English Language Arts

St. Joseph's College
Gregory Terrace

Australian Poetry Analysis

WB Yeats Easter 1916 Analysis

I WAS ONLY 19 John Schumann

Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing-out parade at Puckapunyal
It was a long march from cadets.
The sixth battalion was the next to tour, and it was me who drew the card.
We did Canungra, Shoalwater before we left.
And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay
This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean.
And there's me in my slouch hat with my SLR and greens.
God help me, I was only nineteen.
From Vung Tau, riding Chinooks, to the dust at Nui Dat
I'd been in and out of choppers now for months.
But we made our tents a home, VB and pinups on the lockers
And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub.
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
And night-time's just a jungle dark and a barking M16?
And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only nineteen.
A four week operation when each step could mean your last one on two legs
It was a war within yourself.
But you wouldn't let your mates down til they had you dusted off
So you closed your eyes and thought about something else.
Then someone yelled "Contact!" and the bloke behind me swore
We hooked in there for hours, then a Godalmighty roar
Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon,
God help me, he was going home in June.
I can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel
On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau
And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle
Till the morphine came and killed the bloody row.
And the ANZAC legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real.
I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel
God help me, I was only nineteen.
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only nineteen.

Only 19. The average age of troops in Vietnam was 19 (if U.S. troops are included). The narrator in this song was a regular soldier. Had he been a conscript he would have had to have been at least 20. In Australia the National Service Scheme operated from November 1964 to December 1972. It was based on a birthday ballot of men who had registered with the Department of Labour and National Service. They were not eligible to be selected until on or after their 20th birthday. If balloted in, these men were called up to perform two years continuous full-time service in the Regular Army Supplement, followed by three years part-time service in the Regular Army Reserve. It was designed to create an army strength of 40,000 full-time soldiers. No conscript, regardless of age or anything else, could be forced to serve in Vietnam. Many volunteered though.

Poetic or Literary Licence. Writers are allowed to deviate from conventional form or fact to achieve a desired effect. In this case the lyricist has used literary licence when he refers kicking "a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon". The mine incident did happen on the day man landed on the moon but Frankie could not have been going home in June because astronauts from Apollo 11 didn't land on the moon until July 20th 1969.

Puckapunyal is the largest military training centre in Victoria.

Cadet units were a common feature of Australian schools until the 1970s when most schools abandoned them.

Sixth Battalion 6th Royal Australian Regiment served in Vietnam for a long time. Website

Canungra - Australian Army Regional Training Centre" (previously "Land Warfare Centre" and before that "Jungle Training Centre"), in SE Queensland.

Shoalwater Bay military training base in N.Q. During the Vietnam war the area was designed to represent Phuoc Tuy Province.

Townsville is a town in North Queensland which has a large Barracks and strong military ties.

SLR(self loading rifle). The 7.62mm L1A1 SLR is an Australian version of the Belgian FN FAL. In Vietnam it was the standard personal weapon of the Australian soldier.

From 1966 Australian troops were based at Nui Dat in Phuoc Tuy Province. Vung Tau is a coastal town and port south of Phouc Tuy. No 9 Squadron RAAF, equipped with Iroquois (UH-1) helicopters was based at Vung Tau.

The Chinook helicopter has the capacity to lift up to 11.7 Tons, carrying internal and/or external loads, or 30 combat troops.

VB is the name of an Australian beer.

This is a reference to to "Agent Orange" which was the code name for a defoliant designed to deny the enemy cover. "Agent Orange" gets its name from the orange markings on the drums it was stored in. An estimated 19 million gallons of Agent Orange were used in South Vietnam during the war. Serious concerns have been raised about the effects of dioxins on the health of troops who served in Vietnam.

An M16 is a military assault rifle capable of semi-automatic and automatic fire. Australian veterans told John Schumman that Australians were not issued with M16s, the Americans were. However, the Americans did not know how to look after them so they often jammed in combat after which the Americans would often discard them. The Aussies (particularly forward scouts) would pick them up, clean them, maintain them well and bingo - they'd have a semi automatic weapon - lighter and faster but not with the range of an SLR: a good, close-quarters weapon.

Rash Since the end of the Vietnam War authorities have averred that the various chemicals, including Agent Orange, used in Vietnam were harmless. Despite these assertions, a disproportionate number of Vietnam veterans have suffered a variety of "mysterious" ailments which can probably only be explained by their exposure to chemicals.

Last one on two legs. Mines and other forms of booby traps were a continual hazzard for troops serving in Vietnam. These anti-personnel devices could inflict horrendous damage to a soldier - the least of which was the loss of feet and legs.

Wouldn't let your mates down This is a significant feature of traditional Australian culture which tends to come to the forefront in times of war. The ANZAC spirit was very much still alive during the Vietnam War.

Dust off was the term used to describe the medical evacuation of injured troops by helicopter. The ability to get injured troops quickly from the battlefield combined with highly developed medical and surgical treatment meant that the numbers of men killed in action was substantially reduced but that the numbers who were disabled increased.

Hooked in A Vietnam veteran term meaning to “dig in”. Used to denote the establishment and maintenance of combat position/s. Also used with regard to food and drink. i.e. “The beer’s in the esky. Hook in.”

The ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) legend began with the landing at Gallipoli on April 25 1915. This botched attempt at securing the Dardanelles saw thousands of ANZAC fatalities before its conclusion in January 1916. The soldiers are remembered for maintaining courage and fortitude under hopeless conditions. They are also remembered for their mateship. This campaign is often referred to as a "Baptism of Fire" for the infant nation of Australia which had attained autonomy in the British Empire only a few years earlier in 1901. ANZAC day is still commemorated each year in Australia with a national public holiday and parades.

Channel Seven is an Australian television station.

The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - Eric Bogle

Now when I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover.
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback,
Well, I waltzed my Matilda all over.
Then in 1915, my country said, "Son,
It's time you stop ramblin', there's work to be done."
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun,
And they marched me away to the war.
And the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As the ship pulled away from the quay,
And amidst all the cheers, the flag waving, and tears,
We sailed off for Gallipoli.
And how well I remember that terrible day,
How our blood stained the sand and the water;
And of how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk, he was waitin', he primed himself well;
He showered us with bullets, and he rained us with shell --
And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all to hell,
Nearly blew us right back to Australia.

But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
When we stopped to bury our slain,
Well, we buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,
Then we started all over again.
And those that were left, well, we tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
Though around me the corpses piled higher.
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head,
And when I woke up in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead --
Never knew there was worse things than dying.
For I'll go no more "Waltzing Matilda,"
All around the green bush far and free --
To hump tents and pegs, a man needs both legs,
No more "Waltzing Matilda" for me.
So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed,
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane,
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And as our ship sailed into Circular Quay,
I looked at the place where me legs used to be,
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me,
To grieve, to mourn and to pity.

But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As they carried us down the gangway,
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared,
Then they turned all their faces away.
And so now every April, I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
Reviving old dreams of past glory,
And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore,
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
And I ask meself the same question.
But the band plays "Waltzing Matilda,"
And the old men still answer the call,
But as year follows year, more old men disappear
Someday, no one will march there at all.
Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda.
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong,
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?

The song Waltzing Matilda was written by A.B.(Banjo) Patterson in 1895. It remains an icon of Australia's cultural heritage.

The Murray River is Australia's longest river. It is 2600 km long and crosses three States. It was a major transportation artery in the late 19th century.