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Bad Characters: Sex, Crime, Mutiny, Murder and the Australian Imperial Force
Australians have celebrated the Anzacs for nearly a century—but what do we really know of what war did to them? Charles Bean, historian of the citizen soldiers of the Australian Imperial Force, wrote that its history spanned ‘the good and the bad’—but so far Australians have only looked at the good. Leading war historian Peter Stanley reveals the citizen soldiers the army regarded as its ‘bad characters�. These were men who went absent and deserted, caught or concealed VD, got drunk and fought their comrades, who stole, malingered, behaved insolently toward officers or committed more serious offences, including rape and murder. This frank history � the first book on the AIF’s indiscipline � shows that it became one of the war’s most effective fighting forces in spite of its record for military misbehaviour. Stanley exposes, with a wealth of examples drawn from court-martial files and soldiers� letters, how the war turned some men into criminals, but also how bad characters made the AIF the superb force it was.
288 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2010
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About the author
Peter Stanley
62Ìýbooks11ÌýfollowersPeter Stanley is a leading military historian and author. A Stout Pair of Boots is based on his research on Australia's battlefields in many parts of the world. Formerly Principal Historian at the Australian War Memorial, he is now Director of the Centre for Historical Research at the National Museum of Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 16, 2017
This is an important and valuable book, and in many ways a very good book. Unfortunately in some ways it is also a disappointing book. Some of the things that make it disappointing are not necessarily the fault of the author, but the disappointments take the lustre from a great addition to the literature on the subject of the 1st AIF and Australia in World War I.
As the title suggests, Peter Stanley has investigated the more disreputable side of the AIF. We have certainly had many books written about the undoubted heroism of AIF troops, the horrible sacrifices they made in the Middle East and Europe, and the legends that have been created around ANZAC and the Diggers in general. Part of that legend is woven around the mythology of the larrikin Digger - Stanley's work helps us to flesh out this myth, and expose it - the larrikin tag came after the war, and many of the acts that served to form the legend were suitably "airbrushed" after the fact to reduce their criminality.
Stanley focusses on the "bad" side of the AIF, which can be pretty much divided into two parts - general criminality, or offences that would be criminal in civilian life, such as theft, assault, rape and murder - and military offences, that is, offences against the rules of the army such as insubordination, failure to discharge orders, absent without leave (AWL), mutiny, and so forth.
And here is where the first disappointing aspect of this work kicks in. Stanley has decided to treat his subject chronologically, to avoid "reprising the events of 1914-18 repeatedly and perhaps tediously". Unfortunately for Stanley, his choice has led to his subjects being split apart, so there are interesting chapters about VD in the 1914 section and in the 1918 section of the book. If the book had a comprehensive index this may not have been as much of an issue as it has been for this reviewer, but unfortunately for Stanley (as I'm sure it's not his doing or desire), the index is frankly appalling. As an example, I have a personal research interest in a base camp mutiny/riot that occurred in Etaples in 1917: Etaples is not mentioned in the index at all, but not only did I come across a few references to it in the text, there are even a couple of lines about the incident in which I'm interested. It really devalues the whole work to have such poor apparatus.
A thematic approach would have been a better one for a work like this, as I don't think repetition would be much of an issue, given Stanley is rarely talking about battles or campaign history, and it would be easier for readers to see how an issue, such as VD or AWL developed over the course of the war. Another slight disappointment is the lack of statistical tables, with stats spread about in the text, and again separated depending on where in the war they occurred. The chronological approach also leads to repetitions of it's own -VD in 1914 and again in 1918 - or omissions - did murders only happen in 1917?.
Despite these disappointments, Bad Characters is well worth reading. The AIF was for the time an unusual force, being made up almost entirely of volunteers. Many of the officers were also militiamen, or civilian soldiers, and the "civilian-ness" of the force comes out time and again through Stanley's narrative. Many of the Diggers saw their service in terms of a workplace, and tried to settle their disputes through "industrial" means, rather than official army channels. Stanley is at his strongest when discussing this facet of the AIF experience and the friction this civilian outlook on soldiering caused with the British High Command, who could never get their head around the propensity for Australians not to salute officers (Stanley quotes a soldier from the 30th Battalion - "Navvies don't salute their gangers, so why should we?"), or for them to "take time off" when not actually at the front.
Stanley also deals well with the death penalty issue. Contrary to the myth that has built up over time, the AIF did have the death penalty on the books. The "problem" was, given the volunteer nature of the force, that approval from the Governor General of Australia was required to confirm any death sentences. By 1917, when AWL was becoming a big issue, the Australian Government was in the middle of a hard fought political campaign to introduce conscription, so the last thing it needed was soldiers being executed. Stanley points out that many Australian officers were actually in favour of the death penalty (as it turned out, three serving Australian soldiers were executed, all for murder, as well as one shot by his own side in the act of deserting to the enemy). At times, the Australian incidences of AWL were higher than in the other sections of the Empire forces by a factor of more than ten, and there is no doubt that part of the reason for this is the knowledge by the troops that they would not face the death penalty. In many ways the Australian commanders were lucky the war ended when it did, for the AWL issue, combined with the lack of new volunteers, would have compromised the AIF's ability to be effective if the war had have continued into 1919.
Bad Characters also marks out the difference between the true bad characters, and those who "crimed" as a result of too much pressure, including some winners of the Victoria Cross who were punished for insubordination and for catching VD.
VD was a scourge of the Entente armies in WWI, and none more so than the AIF. Stanley makes an important contribution to the literature of the AIF on this subject, which understandably has not really been tackled in a meaningful way until now. He shows how the authorities struggled to control infection rates and how they moved from treating infection as an offence to a problem that had to be managed. Again the lack of a decent index is painful - we simply have an entry "Venereal Disease" followed by a list of page numbers - not helpful to the serious student.
Despite these flaws, Peter Stanley has written an important account of "the other side" of the AIF, which will no doubt spawn other works that explore the reality of WWI for Australian Troops - where not everyone was a hero, some cracked under the pressure, and there was a leavening of true scoundrels to make life interesting.
Recommended for anyone interested in the AIF and it's achievements.
Check out my other reviews at
As the title suggests, Peter Stanley has investigated the more disreputable side of the AIF. We have certainly had many books written about the undoubted heroism of AIF troops, the horrible sacrifices they made in the Middle East and Europe, and the legends that have been created around ANZAC and the Diggers in general. Part of that legend is woven around the mythology of the larrikin Digger - Stanley's work helps us to flesh out this myth, and expose it - the larrikin tag came after the war, and many of the acts that served to form the legend were suitably "airbrushed" after the fact to reduce their criminality.
Stanley focusses on the "bad" side of the AIF, which can be pretty much divided into two parts - general criminality, or offences that would be criminal in civilian life, such as theft, assault, rape and murder - and military offences, that is, offences against the rules of the army such as insubordination, failure to discharge orders, absent without leave (AWL), mutiny, and so forth.
And here is where the first disappointing aspect of this work kicks in. Stanley has decided to treat his subject chronologically, to avoid "reprising the events of 1914-18 repeatedly and perhaps tediously". Unfortunately for Stanley, his choice has led to his subjects being split apart, so there are interesting chapters about VD in the 1914 section and in the 1918 section of the book. If the book had a comprehensive index this may not have been as much of an issue as it has been for this reviewer, but unfortunately for Stanley (as I'm sure it's not his doing or desire), the index is frankly appalling. As an example, I have a personal research interest in a base camp mutiny/riot that occurred in Etaples in 1917: Etaples is not mentioned in the index at all, but not only did I come across a few references to it in the text, there are even a couple of lines about the incident in which I'm interested. It really devalues the whole work to have such poor apparatus.
A thematic approach would have been a better one for a work like this, as I don't think repetition would be much of an issue, given Stanley is rarely talking about battles or campaign history, and it would be easier for readers to see how an issue, such as VD or AWL developed over the course of the war. Another slight disappointment is the lack of statistical tables, with stats spread about in the text, and again separated depending on where in the war they occurred. The chronological approach also leads to repetitions of it's own -VD in 1914 and again in 1918 - or omissions - did murders only happen in 1917?.
Despite these disappointments, Bad Characters is well worth reading. The AIF was for the time an unusual force, being made up almost entirely of volunteers. Many of the officers were also militiamen, or civilian soldiers, and the "civilian-ness" of the force comes out time and again through Stanley's narrative. Many of the Diggers saw their service in terms of a workplace, and tried to settle their disputes through "industrial" means, rather than official army channels. Stanley is at his strongest when discussing this facet of the AIF experience and the friction this civilian outlook on soldiering caused with the British High Command, who could never get their head around the propensity for Australians not to salute officers (Stanley quotes a soldier from the 30th Battalion - "Navvies don't salute their gangers, so why should we?"), or for them to "take time off" when not actually at the front.
Stanley also deals well with the death penalty issue. Contrary to the myth that has built up over time, the AIF did have the death penalty on the books. The "problem" was, given the volunteer nature of the force, that approval from the Governor General of Australia was required to confirm any death sentences. By 1917, when AWL was becoming a big issue, the Australian Government was in the middle of a hard fought political campaign to introduce conscription, so the last thing it needed was soldiers being executed. Stanley points out that many Australian officers were actually in favour of the death penalty (as it turned out, three serving Australian soldiers were executed, all for murder, as well as one shot by his own side in the act of deserting to the enemy). At times, the Australian incidences of AWL were higher than in the other sections of the Empire forces by a factor of more than ten, and there is no doubt that part of the reason for this is the knowledge by the troops that they would not face the death penalty. In many ways the Australian commanders were lucky the war ended when it did, for the AWL issue, combined with the lack of new volunteers, would have compromised the AIF's ability to be effective if the war had have continued into 1919.
Bad Characters also marks out the difference between the true bad characters, and those who "crimed" as a result of too much pressure, including some winners of the Victoria Cross who were punished for insubordination and for catching VD.
VD was a scourge of the Entente armies in WWI, and none more so than the AIF. Stanley makes an important contribution to the literature of the AIF on this subject, which understandably has not really been tackled in a meaningful way until now. He shows how the authorities struggled to control infection rates and how they moved from treating infection as an offence to a problem that had to be managed. Again the lack of a decent index is painful - we simply have an entry "Venereal Disease" followed by a list of page numbers - not helpful to the serious student.
Despite these flaws, Peter Stanley has written an important account of "the other side" of the AIF, which will no doubt spawn other works that explore the reality of WWI for Australian Troops - where not everyone was a hero, some cracked under the pressure, and there was a leavening of true scoundrels to make life interesting.
Recommended for anyone interested in the AIF and it's achievements.
Check out my other reviews at
March 5, 2017
"Bad Characters: Sex, Crime, Mutiny and Murder in the Australian Imperial Force" by Peter Stanley is a 2010 non-fiction book that does what it says on the tin. Stanley trawled through the AIF court martial files and basically put together this book about the various miscreants of the AIF. This is interesting on its own and also useful as a reference book for people studying the era.
The AIF was, of course, famously “ill disciplined� - they viewed the army as a job, which meant they expected to agitate for pay and conditions, be informed, and challenge the “bosses�. They didn’t think the army had a right to control what they did in their leisure hours, or to waste their time with pointless ritual or subservience. They expected to get into the trenches and do their job, and then have a good time afterwards. Sensible officers behaved like bosses, and consulted their men; "Pommy" officers were treated with round contempt. The incidences of AWL and absenteeism were astronomically high compared to other forces. General Haig found this so galling he constantly pressured the Australian Government to allow Australian soldiers to be executed, but for political reasons this was never agreed.
Many of the stories relate to discipline, pranks, industrial action and the like that give a sense of what the culture of the AIF was like. Some of the stories are really touching - the man who hesitated to enlist because he was gay and worried about the possible consequences of that - or tragic and disturbing - the man who returned home and in a moment of probable PTSD murdered his sister. Stanley approaches this book with a "to know all is to forgive all"� attitude, which allows him to tell each story engagingly and without moralising.
There was a lot that worked for me in "Bad Characters", both as a history source, and as an engaging read about the life and times of the men of the AIF. One big thing that didn’t work was that the book was structured by year, not by type of crime. Since the categories of crimes committed each year were not mutually exclusive, this was pretty confusing and didn’t really work for me. It might have worked better if I’d read the book cover to cover, but I was using it as a reference, which meant I jumped around a bit.
"Bad Characters: Sex, Crime, Mutiny and Murder in the Australian Imperial Force" won the Prime Minister’s prize for Australian History in 2010-11, so if you don’t believe me that it’s worth a read, believe her!
The AIF was, of course, famously “ill disciplined� - they viewed the army as a job, which meant they expected to agitate for pay and conditions, be informed, and challenge the “bosses�. They didn’t think the army had a right to control what they did in their leisure hours, or to waste their time with pointless ritual or subservience. They expected to get into the trenches and do their job, and then have a good time afterwards. Sensible officers behaved like bosses, and consulted their men; "Pommy" officers were treated with round contempt. The incidences of AWL and absenteeism were astronomically high compared to other forces. General Haig found this so galling he constantly pressured the Australian Government to allow Australian soldiers to be executed, but for political reasons this was never agreed.
Many of the stories relate to discipline, pranks, industrial action and the like that give a sense of what the culture of the AIF was like. Some of the stories are really touching - the man who hesitated to enlist because he was gay and worried about the possible consequences of that - or tragic and disturbing - the man who returned home and in a moment of probable PTSD murdered his sister. Stanley approaches this book with a "to know all is to forgive all"� attitude, which allows him to tell each story engagingly and without moralising.
There was a lot that worked for me in "Bad Characters", both as a history source, and as an engaging read about the life and times of the men of the AIF. One big thing that didn’t work was that the book was structured by year, not by type of crime. Since the categories of crimes committed each year were not mutually exclusive, this was pretty confusing and didn’t really work for me. It might have worked better if I’d read the book cover to cover, but I was using it as a reference, which meant I jumped around a bit.
"Bad Characters: Sex, Crime, Mutiny and Murder in the Australian Imperial Force" won the Prime Minister’s prize for Australian History in 2010-11, so if you don’t believe me that it’s worth a read, believe her!
December 28, 2021
An examination like this helps to round our understanding of the civilian soldiers of the First World War and gives us an understanding of the underpinnings of the larrikinism and mateship Australians are often so proud of. Having an idea of the “bad characters�, and their misdeeds, doesn’t detract from the brave and generous things men did. Having a rounded picture of how war impacts people isn’t a negative thing and Stanley does not condemn those who didn’t always act as modern mythology would like to claim.
November 21, 2021
Another view of our military history, not distressful, just honest history about real people in a situation none of us can say we would be OK with.
December 15, 2012
"Bad Characters: Sex, Crime, Mutiny and Murder in the Australian Imperial Force" by Peter Stanley is a 2010 non-fiction book that does what it says on the tin. Stanley trawled through the AIF court martial files and basically put together this book about the various miscreants of the AIF. This is interesting on its own and also useful as a reference book for people studying the era.
The AIF was, of course, famously “ill disciplined� - they viewed the army as a job, which meant they expected to agitate for pay and conditions, be informed, and challenge the “bosses�. They didn’t think the army had a right to control what they did in their leisure hours, or to waste their time with pointless ritual or subservience. They expected to get into the trenches and do their job, and then have a good time afterwards. Sensible officers behaved like bosses, and consulted their men; "Pommy" officers were treated with round contempt. The incidences of AWL and absenteeism were astronomically high compared to other forces. General Haig found this so galling he constantly pressured the Australian Government to allow Australian soldiers to be executed, but for political reasons this was never agreed.
Many of the stories relate to discipline, pranks, industrial action and the like that give a sense of what the culture of the AIF was like. Some of the stories are really touching - the man who hesitated to enlist because he was gay and worried about the possible consequences of that - or tragic and disturbing - the man who returned home and in a moment of probable PTSD murdered his sister. Stanley approaches this book with a "to know all is to forgive all"� attitude, which allows him to tell each story engagingly and without moralising.
There was a lot that worked for me in "Bad Characters", both as a history source, and as an engaging read about the life and times of the men of the AIF. One big thing that didn’t work was that the book was structured by year, not by type of crime. Since the categories of crimes committed each year were not mutually exclusive, this was pretty confusing and didn’t really work for me. It might have worked better if I’d read the book cover to cover, but I was using it as a reference, which meant I jumped around a bit.
"Bad Characters: Sex, Crime, Mutiny and Murder in the Australian Imperial Force" won the Prime Minister’s prize for Australian History in 2010-11, so if you don’t believe me that it’s worth a read, believe her!
The AIF was, of course, famously “ill disciplined� - they viewed the army as a job, which meant they expected to agitate for pay and conditions, be informed, and challenge the “bosses�. They didn’t think the army had a right to control what they did in their leisure hours, or to waste their time with pointless ritual or subservience. They expected to get into the trenches and do their job, and then have a good time afterwards. Sensible officers behaved like bosses, and consulted their men; "Pommy" officers were treated with round contempt. The incidences of AWL and absenteeism were astronomically high compared to other forces. General Haig found this so galling he constantly pressured the Australian Government to allow Australian soldiers to be executed, but for political reasons this was never agreed.
Many of the stories relate to discipline, pranks, industrial action and the like that give a sense of what the culture of the AIF was like. Some of the stories are really touching - the man who hesitated to enlist because he was gay and worried about the possible consequences of that - or tragic and disturbing - the man who returned home and in a moment of probable PTSD murdered his sister. Stanley approaches this book with a "to know all is to forgive all"� attitude, which allows him to tell each story engagingly and without moralising.
There was a lot that worked for me in "Bad Characters", both as a history source, and as an engaging read about the life and times of the men of the AIF. One big thing that didn’t work was that the book was structured by year, not by type of crime. Since the categories of crimes committed each year were not mutually exclusive, this was pretty confusing and didn’t really work for me. It might have worked better if I’d read the book cover to cover, but I was using it as a reference, which meant I jumped around a bit.
"Bad Characters: Sex, Crime, Mutiny and Murder in the Australian Imperial Force" won the Prime Minister’s prize for Australian History in 2010-11, so if you don’t believe me that it’s worth a read, believe her!
February 13, 2015
A great book about the extraordinary skill of Australian soldiers in deserting, whoring, lying, cheating, stealing, gambling, raping, murdering and answering back. I was struck by the statistic that the Australians were just one tenth of the British Expeditionary Forces, but made up half of all deserters, and the vast majority spent at least some time suffering the effects of VD. As Stanley points out, they were proud to be the only BEF members who were solely volunteers and their traditions as unionists, workers and property owners meant they were peculiarly resistant, and very effective at it, yet staunch when they had to be. Awesome fighters, terrible soldiers, heroes one minute, disgraces the next. Although Stanley spends no time theorising or contemplating masculinity, or nationalism or other big tropes, I think he did a good job including the perspectives of gay men, and of the women of Britain and France who lived alongside the soldiers for the duration. I appreciated his honest probing of the long silences in records about atrocities and breaches. In exposing these stories Stanley doesn't really challenge the work of Bean in shaping the Anzac legend, but the stories he presents show these were living, breathing people under extreme stress, and suffering from all forms of human frailty. This is the kind of complicated and three-dimensional history that we should be reading as we lead up to the centenary of Anzac.
October 1, 2010
A typical Peter Stanley book. Well written and expertly researched. The book provides a very welcome balance to the unabridged and excessive adulation given to our servicemen. By providing this balance, Stanley provides a much more realistic portrayal of our citizen soldiers and therefore we can better assess their contribution to our nation.
I perhaps would have preferred a thematic approach rather than a chronological approach to examining the crimes and misbehaviours of the soliders, but as Stanley points out at the beginning of the book - a decision had to be made and he made it.
A few more case studies in a little more depth would have provided a little more 'flavour' to an otherwise excellent book.
I perhaps would have preferred a thematic approach rather than a chronological approach to examining the crimes and misbehaviours of the soliders, but as Stanley points out at the beginning of the book - a decision had to be made and he made it.
A few more case studies in a little more depth would have provided a little more 'flavour' to an otherwise excellent book.
Read
March 7, 2015Interesting book and good to know that the soldiers were not people that wanted to work with the system and acted like they were civilian soldiers as they were for the duration of the war volunteers. The British wanted to have power over them with discipline that included execution, but the Defence Act in Australia meant that could not happen. Many soldiers were defaulters, gambled, went Absent without leave until being caught and the usual rowdy Australians who caught VD from extracurricular activities. The soldiers in the British view did not fit the mold for military life as they did not always salute the commanding officers. A great read to see another side of what characters the soldiers were and for everyone to read.
February 3, 2011
This is one of those books that will enlighten the reader as it has been well researched and well written. Australia has developed a great mythology surrounding the Anzacs however the fact remains that the Australian Imperial Force was made up of men from all types of backgrounds. While almost everyone did their duty "for King, Country and Empire" there were some who were as the author puts it "bad characters". Peter Stanley has exposed a darker side to the AIF but none the less one that needed to be written. This book brings no shame to the Anzacs it just shows what war did to them.
December 21, 2013
Goes over some previous well written areas; especially the Cairo riots,and does attempt at times to sensationalise. Does give some new perspectives on some of the areas. Overall it is reasonable but patchy on the subjects concerned. I understand it is rebuffing the notion that Australian forces were saints and heroes and had as many bad apples as other forces, it's just that I never had this notion to start with. Some of the reasoning therefore I find self serving and unnecessary.
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