What did the Germans think of Australian soldiers in ww1?
The German soldiers feared and respected the skills of the Australians. We have Australians in front of us here, they are very quick and cunning. They creep up in the night like cats to our trenches so that we don’t notice them. Last night they were in our trench and killed two men and dragged one away with them.
Why were Australian soldiers called Diggers?
The term ‘digger’ is generally accepted as slang for an Australian soldier, and the myth is that it came from Australians digging trenches at Gallipoli. “It was a term awarded by the British high command to the exploits really of our engineers because they were bloody good diggers,” he says.
What did the British think of Australian soldiers?
The relationship between Australian and English soldiers could perhaps be characterised by a friendly rivalry. Although some Australians went to war with a sense of England as the “Motherland”, this also led to a perceived attitude by some “Tommies” that the Australians were backward and coarse “Colonials”.
Why do Australian hats have one side up?
The intention of turning up the right side of the hat was to ensure it would not be caught during the drill movement of “shoulder arms” from “order arms”. The slouch hat became a famous symbol of the Australian fighting man during World War One and continued to be worn throughout World War Two.
How many Americans came to Australia in WW2?
Disagreements between Australian and American forces over rates of pay, food rations, women, race relations, and fighting skill caused major confrontations, such as the “Battle of Brisbane” in November 1942. The infamous Leonski “brownout murders” also caused tension between Australians and the American soldiers.
What did the German soldiers think of the Australians?
The German soldiers feared and respected the skills of the Australians. In a letter captured and translated by the 7th Australian Infantry Brigade in May 1918, a German soldier wrote to his mother:
Did Erwin Rommel ever mention Australian soldiers in his letters?
Following are some excerpts from The Rommel Papers (1953), which reproduces some letters from Rommel to his wife, in three of which he mentions Australian soldiers. Erwin Rommel was the German field marshal who led the German and Italian forces in North Africa during the Second World War.
Did Australian troops deserve better commanders in WW2?
Sad that… those guys deserved better commanders. Both Aussie and American. Australian troops were the first in WW2 to fully stop the Germans on land, in Tobruk, and the first to stop the Japanese on land, in New Guinea. How did axis troops/leaders view Australian troops in general?
How different were the German soldiers in WW1?
Yet in reality the German soldiers were not as different as people were led to believe. The Germans all had families, they all lost loved ones during the war, and by 1918, they were just as war weary as many of the Allied troops.