2 Aug 2024

Anzac Massacre: the story of Surafend (part 2)

From Black Sheep, 5:00 am on 2 August 2024
Historical document containing statements of various witnesses to the murder of NZ trooper Leslie Lowry in 1918.

Photo: Archives New Zealand

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“They ​got ​their ​heads ​together, ​the ​New ​Zealand and ​Australians, and they ​went ​out ​to ​this ​village ​and ​they ​went ​through ​it ​with ​the ​bayonet.”

- Edward O'Brien, Veteran of the Anzac Mounted Division, 1988

These are the words of Edward O’Brien - a former member of the Anzac Mounted Division. His words were recorded on tape by an oral historian and now sit in the archives of the Australian War Memorial.

 

Edward was one of a handful of Anzac's to admit seeing the Surafend massacre first hand, but his testimony does little to explain what happened.


In the second of a three part series, RNZ's Black Sheep podcast unpicks the story of the massacre, and the events which followed it - including the Anzac's little known role in suppressing the 1919 Egyptian revolution.

William Ray speaks to military historian Terry Kinloch, author of Devils on Horses, Paul Daley, author of Beersheba and New Zealand Defence Force Historian John Crawford

Further sources: