ISSUE 14 : Jan/Feb - 1979 - Australian Defence Force Journal

BOOK REVIEWS 63There is nothing new in Richardson's viewof morale or the effects of low morale. Thereis some novelty in how morale should bedeveloped and maintained. He would like tosee soldiers kept fully informed and urgesfrank discussions aimed at helping soldiersunderstand the psychology of fear and thecauses of psychiatric casualties. Richardsonalso describes his method of teaching that itis a disgrace for a unit to have many casesof '"exhaustion": publication weekly of adivisional health ladder listing all units reportingcases of exhaustion. The idea is that unitsstrive to climb off the ladder.Richardson proposes that soldiers in "shellshock" should be treated as any other casualty—as far forward as possible. Too often, hesays, do we allow soldiers to use psychological'injuries' as a means of escaping nobly fromthe battle field. Too often, he says do officersand NCOs fail to detect the incipient signs ofimpending breakdown. We need to teach leaderswhat to look fot and what preventive orremedial action to take to arrest the problem.I would have preferred a more succinctstatement of Richardson's thesis. The significantpoints are often buried in the conversation.However, the book contains someinteresting and thought provoking ideas. It isessentially a book on man management whichasks officers and NCOs to consider whetherthey are "come on" or "go on" leaders. MCANADIANS ON THE NILE, 1882-1898, byRoy Maci.aren, Vancouver, University ofBritish Columbia Press, 1978, 206 pp.Reviewed by Captain C. I). Coult hard-Clark,Australian Intelligence Corp.',ON 7 Eebruary 1885 news reached theAustralian colonies that Khartoum, onthe remote upper reaches of the Nile in theSudan, had fallen to Dervish besiegers and thatthe garrison had been massacred along withits charismatic commander. General Gordon.Five days later a retired commissary generalSir Edward Strickland—made his now-famoussuggestion in the Sydney Morning Herald thatAustralia should send a contingent to aidimperial forces in reconquering the rebelliousSudan, with the result that New South Walesembarked on Australia's first experiment inmilitary adventurism. Strickland had acted, atleast partly, in the belief that Canada hadoffered 600 men to assume duties in Englandto free more regular troops to aid in the rescueof Gordon. This desire to prove that Australia,in Strickland's words, 'yields not to Canadaor to any portion of the British Empire inloyalty and affection towards our mothercountry'was to figure again in Australia'sparticipation in both the South African Warof 1899-1902 and again in 1^14. but in 1885the reports of a Canadian contingent wereerroneous.MacLaren shows in this book that Canadawas not eager to become embroiled militarilyin the Sudan on Britain's behalf, despite theefforts of Canadian militia men to get to thescene of the fighting. As Sir John Macdonald,Canada's Prime Minister, frankly told his HighCommissioner in London: "The Suez Canal isnothing to us, and we do not ask England toquarrel with France or Germany for our sake.The offer of . . . [the Australasian] coloniesis a good move on their part. . . . Why shouldwe waste men and money in this wretchedbusiness?" Canada's participation in the Sudanwas consequently a civilian effort, althoughmilitia officers directed it. In 1884 GeneralGarnet Wolseley recruited 400 Canadianvoyageura to assist in transporting imperialtroops up the Nile in a daring but dilatoryattempt to relieve Khartoum, recalling theirunique skills and special aptitudes from hisearlier military life in Canada. A generationlater, another Canadian, Sir Percy Girouard,built the desert railway which enabled Kitchenerto capture Khartoum in 1898.Many Canadians won distinction in theSudan excursions, and Macl.aren's conclusionthat their participation contributed to theimpetus to full nationhood as Canadians becameaware of their separate identity throughtheir military achievements can, to a very muchlesser extent, be viewed as one of the fewbenefits for Australians derived from NewSouth Wales' action in 1885. Equally hisattempt to answer the question of why Canadiansshould want to serve in such exoticoutposts of Empire offers interesting insightsinto the motives which inspired Australiansalso. MaeLaren's book is a perceptive, excitingand frequently humorous account of thepersonalities and events of the time.