The 1916 AIF mutiny.

On Monday, 14 February 1916, about 5000 AIF troops refused to accept the introduction of a new training manual and marched out of their Light Horse training base at Casula, 35 kilometres southwest of Sydney. They headed to nearby Liverpool barracks and persuaded 10000 troops to join them. (1) From here they moved into Liverpool itself and raided several hotels and seized large quantities of alcohol. The manager of the Commercial Hotel in Liverpool later declared that over 100 gallons of rum had been stolen from his hotel (2). Many then boarded trains for Sydney. They arrived there about 11 am and continued to march and roam through the streets. Some shop windows were smashed and military and mounted civilian police were called out to restore order. Vehicles were even commandeered by the rioters and fruit stalls were stripped of their produce. At the Central Railway Station (Sydney) the troops used a fire hose to repel the authorities. (3) Shots were exchanged and one soldier was shot through the head and died. (4) Nine others were wounded.

The actions of these troops came as a great surprise to the military authorities and indeed to most Australians. The Gallipoli campaign had only just come to an end and stories of unparalleled bravery and firm resolve were fresh in people's minds. The editor of the Sydney Morning Herald maintained that the honour of the state had been 'cruelly besmirched' by this action which he declared was nothing short of 'rank mutiny'.

Why would Australian troops be persuaded to behave in such a manner? Were they justified in opposing the introduction of the new training manual? What happened to those troops? These are just a few of the questions worth considering. The accredited cause of the mutiny involved the introduction of a new training syllabus which increased the number of hours of drill from 36 to 40 1/2 hours per week. The authorities maintained that the increased hours were necessary in order to adequately prepare the men for overseas service. The federal government was aiming to raise 300,000 soldiers by June 1916. Losses at Gallipoli were high and replacements had to be quickly trained and sent overseas. A private at Casula, where the mutiny began, reported that in the week leading up to the unrest their training had been very strenuous and morale was low. (6) Many of these new recruits were between 17 and 19 years of age and perhaps were easily led astray by older men. There were also suggestions that German agents were active among the troops but there is no evidence to support this claim. A section of the rioting men smashed the shop window of a tobacconist called Kleindorf in Sydney. (7) This would hardly be the work of German agents.

Although nearly all the troops attended the compulsory parade at 11 am the following morning, the authorities were quick to take action against those involved in the mutiny. Over 1000 troops were discharged from Liverpool and Casula Camps for misconduct, drunkenness and absences without leave. The Casula Camp was closed down and its trainees were distributed to other centres in New South Wales under a new policy of decentralisation. One hundred and fourteen men were held in custody for a general court martial. This began on 1 March at Darlinghurst courthouse and lasted for about one month.

The supposed ringleaders of the mutiny faced the court martial on l March 1916. They were charged with having joined in a mutiny on 14 February and that being present they did not use their utmost endeavours to suppress it. Many of the accused were found not guilty. The authorities found it very difficult to secure reliable witnesses and the men pleaded all sorts of excuses. Private James Wilson claimed that he took rum to cure his cold and afterwards became so drunk he couldn't remember anything. (9) Private Jackson claimed that he only joined in the mutiny because he did not wish to be regarded as a blackleg by his peers. Private Neasby, who marched holding the battalion colours, maintained that he only did so because of pressure from his mates. He then maintained that he should be forgiven because he was only 19 years of age (10). Another ringleader, Private Short claimed he was only 17 years old and that his real name wasn't Short. (11) The defence lawyers then argued that it wasn't a proper mutiny and by the time the men reached Sydney they could only be charged with being disorderly.

Strenuous efforts were made by the authorities to repair the damage caused by the mutiny. To begin with there was the widespread closure of hotels in Liverpool and Sydney, the day following the mutiny. There were also calls for prohibition to be introduced but the government merely reduced the hours of hotels for a few weeks before the situation returned to normal. On 22 March the Liverpool barracks were inspected by the Commandant. Everything was found to be in order. Photographs of the troops training at Liverpool were also published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 30 March and 6 April. The Governor-General even inspected the Liverpool camp on 2 April and regular military police patrols within Sydney were commenced about this time.

It is, however, interesting to note the decline in the number of volunteers coming forward to sign up for active service in NSW during the first three months of 1916. In the week ending 8 January, 2922 men were accepted. A month later this figure had fallen to 1035 per week. The mutiny then broke out on 14 February. In the week ending the 19 February only 819 were accepted. It was not until mid-March that the figures moved back above 1000 per month (12). What had led to this general drop-off in volunteers and why were so many men at Casula and Liverpool clearly unhappy with their conditions?

The Bulletin, in its outspoken and forthright manner, gives us some indication of what was really going on. In the issue of 24th February, it ran an article under the following:

The Army that came to town

The sequence of events at the big Liverpool training camp had gone this way:

* Muddle 

* Chaos

* Royal Commission

* More Chaos

* Change of Command

* Men placed on their honour to behave

* Fight, bash, booze

* General McCay arrives and makes remarks

* Men assured they must work or be fired

Although it went on to state that no kind of excuses can be offered for the mutiny, glaring problems at those camps clearly contributed to the unrest. Firstly there was the problem relating to the size of the camps at Casula and Liverpool. According to The Bulletin they were far too large. They were also located too close to a major city. There were enormous bodies of men living within a few miles of Liverpool. More importantly, they were enclosed in a totally unrealistic environment by being deprived of a civilised drink at the end of a hard day's training. The Bulletin was also critical of the failure of the authorities to provide BILL JIM with a wet canteen on site. The army chaplains had opposed this idea, a policy, according to The Bulletin, that was totally unacceptable (13). It also attacked the argument that the early closing of hotels would have prevented the mutiny. It argued that even if all the beer in Sydney had been locked away it would not have been safe from the human tornado that struck it that morning.

It also pointed to the findings of a Royal Commission headed by Justice Rich into the state of affairs at Liverpool in November and December 1915. On 26 November 1915 a riot had broken out when sentries tried to prevent troops from going into Liverpool without proper leave passes. On 30 November another disturbance broke out in Liverpool when about 1000 troops asked for and were denied 'patriotic drinks' (gratis) at a number of hotels. (14) Two days later the State Commandant, Colonel Ramaciotti, visited Liverpool barracks to talk to the men. He told them that Manly was now no longer out of bounds. He also set up a system where the troops could purchase rail tickets in camp instead of having to wait in long queues outside Liverpool railway station. He also removed the Military Police from the Provost-Marshall's staff. Finally, he appealed to the men to use their commonsense and asked for their improved co-operation. (15)

On 7 December a report by a medical committee into conditions at Liverpool Camp was released. It highlighted three major problems (i) intoxication by alcohol (ii) defective ventilation and (iii) overcrowding. (16) These problems had certainly not been overcome in the following months although additional leave was granted to the troops at Casula and Liverpool. (17) Meanwhile, a time bomb was just waiting to go off and with the demand for additional drill in February 1916, it exploded.

Complaints about the Liverpool Camp had actually predated the war. On 29 November 1913 a riot of sorts had broken out among Compulsory Service trainees. This led to a court of inquiry that exposed poor leadership and discipline. With the outbreak of war in 1914, the camp also housed German soldiers and sailors caught in Australia at the time as well as those transported from overseas. Military personnel were therefore mixed in with German civilians from all walks of life and with assorted nationals from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. (18) This mixture was resented by many of the AIF troops. They felt that conditions in the concentration camp were superior to those they were experiencing.

The Argus also pointed to complaints by the troops regarding travel on NSW railways. The troops maintained that they should be entitled to free travel on the railways. (19) The commandeering of the trains from Liverpool to Sydney on 14 February and a refusal to pay for their fares was no doubt fuelled by this grievance. Three days after the mutiny the Army announced that second-class season tickets would be issued to the troops at 1s per week. This was a belated attempt to overcome one of the grievances.

To be fair to the men who participated in the mutiny it must be stressed that there was also an element of order in their behaviour. The march through Sydney was clearly intended as a protest demonstration and, as each train arrived from Liverpool, the men were formed into columns of four and marched from the station by appointed leaders (NCOs). (20) The column was headed by standard bearers carrying the battalion colours and a Union Jack. A photo of this in the Daily Telegraph (21) shows one of the troops in the front row holding a placard STRIKE WE WON'T DRILL 40 1/2 HOURS. It must also be pointed out that many of those participating in this demonstration were dismayed when unruly elements began stealing produce and creating disorder.

Throughout the First World War there was a history of rebelliousness among the AIF troops. In 1915 many had run amuck in Cairo prior to heading off to Gallipoli. The film Gallipoli portrayed this and British officers often commented on the refusal of the Australian soldiers to salute. It has been suggested that by consciously embracing a divergent attitude to that advanced through formal military discipline, the AIF troops were defining themselves as civilians first and soldiers second. (22) In both the two referenda on conscription in 1916 and 1917, the serving troops voted No. This must have clearly disappointed the government and military authorities. The troops were still not going to be pushed around and they certainly didn't want to push their mates into serving overseas against their will. This refusal to 'toe the line' was clearly exposed on 14 February 1916. The inability of the military authorities to handle such large groupings of men in confined conditions had quite clearly increased the likelihood of an outburst of discontent.

(1) Newspaper reporters are prone to exaggerate crowd figures. Bill Gammage puts the total number of troops involved at about 2000. See W. Gammage. The Broken Years, Ringwood, 1975, p. 34.

(2) The Argus, 23/2/16

(3) Sydney Morning Herald, 15/2/16

(4) Private Ernest William Keefe, 6th Light Horse

(5) Sydney Morning Herald, 15/2/16. Editorial "Is It Mutiny?"

(6) Sydney Morning Herald, 15/2/16

(7) Ibid

(9) Sydney Morning Herald, 16/3/16

(10) Sydney Morning Herald, 24/3/16

(11) Sydney Morning Herald, 28/3/16

(12) Sydney Morning Herald, 7/4/16

(13) The Bulletin, 9/3/16

(14) Sydney Morning Herald, 1/12/15 The practice of troops asking for 'patriotic drinks' was quite common throughout Australia during the First World War. A refusal by the publican would often result in a disturbance.

(15) Sydney Morning Herald, 3/12/15

(16) Ibid, 7/12/15

(17) Ibid, 8/12/15

(18) J. Beaumont, Australia's War, 1914-18, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1995, p. 88

(19) The Argus, 17/2/16

(20) D. Blair, Dinkum Diggers : An Australian Battalion at War, MUP, Carlton South, 2001, p.42

(21) 15/2/16

(22) Blair, Dinkum Diggers, p.45