1 - The foundations of a military career 1894–1915

Summary

When one visualises Frank Berryman, the image of an Anzac does not readily come to mind. His background did not lend itself to the idealised image of the Australian Digger. At 5 feet 7 inches and only 10 stone 7 lb he was neither tall nor powerful. Hardly the iconic image that the Australian Official Historian, C.E.W. Bean, had in mind when he spoke of that fine specimen of man who made up the First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF). Furthermore, Berryman's upbringing in large towns and the suburbs of Melbourne did much to remove him from the ‘bushman’ stereotype that Bean was trying so hard to establish.

But what cemented Berryman's alienation from the Anzac mythology was the fact that he was both an officer and a professional soldier. His status stood in stark contrast to the amateur army and Diggers who made up the AIF. As the historian Jane Ross has argued, the ‘myth’ of the Digger failed to integrate the experience of the officer corps, and in particular it ‘ignores the functions of the highest commanders and staff officers. It is indeed the myth of the fighting private.’ About the only thing that Frank Berryman seemed to have in common with the Anzac mystique was his humble working-class origins and his English heritage.

There was even less in Frank Berryman's background to suggest that he would become an officer and a gentleman in Australia's permanent military forces.