Aussie: The Australian Soldiers' Magazine

The first issue of Aussie was printed in the field at Fletre on January 18, 1918. Ten thousand copies were printed of the sixteen page volume. For most of its wartime publication the magazine was wholly put together by Lieut. Phillip Harris with the help of a member of Harris' battalion, Bill Littleton. The first issue found success and there was demand for sixty thousand copies of the second issue. However, the small Platen printing press being used for the magazine was only able to print one page at a time, making it impractical and almost impossible to print sixty thousand copies on that equipment. Harris went in search of a new printing press, looking through the remains of villages that had been shelled. Most of the machines that he came across had been too badly damaged, but Harris was able to pull one from the wreckage at Dunkirk. The machine had been damaged but was brought back to life by the Australian troops. Harris still faced the challenge of sourcing enough paper to print the magazine, collecting it from various ruined printing works near the Line and a paper mill near Saint Omer. As the magazine continued, sourcing paper remained an issue until Harris discovered a printing works in a cellar in Armentieres. Harris had picked up on a consistent habit of printers to move their machinery and supplies into basements as warfare moved through the towns and so searched through the ruins of Armentieres until he came across the printing works and ten tons of paper, enabling the printing of 100,000 copies of the third issue of Aussie. With this many copies of the third issue, Harris was unable to get a sufficient labour to fold the sheets of the magazine. Harris searched through a number of towns for a folding machine but came up empty handed. It wasn't until one was donated by Lady McIlwraith that the third issue was able to be completed. Sourcing paper remained an issue for Harris, until he eventually approached Brig-General Dodds with his problem. Dodds organised with the War Office to send three tons of paper per issue from London. Before the fourth issue was printed the printing plant was moved from Fletre to Fauquembergues, both of which were subsequently bombed by German forces in April, 1918. The press was damaged, but remained in working order. To ensure the accurate representation of soldiers on the front line, Harris would travel by lorry or troop-train to the frontline to gather his material from the troops for following issues. The final three issues of the wartime Aussie magazine were then printed in Marchienne-au-Pont after the Armistice. By the end of the war Aussie had a circulation of 80-100,000 and a reputation as the leading Australian troop publication, being praised as "'the most remarkable trench paper on any front during the war'" (Laugesen, 15). == After the war ==

Following the end of the war Harris repatriated Aussie and published an issue of Aussie "now in civvies" (Lindesay, 95). The new Aussie featured colour covers, and a thicker issue of sixty-one larger pages printed on quality paper. In 1923 Harris was succeeded as publisher by the husband of Henry Lawson's daughter Bertha, Walter Jago, as editor. Jago had previously been working as a freelance writer and editor of the Lone Hand 1919-1921. By 1924 the new civilian Aussie had reached the original's circulation of 100,000 before the magazine readership began to decline, leading to its eventual collapse in 1932. In a promotion of the returned soldiers continued honour as exemplary citizens, Aussie created the character of 'Dave' who was a witty bushman, the quintessential returned digger now supporting the Australian pastoral community. This was coupled with articles and cartoons that dealt with the returned servicemen's struggle to return to work or to start new careers after the war. Many returned soldiers were dealing with varying forms of post-traumatic stress or were simply returned to their previous employment to find their job now belonged to someone else. == The Editor ==

Lieutenant Phillip Harris was a journalist from a publishing family who ran the Hebrew Standard from George Street in Sydney. ''Aussie's'' heavy use of slang, which Harris referred to as 'Slanguage', that was both written and read by Australian soldiers helped to create a sense of separate national character from that of the British or American soldiers. Well used slang terms included "'cobber', 'dinkum', and 'furphy'" (Laugesen, 16), with the first issue of Aussie leaving room for an Aussie Dictionary of slang which was labelled as 'For the use of those at Home'. Harris knew the Australian digger as a man who would put humour into everything. A man whose humour was "more spontaneous than that of the Yank… the Yank was funny, the Aussie witty" (Harris, 3) Aussie was an extremely significant publication in Australian history – one that created and nurtured national identity and pride for Australian soldiers fighting in France during World War One, as well as going on to become a significant publication for returned servicemen and the general public following the war. Many writers and artists began their careers with Aussie, and the magazine also played a role in furthering the readership of some of the literary greats of this country. It is a magazine to be noted as a significant part of Australian history and nation building. == References ==