Since 2015 The George V. Smith Award has been awarded to the Wesley student who writes the best essay about the ANZAC Spirit. The award is a joint effort by Friends of the Odd Bods and George Smith's family. Teachers at Wesley choose the best essay each year and the winner is awarded a certificate and a $500 online book voucher to assist in their education.
Odd Bods founder George Smith championed the concept of the Odd Bods association with Wesley College, Glen Waverley, stimulating student’s interest in, and understanding of, the significance of Australia’s contribution to the military and the ANZAC Spirit.
Friends of the Odd Bods congratulate student Kirwan Schoenborn on winning the 2023 award. Here is her essay -
George V. Smith Award winning essay 2023 by Kirwan Schoenborn
Rats of Tobruk
“[The] poor desert rats of Tobruk” – William ‘Lord Haw Haw’ Joyce, Nazi propagandist
The ANZAC spirit that was born in Gallipoli on the 25th of April 1915 has been demonstrated repeatedly through Australian history, notably in the small port of Tobruk. Tobruk is found in north-eastern Libya and was placed under siege by the Axis in the second world war from March in 1941 to June of 1942 (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2021). It was an essential harbour for bringing in supplies that the Nazis needed, and by protecting the land the Allies successfully pushed back and won their very first victory of the Second World War (Wilmot, 1958). And what forces were in the trenches of Tobruk, holding down the town and pushing back harder than anyone could have expected? ANZACs, the Australian 9th division, or later named the “Rats of Tobruk” by Nazi propaganda before they adopted it wholly (Australian War Memorial, n.d.).
Tobruk was surrounded with deep water, meaning the dock was very useful for larger shipments coming in on bigger ships, and by capturing the port, the Axis could progress to the Suez Canal (Warburton, 2021). Unfortunately for them, this did not happen. As of the April 1941, the Allies were pummelled with the force of the ‘Afrika Korps’, the German troops sweeping through North Africa at the time. The tactics described by Chester Wilmot, an Australian war correspondent, depict a very flat landscape which the Australian and British garrison used to their advantage by laying low and surprising the enemy (Australian War Memorial, 1958). This clearly worked as the ‘Blitzkrieg’ tactics, for the first time in the duration of the war, failed to roll over Tobruk (Rats of Tobruk Memorial Pipes and Drums, n.d.). Under the cover of night, troops would perform raids on nearby German camps, using stealth to slowly chip away at the Axis force (Army Museum of South Australia, n.d.). The underhand, unusual strategies of the ANZACs coupled with their resolution to stand their ground was what gave them such an advantage over the Nazis.
The siege of Tobruk is the epitome of the ANZAC spirit in full force. As Charles Bean stated in ANZAC to Amiens, “ANZAC stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship, and endurance that will never own defeat” (Bean, 1983, p. 181). Every single one of these criteria were hit by the Australian soldiers in the trenches of Tobruk. Their recklessness, resourcefulness and enterprise are evident in their strategies and the stealth of their nightly raids. Their comradeship and fidelity are clearly displayed in their trust and loyalty to each other, to the extent that many were willing to sacrifice themselves for others. The endurance and fidelity of the Rats of Tobruk are most obvious in the resolute stance and lack of surrender, which was their motto as shown in Figure 1. For the first time, Nazi tactics were not working, and the Allies were not losing land. For months on end, they refused to concede under the pressure of the Afrika Korps, and as Bean described, their “endurance…never [owned] defeat”. The definition of the ANZAC legend has never been more exemplified than by Rats of Tobruk.
The Rats of Tobruk are the perfect example of the continuous and indominable nature of the ANZAC spirit. The soldiers of the Australian 9th division were no doubt brought up on stories of the ANZAC legend of World War I, their parents’ generation, and it is possible that this influenced them later in Tobruk (Australian War Memorial, 2011). Their name itself displays some of the ANZAC spirit, and by extension, Australian culture. By adopting the name ‘Rats of Tobruk’, after the Nazi Propagandist William Joyce used it to mock them, the ANZACs were laughing in the face of the enemy. They persevered under harsh circumstances and embraced the difficulty, not unlike a common, current Australian. The 9th division found humour in even the direst of circumstance, seen notably in the ‘nicknaming culture’. Their commander, Major General (Sir) Leslie James Morshead served at Gallipoli and was well known for being strict, severe and an incredible strategist, which was likely a large factor in Tobruk’s success (Australian War Memorial, n.d.). However, it also earned him the nickname “Ming the Merciless”, or just “Ming”, much like the many nicknames being garnered by Australian politicians to this day (The Rats of Tobruk Association, n.d.). The ANZACs of Tobruk show that the ANZAC legend was not a single occurrence only on the shores ANZAC Cove, but instead something that lives on in Australians then and now.
The ANZAC spirit at Tobruk in 1941 clearly reflects the legend at Gallipoli nearly twenty years earlier. The Rats of Tobruk succeeded in World War II where the Allies had failed, due to their unique traits and unusual strategies. They encapsulated all the tenets of ANZAC culture by looking after each other and persevering in hardship. The qualities shown in Gallipoli and again in Tobruk continue to be shown today and will likely be represented in Australians for many years to come. The spirit of the ANZACs will never be defeated, for it lives on in all Australians.
Bean, C.E.W. (1983). ANZAC to Amiens. Australian War Memorial.
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