The man the Anzacs revered: William “Fightin’ Mac” McKenzie
Daniel Reynaud –
Signs Publishing Company Publishing, 2021(forth printing)
Anyone who has served in the ADF, especially the Army, will immediately attest to the prominent and unique role of the military chaplain. In the ADF, as some other forces, the role of religion was given so much weight as a feature of morale and team cohesiveness, especially during wartime. As such, the three main religious groups were the source – in World War I – of at least one each per brigade, with the chaplains posted to a unit for administrative efficiency and the capacity to ply their profession across the brigade.
One such chaplain was William McKenzie, of the Salvation Army cloth. A fervently passionate man with an even bigger capacity for work and endurance, McKenzie earned his nickname among the troops, initially in Gallipoli where he was awarded a Military Cross for bravery under fire. That in itself was quite unusual as chaplains were theoretically non-combatants, a moot point when everywhere on the battlefield was subject to direct fire.
This book chronicles the career of McKenzie, characterised by his passion for and depth of practice at a member of the Salvation Army. Quite a man, and quite old at the time of enlistment as a chaplain.
To me, the book presents two main benefits. A big man, a big heart, a big legacy to Chaplaincy. One might only conjecture on the practical impact on operations during the war itself. Read this book and decide. Undoubtedly very well researched from a range of primary and secondary sources, the detail on religious matters is remarkable. If one didn’t know much about the Salvation Army – and of a Protestant religion myself I did not – one will, after reading the author’s coverage of how that church worked and how its clergy went about their business at the time. In both peace and war, they function somewhat like a military organisation. With a rank structure not dissimilar, it is only to be expected that Salvation Army chaplains found the transition from their culture to another quite like it, straightforward.
Life, it seems is one big fight for a better existence, and only the environment in one which exists really seems to be the key factor in helping individuals make it through. During war, one’s religion matters little to the Salvation Army chaplains, not always the case with some from the other main religions. Souls needed to be saved, and it mattered little where that occurred. McKenzie excelled wherever he preached and worked.
The second feature of this book is the effect that McKenzie had on the members of the AIF whom he influenced. Being assigned officially to support the casualty handling, as chaplains were at the time during actual battle, it is a moot point of whether one is a combatant or not when the enemy can hit you at any time, intentionally or not. Hence the ‘Fighting Mac’ reputation McKenzie developed. He was not a man to stay in a bunker. And that style of engaging with his flock did not change before and after the war itself. The book is replete with examples of this impressive clergyman-soldier.
A foreword by Dr Michael McKernan, an authority in this field is in itself a testimony and I encourage the reader to note that section carefully. I endorse McKernan’s view that this book should serve as a centrepiece of any published collection on Fighting Mac.
The Endnotes to every chapter make for great capacity for researchers to follow up on the human angle with many diaries and letters cited. An excellent Bibliography rounds off a class publication.
Reviewer: Lieutenant Colonel Russell Linwood, ASM (Retd)
