TOPIC 7
Getting the
message across
Signals, ciphers, catchwords
Recommended levels
UPPER PRIMARY
An RAAF mobile communication unit in action.
LOWER SECONDARY
MIDDLE SECONDARY
AWM OG2686
ESTABLISHING THE CONTEXT
Background information
Governments have received and disseminated
information in different ways over time. Public access to
information varies according to circumstances. In this
topic students learn about the forms information can
take and the various media used to spread messages.
They are introduced to the concepts of privacy and
security, the use of codes and censorship and the way
communication can appeal to the emotions. They are
encouraged to reflect how a nation at war constructs
and conveys messages to its citizens and defence forces
and how this may differ from what happens in peacetime.
Teacher briefing
Focus questions
From where does your news and information come?
How do governments today receive and distribute
news and information?
How do you know if information is reliable or not?
What does this have to do with Gallipoli?
What does this have to do with World War II?
What does all of this have to do with me?
The Visit Gallipoli and Australia's War 1939–1945
websites contain many primary sources for this topic,
including material from official war correspondents and
official war photographers. Australia's War 1939–1945
also has reports reproduced from World War II
newspaper articles and newsreels. Topic 7 relates
closely to Topic 2: Impressions of War and parts of
Topic 6: Life on the Home Front.
ICT skills check list
Key terms for Topic 7
censorship
communication
intelligence
security
privacy
correspondents
Website navigation
Cut and paste
Downloading documents
Use of the search facility
Bookmarking websites
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Activity 7.1
Sources of news and
information.
LEARNING
CONTEXT AND PURPOSE
As a class, students brainstorm ways in which they
receive news and information such as television,
books, documentary videos and DVDs, advertising,
billboards, newspapers and magazines, radio,
telephone, mobile phones (including SMS), wordof-mouth, newsletters, mail and school assemblies.
They identify and discuss the types of news they
receive from each source, and the advantages and
disadvantages of each form of communication.
GO TO CD-ROM
Work Sheet 7A: Analysing
Information Sources
(7A_WS_infosources.pdf)
After discussing information sources as a
class, students summarise their findings on
the table on Work Sheet 7A.
Detail from a coded telegram sent by Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett.
Collection of the State Library of NSW
The Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies sent this cable to
the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain confirming
Australian support for the war with Germany.
NAA 581/1 A5954/69
54
Neville Chamberlain’s response to the cable from Robert Menzies.
NAA 581/1 A5954/69
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Activity 7.2
Communications time line
GO TO CD-ROM
Work Sheet 7B:
Communications Time Line
(7B_WS_timeline.pdf)
Cut up Work Sheet 7B and ask students to place the 22
source cards in the order which they think these tools
of communication were invented. They then place the
eight remaining cards along the same time line to
show when the identified events occurred. One card
has been left blank for the class to add an historical
event of their own choice.
Students could use the search facility on the school’s
intranet and the school library to check their answers.
BUILDING KNOWLEDGE
Activity 7.3
Collecting information
Pose the questions:
How do you think governments receive
information?
How do you think governments distribute
information?
Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett
I was summonsed to G.H.Q to see Colonel Ward. I thought there were
limits to human stupidity but now I know there are none. The censorship
has now passed beyond all reason. They wont let you give expression to
the mildest opinions on any subjects …
… There are now at least four censors all of whom cut up your stuff
... All hold different views and feel it their duty to take out scraps.
Thus only a few dry crumbs are left for the wretched public. The
articles resemble chicken out of which a thick nutricious (sic) broth
has been extracted …
Excerpt from Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett’s diary.
Students could use their class list from Activity 7.2 as a
starting point.
Students next consider ways in which governments
obtain information about their citizens (census, opinion
polls, telephone polling, official forms such as passport
applications, Medicare claim forms, tax returns and so
on). Students also think of ways governments in
different countries might share information. Ask
students: Do you think all governments would share all
information with each other? Why or why not? Select a
number of countries students know about and discuss
the types of information Australia might share with
those countries. Make sure the USA and UK are
included in the list.
At this point, students make general statements about
the types of information collected by governments and
received by its citizens. Discuss any concerns that
students have about this, particularly those relating to
privacy and security. Consider ways that governments
limit access to private and sensitive material.
One of the telegrams sent by Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett to the Daily
Telegraph in London reporting on the Gallipoli campaign. It shows
the blue pencil used by the military censor and the censor’s stamp
Collection of the State Library of NSW
of approval.
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THINKING ANALYTICALLY
Activity 7.4
Privacy, security and censorship
LEARNING
CONTEXT AND PURPOSE
Students reflect on the ways in which the forms of
communication used in times of conflict have
changed and remained the same over time. For
example, carrier pigeons and telegrams are no
longer used. Information is received instantaneously
today. Students prepare a visual display to show the
ways in which news and information received from
theatres of war has changed over time and how
this affects issues of privacy and security.
As a class, students identify and discuss some of the
issues related to the ways information is received and
distributed. They consider the following:
privacy
security
are we told the whole story?
should we be told the whole story, and if so, when?
does the televised war today desensitise us?
Encourage students to form a first-step personal
position in relation to one or more of these issues.
The teacher explains about security and censorship.
Discuss censorship of news reports and the personal
letters of servicemen and women.
Communications in the rugged conditions of World War II in the Pacific took many forms including navy signals, carrier pigeons and the
coastwatchers’ teleradio.
AWM 01715 (navy signals) AWM RELAWM 0L00283.001 (teleradio) AWM RELAWM30785 (carrier pigeon)
56
Activity 7.5
Focus questions
Government advertising and
propaganda
For what purposes do governments today use
advertising?
LEARNING
CONTEXT AND PURPOSE
Governments use advertising campaigns for a
variety of reasons: to promote policy initiatives, to
increase public awareness about important issues
and in some instances to change community
attitudes and behaviours.
During World War I and World War II, the Australian
Government used existing technologies to inform
people about the progress of the war and to recruit
people to the war effort. Students examine the
ways in which governments recruited people
during wartime – as servicemen and women in
action, as members of the auxiliary services, and on
the home front.
Government advertising today
Make a class list of advertisements students know that
have been produced by state and federal governments.
Develop a class collection of these from newspapers,
magazines and television. Extend the list by including
community-based organisations concerned about the
environment, litter or social behaviour. Students analyse
the captions, headings, text and illustrations to decide:
the purpose of these materials
the emotional and other appeals used to create
awareness and to change behaviours.
For what purposes do governments use advertising
during wartime?
How did governments get their messages across
during World Wars I and II?
How did recruitment posters contribute to the war
effort?
What appeals did the recruitment posters make?
How might you recruit people for the defence
services today?
Compare findings with the strategies and emotional
appeals used in an advertisement for a product popular
with students. Identify similarities and differences
between this product and government-generated
advertisements.
As an extension activity, search and analyse
governmental promotional websites.
GO TO CD-ROM
Extension 7C:
Government Advertising Today
(7C_EXT_govad.pdf)
Key terms
advertising
enlistment
avenge
recruitment
strategy
propaganda
On 14 May 1943 the hospital ship AHS Centaur
was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off the
coast of Queensland. Of the 332 crew and
medical personnel (including 12 nurses) on
board the ship, only 64 (including one nurse)
survived. This poster was published to arouse the
Australian public to increase their support for the
war against Japan.
AWM ARTV09088
57
Activity 7.6
Recruitment messages
GO TO CD-ROM
Work Sheet 7D: Recruitment Drive
(7D_WS_recdrive.pdf)
Students identify the types of technologies available to
Australian governments during World War I and World
War II. Using the examples they find on the websites,
they discuss ways each was used to recruit people to
the war effort. Explore possible reasons for differences.
Students also identify which of these strategies they
consider would be successful today and which
strategies would be unsuccessful. They then select one
strategy that they believe would be unsuccessful today
and suggest ways to improve its appeal to today’s
audience.
Between 1939 when war broke out and the fall of Singapore in 1942 the Government issued posters like this one to encourage men on
the home front to support the war by enlisting for service in the AIF. When the Japanese began their advance in the Pacific, thousands
rushed to enlist.
AWM V6766
Activity 7.7
How did recruitment posters
contribute to the war effort?
Students view the three recruitment posters at:
www.ww2australia.gov.au/wardeclared
www.ww2australia.gov.au/allin
GO TO CD-ROM
Work Sheet 7E: Evaluating
Recruitment Posters
(7E_WS_posters.pdf)
58
Students answer the work sheet questions for each
poster. Then, as a class, they discuss the following
points:
How do the captions and illustrations complement
one another and strengthen the message of each
poster?
Where in their local community would posters such
as these be best placed to maximise impact?
What role might peer pressure have played when
civilians saw posters like these?
Activity 7.8
Recruiting for the defence
force today
Students reflect on their work and then prepare general
statements to explain the understanding they have
developed about the ways in which governments use a
range of advertising and promotional techniques to
recruit personnel.
They apply this knowledge and understanding to plan
a strategy for recruiting people to serve in the defence
force today. They annotate their plan to show how new
technologies not available during the two world wars
have been used and how this would benefit their
campaign. They also identify similarities and differences
between their campaign and the recruitment strategies
used during the two world wars. For example, would
they use the same language, appeals to the emotions
(including guilt) and visual images today? If not, what
changes would they make?
Share final annotated products as a class.
Activity 7.9
Key terms
Reporting to the government
Battle for Australia
essential industries
rationing
voluntary work
war effort
war production
LEARNING
CONTEXT AND PURPOSE
Students need to understand the general rapid
Japanese military advance through South East Asia
and the Pacific as well as the Japanese presence in
Australian territory to appreciate the response of
the Australian government and civilians in Australia.
Display a large map of South East Asia and the
Pacific. Students may also create a word document
time line to record events from late 1941 to the
end of the war.
Students work in small groups. They are asked to
prepare a report for the Australian government about
the military situation at the end of June 1942. To help
them to do this, they go to the website to trace the
Japanese advance through South East Asia and the
Pacific and read about key events at Singapore,
Ambon, Timor, Java and Malaya.
GO TO CD-ROM
Work Sheet 7F: Government Report
(7F_WS_govrep.pdf)
The symbolism in this crab’s claw cartoon carries a sinister
message about the threat to Australia from Japan after the attack
on Pearl Harbor.
The Argus, 9 January 1942
ON THE WEBSITE AT THIS ADDRESS
www.ww2australia.gov.au/japadvance
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RESPONDING CREATIVELY
Activity 7.10
Getting the message to the public
GO TO CD-ROM
Work Sheet 7G: Then and Now
(7G_WS_thenandnow.pdf)
Students study reports about the attack on
Sydney Harbour in 1942 and the funerals of
the midget submarine crew. They make
comparison between the texts on the
websites and contrast them with television
reporting today.
LEARNING
CONTEXT AND PURPOSE
Explain that during 1942– 43 in what has become
known as the Battle for Australia, as with the war
generally, the Government had to reassure the
civilian population about its security as well as get
that population on side to participate more actively
in the war effort. Censorship of intelligence was
important and information had to be restricted.
ON THE WEBSITE AT THIS ADDRESS
www.ww2australia.gov.au/underattack/sydharbour.html
The censorship controversy in
The Herald 22 November 1940 p 5.
The first Australian warship to be lost
during World War II was the
minesweeper HMAS Goorangai, lost in
local waters in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria,
on 20 November 1940.
The Goorangai lost her entire crew of
24 officers and men. Only six of their
bodies were recovered, the others went
down with the ship or were swept away
in the 'Rip' current at Port Phillip Heads.
When news of the accident broke, the
RAN rushed to control the publicity.
The Naval Board secured a censorship
ban until the next-of-kin of the crew
could be notified. Subsequently, on
10 December 1940, the War Cabinet
confirmed supplementary censorship
instructions which stated that in the
case of Service accidents in Australia or
Australian waters
'relatives of those who have lost their
lives should receive prior notification
of death, and immediate action
should be taken by the Services
concerned to advise the next-of-kin by
urgent telegram'.
This problem of suppression of news
both to families and the general public
was to haunt both the Commonwealth
Government and the RAN as ships and
personnel were lost throughout the war.
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In June 1942 rationing was introduced, and ration books were issued for food and clothing. Two months earlier, in April, the
government had launched 'Austerity' war loans to raise money for the war effort. Everyone was encouraged to go 'all in' to support
AWM collection
Australia and Australians at war.
Activity 7.11
Extension activities
Rationing
1 Find recordings and/or the lyrics of wartime songs.
Classify their themes and suggest reasons why such
songs were recorded at this time. In what ways are
they similar to and different from music used in
official commemorative ceremonies today. Also
compare these songs with the music used in the
Movietone News film clips. How does the film clip
music create atmosphere?
Rationing was introduced in Australia in June 1942. Ask
students to explain what rationing was and to find
visual information on this page to suggest how it might
operate. Read paragraphs 4 and 5 of the text to
identify items that were in short supply. View the film
clip of the Movietone News item, ‘Army Salvage’.
Students describe the main content of the film clip and
the broader message it is presenting about recycling
materials. Consider reasons why this film clip would
have been made.
ON THE WEBSITE AT THIS ADDRESS
2 Go to www.ww2australia.gov.au/coastwatcher and
click on the ‘Radio’ tab.
Read the ‘Background’ and ‘3BZ Instructions’.
Click on ‘Transmit CW’ and using the Morse Code
on the right panel send a message to the Australian
Navy about a Japanese war vessel you have spotted.
Make the message as succinct as you can to avoid
having the enemy pick up your signal and discover
your position.
www.ww2australia.gov.au/allin
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Letters were the main means of
communication between forces
serving overseas and their family
and friends at home.
AWM 108665
Members of the Australian Women’s
Army Service (AWAS) in May 1945
reading news of Germany’s surrender
in a special issue of the armed forces’
newspaper Guinea Gold.
AWM 091524
Teacher resources
www.awm.gov.au
www.screensound.gov.au/screensound/screenso.nsf
Australian War Memorial
ScreenSound Australia, the National Screen and Sound Archive
Summary of CD-ROM items for Topic 7
Work Sheet 7A:
Work Sheet 7B:
Extension 7C:
Work Sheet 7D:
Work Sheet 7E:
Work Sheet 7F:
Work Sheet 7G:
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Analysing Information Sources
Communications Time Line
Government Advertising Today
Recruitment Drive
Evaluating Recruitment Posters
Government Report
Then and Now