And let them imagine themselves enduring this night after night, day after day, without rest or solace, nor respite from the peril of death, seeing their friends killed, and their position imperiled, getting their food, their munitions, even their drink, from the jaws of death, and their breath from the taint of death, and their brief sleep upon the dust of death.
Let them imagine themselves driven mad by heat and toil and thirst by day, shaken by frost at midnight, weakened by disease and broken by pestilence, yet rising on the word with a shout and going forward to die in exultation in a cause foredoomed and almost hopelessly.
Only then will they begin, even dimly, to understand what our seizing and holding of the landings meant."
On the twenty-fifth of April every year Australians observe Anzac Day. It is Australia’s sacred day. It signifies the first time Australian soldiers fought, which was on the shores of Gallipoli, Turkey, as a part of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. They were part of an alliance with Britain. The soldiers stayed there for eight months, until they were evacuated on the twentieth of December, in the year nineteen fifteen. They had advanced little. The Turkish army was sixty-two thousand soldiers strong as apposed their allied seventy thousand. Anzac Day is celebrated all around Australia with parades in every capital city and many more local parades. Also, the dawn services and other Anzac ceremonies are a part of the day. At these services they usually conform to the protocol of introduction, hymn, prayer, an address, laying of the wreaths, recitation, “The Last Post”, a period of silence, “The Rouse” or “The Revielle” and the National Anthem. The Ode is an important part of any Anzac ceremony and the most well known part is as follows,
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
In Australia, New Zealand and Turkey there are numerous war memorials. The largest monument dedicated to the Anzacs is situated in Turkey, at Gallipoli. The Australian War Memorial’s main focus is on all the wars Australia has been involved in, but it recently opened a new section with displays of war relics, models, paintings, photographs and films from World War One. Cenotaphs have victims’ names inscribed on a plaque. On Anzac Day wreaths are laid on them in memory and respect for those who fought and died.
Commemorating the Anzac experience is about tradition. It is tradition for Australians to participate in Anzac related activities and use Anzac Day, a public holiday, to celebrate the Anzacs. It is also customary of Australians to go to a ceremony to remember those soldiers who fought for them.
The Anzac legend is partly about friendship. The three components that make up the legend are mateship between soldiers, fearless fighting and disrespect for authority. There were strong friendships formed during the war largely because the soldiers had to endure the same tough conditions, celebrated victories and fought alongside each other. This was a perfect environment for friendships to develop and flourish.
Also, this was Australia’s initial military campaign. On the fourth of August, nineteen fourteen, Australia declared war, as well as Britain, on Germany and her allies. (At the time, there was a false belief that the shedding of blood and warfare where the ways for a country to establish an identity and so Australia entered the war with that on its mind). The Australians then sent soldiers to Egypt to train and then on to Turkey for their first attack. Their first battle was a failure and they lost many men. The Australians weren’t well trained but improved as the war progressed. There were many attacks around the world but the Australian alliance held strong. In nineteen eighteen, Germany and its allies and Britain and its allies declared an armistice (a cease fire). Today this day is known as Remembrance Day or Armistice Day. The eleventh of November marks the end of World War One.
Finally, despite the Anzacs defeat in Gallipoli, they went on in the war to become amongst the best soldiers and tough fighters of World War One. Today, in Australia, there are no Anzacs left. So when commemorating the Anzac experience, remember the hardships, the battles, won and lost, the triumphs and be thankful for our freedom they fought for. We will remember them. Lest we forget.
By Miranda Pade
1039 words