WWI events no celebration
The chief historian at the Australian War Memorial believes the approaching "tsunami" of events marking the centenary of World War I must properly commemorate but not celebrate the war.
Ashley Ekins, head of military history at the memorial, says he is encouraged by the trend for local community groups to explore WWI history but believes some events are "driven by the need for a local minister to get some space in a newspaper".
The world will begin a mammoth series of commemoration ceremonies on Monday to mark the centenary of the start of WWI.
Over the coming four years, Australia and other countries will hold major events to remember the centenary of significant battles such as the landing at Gallipoli.
Earlier this year, the Turkish Government accused some tour operators of misleading travellers by advertising cruises offering access to the Gallipoli Peninsula for next year's Anzac Day dawn service.
Other operators had been accused of attempting to commercialise the event by proposing surf lifeboat races up the Dardanelles.
Only a small number of tickets will be issued to Australians attending the centenary dawn service through a ballot. Tour ships will not be able to anchor within site of Anzac Cove and the Gallipoli Peninsula will be locked down by Turkish troops.
Mr Ekins said some planned events "turned too close to celebration rather than remembering". He said he hoped that after all the discussion about WWI Australians would come to understand their country played a central role in fighting for democracy in Europe.
Giving a speech to the National Press Club about Australian WWI correspondent Charles Bean, Mr Ekins suggested the writer had likely suffered from post traumatic stress disorder in later life.
