The Anzac Memorial
The Anzac Memorial was published by the Returned Soldiers Association of New South Wales and edited by Sydney journalist and literary figure A.G. Stephens. Three editions appeared - the 1916 edition, which was published to commemorate the Gallipoli campaign, and subsequent 1917 and 1919 editions, which were expanded to cover Anzac campaigns in Palestine and in Western Europe.
The 1916 edition of the Anzac Memorial is particularly interesting in that it reveals just how actively the Gallipoli campaign was being eulogised and memorialised at this point. Almost one third of the 1916 edition was given over to General Sir Ian Hamilton’s Gallipoli despatches, which in effect amounted to an official narrative of the Gallipoli campaign. Also prominent was a 30 plus page 'Roll of Honour', which included the names and portraits of servicemen from New South Wales who had been killed in action or were missing. Much of the remainder of the Memorial was given over to soldiers' poems and stories, along with a number of poems and brief prose items contributed by many of the leading Australian and New Zealand writers of the day.
The following display is a sample. To view the indexed contents of the 1916 and 1917 editions click here.
(Images courtesy of the Fryer Library)
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