Diggers - Songs of the Australians at War

Annotation — Australian & New Zealand Songs

Compiled by Warren Fahey , Australian contemporary folk artist, folklore collector, and cultural historian, born 3 January 1946 in Sydney, NSW, Australia. He founded the label Larrikin Records , based in Paddington, NSW. He also established and runs the Australian Folklore Unit , and has released many books and albums regarding Australian folk music. This album is performed by Fahey in collaboration with Mic Conway , born 15 February 1951 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. This album contained 60 songs related to various wars ( Larrikin Records # CD LRF 344). Also see Vietnam War: Australian & New Zealand Songs . Digger , used in the title of the album, is a military slang term for soldiers from Australia and New Zealand, which came to prominence during World War One, although some sources indicate it may have been used since the 1850s. Digger probably originally referred to a miner - extensive research has been conducted on the etymology of the term and its introduction into military terminology. (1) (2) Fahey's notes on the album said that "Australians have fought in 11 wars... we have marched away to the sound of the bugle" . This included "the horrors of Vietnam" . Most of the songs on this compilation were relation to World War One and World War Two. "Down through the years the Australian soldier became respected as a reliable fighter, a mate when a mate was the difference between life and death and, above all, the Australian soldier was considered to be a ‘larrikin’ who saluted but would not doff his hat to no man. He was an Aussie, he was Cobber, he was Pongo, he was Curley and Bluey and he was Digger. Australians have fought in 11 wars. It seems incredible but 11 times we have marched away to the sound of the bugle and every time it was a call to join our allies and 'mates' at arms. We fought in the famed Maori Wars of Taranaki and the Waikato, a contingent of gallant lads travelled to the Sudan wars and then our Lighthorsemen galloped into the Orange Free State and the Boer War. Next came the so called 'Boxer Rebellion' and then the First and Second World Wars. We glibly believed that the Second World War was the 'war to end all wars' but we were wrong and our troops were once again called to battle in lands too close to the home front - Malaya, Malta, Korea and Indonesia and these were all followed by the horrors of Vietnam. As if to remind us that war is always 'just around the corner' our troops rallied in 1990 to confront the threat of yet another uprising in that war-torn zone known as the Middle East. 16 years later, they're there again. This recording is a unique oral history of the songs that the Australian soldiers sang. War is always a frustration and the songs, ditties, parodies, poetry and stories serve many well-earned roles as a morale booster to facilitate camaraderie, to educate and to assimilate 'new recruits' and to allow that necessary ongoing de-fusing of tension. As with other periods of history when all is not well, like times of economic recession and depression, the songs tend to be short and not so sweet, and, army songs being what they tend to be very much to the point - boots and all! This collection mainly comes from the First and Second World Wars however, there is no doubt that many of these same songs were sung by the 'Diggers' who marched away to Korea, Malaya and Indonesia. As our entertainment patterns changed so too have our soldier songs and the collected material from the Vietnam War tends to be songs about air fighter planes, raids and gas bombs. The later songs still use parodies however, they are chiefly American popular songs. Warfare has also changed dramatically and this might explain why there are so few songs from the Gulf War. I guess it's hard to sing when you're sitting alone in a computerised fighter plane with one finger cocked on a button"

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Notes

Album line, contains a Vietnam reference; specific track not known. [From Justin A. Brummer notes from RYM]

About the artist

Warren Fahey: born 3 January 1946, Sydney, Australia. Australian folklorist, author and singer. [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Reference to the War · ANZUS

In collections

Australian & New Zealand Songs