Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Australia in World War 1 (c.1980)

  1. The curator has made the bold statement;
    ...the trench footage is a re-creation, filmed behind the frontline, shortly after the Australian victories of August and September 1918. One clue is that the camera placement is above the parapet of the trench, a very dangerous place to be; another is that the troops are walking forward, in full daylight.

    And I say;
    Unless the curator has set aside the time to read the 'only' book written in explicit detail on the life of Hubert Wilkins, ‘The Last Explorer’ (Author; Simon Nasht) that the above comment is a false and defaming statement of the man Hubert Wilkins, his nature, and his heroic effort during the War.

    Awarded the Military Cross and earned a bar for other heroic actions, the only Australian photographer in history to be decorated in battle twice, spoken of by a general as the bravest man that they had ever met. One 'fan' of Wilkins, General, Sir John Monash (one of the greatest generals of modern times) unhesitatingly spoke on many occasions about the countless heroic actions and life of this individual… Sir Hubert Wilkins.

    Having read the book, Hubert Wilkins on no occasion ‘ever’ requested Australian soldiers to do any such thing as pretend for the camera, his footage was actual footage of all those involved and present in the front line, in addition, it is a belittling of the footage itself as an historical artefact. Further emphasising the enormity of the risk that Hubert Wilkins exposed himself to on a perpetual and unimaginable amount of times. ‘Anyone’ who has read the above book would grasp the enormity of the man's contribution to Australian history and the War and consequently, immediately recognise the lackadaisical comment made by the curator who purports to give the impression of providing an enlightened insight into the footage.

    I’m glad the above book exists, if for no other reason than to correct false assumptions such as the one asserted in these notes.

    2. #1 from JimB – 15 years ago.
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