Lesson 5:
Far From Home: Koala
A shell-shocked koala enters a dream state in which he rediscovers
how he came to be the mascot of his Australian regiment.
Background Context
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
By 1915, the war on the Western Front
reached a stalemate with neither side
making progress. Britain and the Allied
Forces believed capturing Constantinople
(the capital of the Ottoman Empire, today
modern day Istanbul) was one way to
weaken the Central Powers.1 To do this
they had to capture the Dardanelles,
a narrow 60-mile-long (96 kilometres)
strip of water that divides Europe from
Asia. Gallipoli is the
peninsula which
became the focus
of this bloody
campaign.
Keen to support the motherland, the
Australian and New Zealand governments
joined forces to form part of an allied
expedition to capture the Gallipoli
Peninsula. The Australian and New
Zealand Army Corps was formed and
quickly became known as the ‘ANZACs’.
In 1915, the ANZACs travelled to Gallipoli
via Egypt to start service. After less than
a year there were devastating losses on
both sides. Allied forces suffered 44,000
deaths. Although the Turkish defenders
were victorious, estimates from those killed
from the Ottoman Empire range between
66,000 and 86,000.2
When
the First
World War
began, Australia
had only
been a federal
commonwealth
for 13 years.
The qualities demonstrated by the ANZAC
soldiers characterised their reputation as
tough, loyal and courageous men. Gallipoli
marked a defining and unifying moment
in the formation of Australia’s national
identity3 and the ANZAC legend continues
to shape the way many Australians view
themselves.4
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The word ANZAC generated many slang
terms in the forces serving in Gallipoli
including:
• Anzac button: a nail used in place of a
trouser button;
• Anzac soup: shell-hole water polluted by
a dead body;
• Anzac stew: an urn of hot water and one
bacon rind. 5
Animal Mascots
Many animals were adopted as mascots
during the war. Mascots played an
important role in keeping up morale and
often made great companions on long
and hard journeys. They helped remind
the soldiers of life in their home country
and many accompanied regiments and
travelled all over the world.
Nancy the Springbok was the mascot of
the 4th South African Infantry Regiment
and accompanied the troops throughout
Egypt and France. Other animals were
found and adopted along the way, such as
Tirpitz the German pig. Tirpitz was rescued
from the waters by sailors of the HMS
Glasgow after a skirmish with the Imperial
Germany Navy.
Story Frame:
This story is told using third person narrative, and is structured by the use of three
dream sequences, during which the Koala hears stories from his homeland, Australia.
These stories, from the cultures of Aboriginal Australians, are called Dreamtime
stories, or stories from the Dreaming. These are some of the oldest stories in the
world. They were originally told by mouth, when the Aboriginal Australians had no
written language.
The Aboriginal Australians have a rich cultural tradition and profound spiritual beliefs.
Their belief systems are bound spiritually to the Earth. ‘Dreamtime’ refers to the
time in which Aboriginal Australians believe the Earth was shaped and populated.
Dreamtime legends tell how giants and animals, such as a rainbow serpent, sprang
from the Earth, and created the physical features of the land, such as mountains and
rivers. So, to the Aboriginal people, the world we live in is a sacred place, a gift from
the gods. They are appalled at the way many people regard the Earth as something to
be owned and exploited.
European settlers drove Aboriginal people off their lands. Those who resisted were
killed. Only recently efforts have been made to return some of their land, thus
enabling Aboriginal Australians to regain their faith, their culture and their dignity.
Please note Dreamtime stories should not be treated lightly; there are sensitivities
around their retelling and ownership. Some are in the public domain, and some are
very protected.
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Key Questions:
Key Words:
• What are the stories from the
Dreaming?
• What forms our identity?
• Who is the Koala and who or what
does he represent?
• How does the Koala’s story parallel
with the soldier’s story?
• What were the causes and effects
of shell shock? How were soldiers
mentally, as well as physically,
wounded by war?
Story Words
• Friendship
• Homeland
• Identity
• Loneliness
• Mascots
• Memory
• Remembrance
• Shell shock
Storytelling Words
• Dream sequence
• Figurative language
• Repetition
• Rule of Three
• Sensory description
• Simile
• Third person narrative
Cairo, Egypt 1915. A corporal, probably on the staff of the 2nd Australian General Hospital, holds a koala, a pet or a
mascot. © Australian War Memorial Archive Store
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Attention
Map It!
• Trace the soldier’s journey from Australia to Gallipoli.
Discuss It!
• You are a soldier leaving your family and going to war. You want a mascot. Why?
• Which animal will you choose for your mascot and why? What will this animal mean
to you? How will its qualities help you?
• Make a list of emotions Koala goes through in this story.
Prepare to Advance
Discuss It!
• The soldiers bring their “Colonel” along because “he reminds us who we are.”
What do you think they might mean by this?
• This story uses the Rule of Three as a framing device, as three Dreamtime stories are
told. Recount the three Dreaming stories used throughout the story. How and why
do the Dreaming stories help the Koala to change?
• What has happened to the soldier while the Koala has been talking to the other
animals? How are the Koala and the Soldier similar?
• Listen to the story again and note its use of sensory description and figurative
language. What words and phrases have particular impact?
• Explore this simile, which concludes the story: “The soldier began to rise to his feet,
and he rose up and up and up and higher and higher and higher until it seemed to
Koala he was in the branches of a tall tree. And the Soldier looked down at Koala
and said, ‘Now, let’s go off and see who we can help.’” What is the effect of this
simile? What is it saying about how Koala and Soldier feel at the end of the story?
Act It!
• How does the Koala feel at the beginning of the story, and how does he feel at the
end? How about the Soldier?
• In pairs, hold an interview between an interviewer and the Koala, and then the
interviewer and the soldier. Explore their experiences.
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Write It!
• The Rule of Three is used as a framing device, but it is also used in the phrases and
syntax of the language. For example, the Koala looks and sees that “Some people
were crying, some people were bleeding, some people weren’t moving at all.” In
pairs, imagine what the world must look like after an explosion, and write your own
descriptive sentence using three repeating opening phrases, such as “the world
was….”
Forward March
Research It!
• Research different Dreamtime stories, and tell them to each other.
• Find out about shell shock. What is it, what causes it and what would it be like?
Independently, write a 10 word sentence from the point of view of some one with
shellshock, and share examples with the rest of the class. Gather responses to a
vocabulary list or word wall.
Make It!
• Explore examples of Aboriginal art depicting stories from the Dreaming. Emulate
the style to create your own piece of art telling a part of the soldier’s story. What
point in the story will you choose and why?
Write It!
• Examine the use of the senses in the Soldier’s following description of home:
“He remembered the smell of the eucalyptus in the morning time. He remembered
the sound of fire crackling beneath the night sky of stars. He remembered the song
of the birds, and the laughter of his children.”
Use this as inspiration to write your own sensory description of what ‘home’ is
for you.
• Independently, consider: What things define your personal identity? Think of three
objects that represent personal stories for you. The objects and stories should be
a part of your identity: they should be meaningful for you and will always reassure
you whenever you feel you have lost your way.
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Write It!
• Write a presentation called ‘My Identity’ using these three objects to inform your
narrative structure. You can use this framework:
- Introduce yourself and some things that you believe make up your identity
(e.g. language, likes and dislikes, hobbies and interests, family and friends,
etc).
- Show the first object and explain the following:
- What is it?
- How can you describe it? (use sensory description and figurative language).
- Where is it kept?
- How did you come to have it?
- Does it have a use? Did it have a use once? Has its use changed over the
years? (e.g. a clock which has stopped years ago but you keep it because you
still like the design).
- how does the object make you feel?
- why is it important to you? How does it reflect your identity?
- Repeat for the other two objects.
- Conclude by saying why you chose to talk about these particular objects and
not others in your possession, and what you believe your own identity is.
• Present stories to the rest of the class, bearing in mind that this is a personal and
potentially sensitive topic.
• Afterwards, evaluate and reflect on the all the different objects the class has
used. Can the class categorise the types of objects the class thought of? Are they
ephemeral, precious, urban, rural, nostalgic, of monetary value, of sentimental
value, etc?
The Gallipoli Campaign, Josh Blair IWM Classroom Learning Resources www.iwm.org.uk/learning/resources/thegallipoli-campaign
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The Gallipoli Campaign, Josh Blair IWM Classroom Learning Resources www.iwm.org.uk/learning/resources/thegallipoli-campaign
2
The Gallipoli Campaign, Josh Blair IWM Classroom Learning Resources www.iwm.org.uk/learning/resources/thegallipoli-campaign
3
ANZAC and the Australian Identity, Gallipoli Education Pack, 1914-18 Centenary Education www.centenaryeducation.com.au/teachers/gallipoli/lesson5.php
4
ANZAC Acronyms, Australian War Memorial www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/anzac/acronym
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Illustrations by Sheena Dempsey
Text © The Story Museum
42 Pembroke Street, Oxford OX1 1BP
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