At the end of World War I “Fighting Mac” was the most famous ANZAC. Even before the Australians landed at Gallipoli he was a hero to the Australian soldiers.

After the ANZAC landings, and right through to the time that he was sent home from the Western Front, exhausted from his super human exertions in the War, he was a legend and the man that the ANZACs revered.

For decades after the end of the war he attracted huge crowds of adoring soldiers and their families wherever he went. “Fighting Mac” never rose above the rank of major, he served only with the 1st Brigade AIF, he wasn’t one of the wartime leaders, or one of the great generals, but his fame spread throughout the entire AIF and back home where people were desperate to shake his almost sacred hands, until at the end of a day of meeting people, they were left bleeding.

And how is it that today if you say the name “Fighting Mac” people will have no idea who you’re talking about?

Fighting Mac is Australia’s forgotten hero. He’s been forgotten for too long and I’m going to share his story with you in these programmes. It’s a story that we all should know.

Thank God for the Salvos - the Salvation Army.

Tag words: World War I; Great War; Fighting Mac; William McKenzie; ANZAC; Gallipoli; 1stBrigade AIF; Charles W Bean; Keith Murdoch; Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918; Salvation Army; chaplain; Adolf Hitler; William Booth; Samuel Logan Brengle; Euripides; boxing; Rupert Brooke; Dean Talbot; Battle of Wazir;