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The Warrior As Priest: Edmund Herring And The "Call To The People Of Australia", Michael J. Birkner

History Faculty Publications

Prominent for his role in World War II in New Guinea, Sir Edmund Herring grew discouraged about his countrymen’s failure to sustain wartime spirit in a post-war era. In his view ‘faith and courage’ had been replaced by a national ethos of ‘gimme and get’. Charged by Prime Minister Robert Menzies with leading a national awakening, particularly as related to the threat of international communism, in 1951 Herring spearheaded a fervent ‘Call to the People of Australia’, which earned massive publicity, short-term engagement by up to a third of the population, but little long-term impact. To Herring’s frustration, a largely …