Beyond Telling: Narrating Trauma in the Wartime Writings of Great War Chaplain William McKenzie

Abstract

In a centenary period of Anzac celebration that is often given to the valorising of soldiers’ heroic experiences of the First World War, this article introduces teachers to a case study of William McKenzie. Once a house-hold name, the legendary Salvation Army Chaplain of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) McKenzie documented his responses to the trauma of war in his prolific letters and diaries. Drawing heavily on primary sources, this article suggests that McKenzie’s story recaptures the essence of what it means to be Christian educators: being engaged in the midst of suffering, disarray and confusion. In the variety of human experiences encountered in the classroom and the playground, the presence of Christian educators must leave a legacy and provide a model for being salt and light.