Chin up, Australia: why sacrifice, unity and resilience matter

Some argue that 80 years since the end of World War II, we are no longer prepared to make the sacrifices war demands. I can see the logic of this argument; I disagree with its conclusion.

How does any family, community, or nation cope with the sacrifices at scale that are demanded of war?

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It is perhaps the greatest challenge any nation has to manage: the decision to go to war. And while modern Australia has contributed troops to conflicts in our region and beyond, it is the two world wars that truly tested our unity, resolve and willpower.

Australia lost 60,000 men (mostly) in the Great War and another 39,000 in World War II. These numbers included some women, often nurses attached to the army.

I am moved by the story of 37-year-old matron Irene Drummond, who, along with 22 other Australian nurses, was machine-gunned while being marched into the sea off Bangka Island in what is now Indonesia in February 1942. One nurse, Vivian Bullwinkel, survived to tell the story. As Drummond was wading to certain death, she whispered to her young charges: “Chin up, girls. I’m proud of you and I love you all.” I find these words compelling. “Chin up” shows defiance. “I’m proud of you” acknowledges sacrifice. “I love you all” touches the heart at a time of need, and possibly of prayer. These are words that should rightly reverberate down the decades; they show leadership and courage when all is lost.

The final moments of these nurses would never have been captured were it not for the survival of Bullwinkel (who feigned death). She was a witness at an ensuing war crimes tribunal in Tokyo in 1946.

I wonder if the young Japanese soldiers who pulled the trigger (under orders, no doubt) were haunted later in life by their part in this horrific execution. It prompts the question: how many acts of bravery, of grace and composure go unrecorded because witnesses rarely survive the atrocities of war?

How does any family, community, or nation cope with the sacrifices at scale that are demanded of war? In times past, many took comfort in the belief that loved ones passed on to a glorious afterlife. Here was the idea that sacrifice now delivered eternal salvation later.

Today, many in the Western world are less likely to hold such beliefs. It raises the question of how modern Australia might cope with the sacrifices that come with conflict on a grand scale. Some might argue that, 80 years since the end of World War II, we are no longer prepared to make the sacrifices war demands. I can see the logic of this argument; I disagree with its conclusion.

Sister Vivian Bullwinkel.

Irene Drummond. Picture: Australian War Memorial

Australians today are no less defiant when confronted with bullying by tariff or by unwarranted circumnavigation. We prize our freedom and our lifestyle. If there are to be tough times ahead, either economic or strategic, we are best prepared if we agree on common goals, if we cultivate an esprit de corps, if we take pride in our values and nation.

We have our problems and there is still much to do to improve the prospects of the marginalised. But this applies to other nations, too. This weekend let us reflect upon the acts of bravery, sacrifice and leadership that inspired our nation to weather its troubled times.

Some say the intrinsic Australian trait is mateship. To this I would add a kind of chin-up can-do antsiness that I believe is still very much part of our national character. Thank you, Irene, Vivian and all others who made sacrifices in the past so we may carry on as free and free-minded Australians into the future.