School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS)

Dr Craig Stockings

Dr Craig Stockings

Senior Lecturer
History Program

Phone: +61 2  6268 8485
Fax: +61 2 6268 8879
Email: c.stockings@adfa.edu.au

Courses Taught

2010 -  Introduction to Strategic Studies
2009 - Introduction to Strategic Studies, History 1B and Insurgency/Counterinsurgency
2008 - History 1A & History 1B
2007 - History 1A & History 1B
2006 - Introduction to Strategic Studies
2005 - Introduction to Strategic Studies (tutor)

Research Interests / Projects

My research focuses on Australian military history. More particularly and more recently, I have concentrated on operational analysis and uncovering the battlefield ‘truth’, too often obscured by the distorting effect of Anzac mythology.  My recent ‘Bardia’ research project, for example, was a critical evaluation of the battle with two objectives. It investigated the first serious Australian land battle of WWII, seen then and now as a test of the Anzac legacy. Despite its importance, at present the historiography of the battle is scant with few published accounts focusing specifically on this key action. The project’s second and more important objective, however, was the issue of why the Australians were so successful beyond time-honoured Anzac mythology or ethnic slurs against the Italian enemy. This project aimed to do what no equivalent had done - provide a balanced, analytical account of success and failure from Australian, British and Italian perspectives. It investigated the real factors behind victory and defeat beyond too often uncritical accounts of the ‘innate’ qualities of the Australian infantryman. The wider aim of the project was therefore challenge the pervasive and warping effect of the Anzac legend. At present I just begun another project (in collaboration with a Dr Eleanor Hancock, a specialist in German History) intending to apply many of the same methodology and principles to a the Greek campaign of 1941.

Beyond these particular projects I have a wider interest in issues surrounding Australian and international military history. My focus tends to be towards the operational or ‘battlefield’ end of the spectrum, but I am also interested in political / strategic issues connected to conflict.

I am a member of Editorial Board for International Refereed Journal, War & Society.

Publications

Books & Monographs

2010    (ed.) Zombie Myth of Australian Military History, UNSW Press, Sydney, 2010.

2009    Bardia: Myth, Reality and the Heirs of Anzac, UNSW Press, Sydney, 2009.

2007    The Domain in which we Dwell: The Foundations, Form and Future of Land Warfare, SDSC Working Paper No. 403, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, April 2007.

2007    The Making & Breaking of the Post-Federation Australian Army, 1901-09, Land Warfare Studies Study Paper No. 311, Canberra, July 2007.

2007    The Torch & the Sword: A History of the Australian Army Cadet Movement 1866-2006, UNSW Press, Sydney.

2000    Paratroopers as Peacekeepers: 3 RAR in East Timor, 3rd Battalion, Imprint, Sydney.

Book Chapters

2008    ‘Upheaval, Uncertainty and Opportunity’, in Horner, D & Bou J., (eds.) Duty First: The Royal Australian Regiment in War and Peace, (2nd Edition), Allen & Unwin, North Sydney, 2008.

2010    ‘An Abundance of Riches: Training and Sustaining the Second AIF in the First Libyan Campaign, North Africa, 1940-41’, in Grey J & Dennis P., (eds.) Raise, Train And Sustain: Delivering Land Combat Power, AMHP, Canberra, 2010.

2010    ‘There is an idea that the Australian is a natural born soldier…’, in Stockings, C., (ed.) Zombie Myths of Australian Military History, UNSW Press, Sydney, 2010.

Articles

2010    ‘The Anzac Myth and the Battle of Bardia’, War in History, Vol. 17, No. 1, January 2010.

2010    ‘How Bardia was won’, Wartime, No. 49, February 2010.

2009    ‘In the shadow of Anzac: the Battle of Bardia, 1941’, Memento, No. 36, January 2009.

2009    ‘Equal to the Task:The Australian Women’s Land Army and the Question of “Fourth Service” Recognition’, Minerva, Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 2009.

2009    ‘Deadly Pride and the Infamous Case of ‘Post 11’, Australian Army Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2, August 2009.

2009    ‘Beyond the Anzac Myth - Relative Technological Advantage and the Battle of Bardia’, Journal of Battlefield Technology, Vol. 12, No. 1, March 2009.

2008    ‘The Formation of the Royal Australian Regiment’, Duty First: 60 Years of the Royal Australian Regiment, Faircount, Sydney, 2008.

2008    ‘The Difficult Years, 1980-2000’, Duty First: 60 Years of the Royal Australian Regiment, Faircount, Sydney, 2008.

2008    ‘Khaki in the Classroom: Compulsory Junior Cadet Training in Australian Schools, 1911-31’ History of Education Review, Vol. 37, No. 1, 2008.

2008    ‘A Kangaroo Slain by a Talisman Saber – We’ve Come a Long Way in a Few Short Years…’, Duty First: 60 Years of the Royal Australian Regiment, Faircount, Sydney, 2008.

2007    ‘The End of Strategy? – Not So Fast’, Australian Army Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1, Autumn, 2007.

2007    ‘Germanic Influences on the Evolution of Strategic Thought’, Australian Defence Force Journal, No. 174, 2007.

2007    ‘Airpower and the Myth of Strategic Bombing as Strategy’, ISAA Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2007 (co-authored).

2007    ‘A Survey of Military, Educational & Community Expectations of the Cadet Movement in Australia, 1866-2006, Australian Journal of Politics and History, Vol. 53, No. 2, 2007.

Areas of Potential Postgraduate Supervision