The ANZAC Story:
At 6:00 am on the morning of 25th of April 1915 the First Expeditionary Force of the
Australia and New Zealand Army Corps ("ANZAC") landed on the beaches of the
Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. The aim was to strike in across the peninsula and destroy
the Turkish naval defences in the Dardanelles, leaving the channel open for the Royal
Naval to sail through to Constantinople and knock Turkey out of the war in one stroke. But the ANZACs were sent ashore in the wrong place - they found not
open grasslands but steep hills. By the end of the day, having suffered horrific losses,
the ANZACs had established a small beach-head, clinging to cliffs that were to remain
unchanged as the precarious front line for the duration of the campaign. After a failed
offensive in August, during which New Zealanders seized and held the summit of Chunuk Bair
for three days (the highest peak of the peninsula), it was apparent that the last chance
to break the stalemate before the onset of winter had been lost.
One night in November 1915 the ANZACs withdrew from
Gallipoli, losing no men in the evacuation, but leaving behind thousands of their fallen
friends. The soldiers who took Chunuk Bair were the only ones ever to see the Dardanelles.
Strategically, the poorly planned and executed campaign was an unqualified failure. But
its social impact was tremendous. It is commonly regarded as the point at which New
Zealanders and Australians lost their colonial innocence and began to see themselves as
distinct from Britons. The campaign came to represent all that was best about the national
character of each country. C E W Bean, the Official War Historian of the Gallipoli
Campaign said that the ANZAC spirit
"stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a
good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship and endurance that will
never own defeat".
The official recognition of ANZAC Day was immediate in both
Australia and New Zealand. Originally known as Landing Day, the name was soon changed to
ANZAC Day to embrace all of the Australian and New Zealand war dead, and the men and women
who have served in the armed forces. ANZAC Day is unique in being a remembrance day shared
between two countries.
In recent years ANZAC Day has become something of a focus
for nationalistic interests in both countries, particularly in terms of republicanism, but
it remains primarily a day of remembrance as it should. An unfortunate consequence of the
renewed interest in ANZAC Day has been the attempts of commercial organisations to
"cash-in" on the ANZAC legend. Here is an article about the legal protection of the word "ANZAC".
|
Back to top