Who wrote this about Gallipoli: “It is said that one huge Queenslander swung his rifle by the muzzle, and, after braining one Turk, caught another and flung him over his shoulder. I do not know if this story is true, but when we landed some hours later, there was said to have been a dead Turk on the beach with his head smashed in.” Was it a biased academic historian using unverified rumour to push a left-wing agenda? No, it was Australia’s official war correspondent, Charles Bean, in his first report from the landing. The latest salvo in the History Wars, a bizarre whinge on the front page of The Australian [$] complaining that history students are taught soldiers kill people, is (to borrow a phrase) political correctness gone mad.
27 March 2019