War camps showed little ANZAC spirit. Therefore we can conclude that the ANZAC spirit was responsible for the success of the Australian soldiers at the Japanese prisoner of war camps to a minimal extent because Australian soldiers did not show enough courage, they did not follow orders and they lacked the will to survie. If the Australian troops fighting in Asia during World War Two had shown sufficient ANZAC spirit, it is certain that they would have had a much more successful campaign. The lack of ANZAC spirit shown could have wider implications on current society, such as a new belief instilled in our younger generations that it is okay to give up, that it is okay to disobey orders from higher authority and that it is okay to use minimal courage to succeed in life. Due to minimal ANZAC spirit, ANZAC spirit had a minimal effect.