Acknowledging our allies

As the word ANZAC attests, Australian soldiers have rarely gone into conflicts alone.

When it comes to war memorials though, allies have not always been acknowledged. However, according to Chris Linke, a young researcher at Deakin University, this is changing.

A Masters student within the University’s new Alfred Deakin Research Institute Chris Linke is finalising his thesis on Australian Vietnam War memorials that depict two soldier statues standing side by side: one Australian soldier and one Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) soldier.

The study, which looks at a series of five memorials in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, is believed to be the first significant academic study of its type and coincided with the development of the Adelaide memorial.

“I was lucky in a way to be the on-the-spot historian and able to witness the sod-turning,” Chris said.

“I was also able to interview and link into the veterans who built the memorial.

“The side-by-side memorials are quite unusual and new in Australia’s war remembrance.

“After World War I and subsequent wars, the figure of the Digger has always stood alone at war memorials, yet Australians have never really been to war alone. They have usually gone to war as part of the British Empire or as part of a multi national force.”

Chris Linke said the side-by-side memorials were significant for a number of reasons, partly because they were developed with an Asian ally and not an American or New Zealander; that they were built by the Vietnamese and non Vietnamese communities as part of their citizenship in Australia and that the communities had seen merit in linking into the ANZAC legend and commemorative framework.

“These memorials are a progressive step,” he said. “Especially if you look at how difficult it was for many Vietnam veterans to feel a sense of belonging on ANZAC Day.

“It was only after the building of the Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial on Anzac Parade in Canberra in 1992 that memorial building became a significant element of Australian Vietnam veterans’ remembrance of the war.

“Indigenous soldiers are only just starting to get recognition and it will be interesting to see if other communities ask for the same especially in light of us always having alliances and being part of multinational taskforces.”

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