Today is Anzac Day where we pay tribute to those who served in the military. The date is that when the Allied forces landed at Gallipoli in the Great War for that ill fated campaign.
To those great uncles of mine who I never knew because of the Great war- and all others who suffered so much, I raise my glass.
"In the rear of the ridge near Lone Pine, lay the remains of many men… they lay until four years later an Australian burial party interred them. They needed no epitaph. It was enough that they lay on Pine Ridge.
^
Wrong country, wrong battlefield, wrong army, wrong war.
I have always wondered why ANZAC day is celebrated, after all the result of the battle was getting thrown back into the sea. If a day to Australian martial ability is needed, should be 8th August; the Battle of Aimens, the decisive days of the First World War.
From what I understand, it’s a day of remembrance. A Memorial Day for those Down Under to remember all those who didn’t return from Gallipoli, Amiens, and elsewhere.
…I didn’t make it to the dawn service yesterday morning, but I went to the mid-morning parade at the Cenotaph. My photos are below. Also visited Wrights Hill Reserve: a series of gun emplacements (one group of many) built to protect Wellington from sea-fearing baddies.
A few reasons for the celebration, but please don’t forget that ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.
And its not so much a celebration as a rememberance - if I recall correctly (fior example) New Zealand sacrificed more per capita than any other nation in this war.
For us, the Gallipoli campaign also very much symbolises our coming of age as a nation…
Is there still resentment in Australia, New Zealand, about the incompetent British generals who sent all those young men off to their deaths?
I remember seeing “Gallipoli”-and wondering about the idiots who sent the Anzac troops into certain death, for objectives which meant nothing.
Is Gen. Ian Hamilton a revered figure in Australia?
I know that these are probably fighting words to most Australians and New Zealanders, but the mistake of landing on the wrong area was made by the commanders on the ground not the Generals, the commanders being mostly Aussie and Kiwi.
In WWI, it was still accepted war tactics to practice defensive line and frontal assault combat. The war in Europe dragged on and on with staggering casualties because each side would take turns charging across unprotected terrain into withering frontal fire, then retreat to their trenches if they couldn’t dislodge the defenders. The whistle blew, and you went over the top. Both Britain and France lost an entire generation of young men in the war. The generals would not consider any other tactic, which is why Pershing refused to allow American troops to serve under British/French commanders.
I always tear uo when I read the plaque that’s on the cliff:
“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives… You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours… you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land. They have become our sons as well.”