Today
is ANZAC Day in Australia, a day we especially remember service men and
women who have served our country. ANZAC stands for Australian New
Zealand. New Zealand is not a part of Australia and we here in Australia
require a Passport when going to New Zealand.
ANZAC
Day – 25 April – is probably Australia's most important national
occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action
fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.
When
war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a federal commonwealth for
only 13 years. The new national government was eager to establish its
reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915 Australian and New
Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to
capture the Gallipoli peninsula in order to open the Dardanelles to the
allied navies. The ultimate objective was to capture Constantinople (now
Istanbul in Turkey), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, an ally of
Germany.
The
Australian and New Zealand forces landed on Gallipoli on 25 April,
meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. What had
been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly
became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the
end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated, after both sides had
suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000
Australian soldiers had been killed. News of the landing on Gallipoli
had made a profound impact on Australians at home, and 25 April soon
became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those
who had died in the war.
Although
the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the
Australian and New Zealand actions during the campaign left us all a
powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as the “Anzac legend”
became an important part of the identity of both nations, shaping the
ways they viewed both their past and their future.
Anzac Ceremony:
At
the Australian War Memorial, the ceremony takes place at about 5am and
or 10.15 am in the presence of people such as the Prime Minister and the
Governor General. Each year the ceremony follows a pattern that is
familiar to generations of Australians.
A typical Anzac Day ceremony may include the following features:
an introduction, hymn, prayer, an address, laying of wreaths, a
recitation, the Last Post, a period of silence, either the Rouse or the
Reveille, and the national anthem. After the Memorial’s ceremony,
families often place red poppies beside the names of relatives on the
Memorial’s Roll of Honour, as they also do after Remembrance Day
services.
