The Australians that originally landed at Gallipoli were above average for the population at the time, they were not an accurate portrayal of the ordinary Australian male. .
The original ANZAC forces were of the finest physical condition of the time. Enlistment requirements stated that a height of 5" 6" was necessary to be allowed to join up with the first batch of enlistees. This is below the current average however in the early nineteen hundreds the average male height was as low as 5" 2", it made for a tall, statuesque force. A chest width of 34" meant that only people with, large lung capacity, or figures of muscular frame were accepted. They were also screened for, dental and ophthalmic health, general fitness, rifle skills, and there were minimum strength requirements. Enlistees with, flat feet, or one of many other minor anomalies, were refused enlistment. These were obviously the cream of Australian society, physically, being the biggest, strongest, fittest, and most skilled men the country could muster. They were not an accurate measure of the average Australian; they were the extraordinary men of the time.
Australians, all through the Gallipoli campaign, and later in the war, were praised on account of their courageousness, and adventurous spirits. This observation became one of the generalisations that helped to create the definition of the ANZAC spirit. Soldiers, officers, historians, and journalists all were under the impression that Australians were all like this. This misconception is bred from the heroic, and astounding actions of the diggers, and their willingness to fight against the odds, and hang on with tenacious fighting spirit. This is because of the type of people who signed up during the first enlistment drives. The first enlistees were mostly made up of men from the outback, who were, willing to risk a major change in lifestyle. C.E.W. Bean, official Australian Historian, for WW1, states that one of the most, if not the most prominent reason why the recruits enlisted was for a trip overseas, rather than more patriotic motives.
