Anzac Day, April 25th, is a day that is very dear to
the heart of all Australians, a day when we remember those that have
fallen in times of war, in service to their country, its people, and
freedom for mankind.
ANZAC stands for Australian and New
Zealand Army Corp.
ANZAC means much more than that though; it embodies what it meant to
be a Digger, a Battler. ANZAC is the true essence of being Australian.
In the words of the official Gallipoli Campaign historian, C E W Bean,
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 Gallipoli Campaign
Anzac day is held in both Australia and New Zealand
on the anniversary of the first major offensive to use ANZAC troops on
the shores of Gallipoli in Turkey in 1915.
When World War I began nine months earlier, 4th
August 1914, Australia committed 20,000 volunteer troops to the war
effort under the control of the British Armed Forces. Those troops were
soon on their way to Egypt where a plan was underway at the request of
the Russians to neutralise the Turkish war effort and effectively take
them out of the war.
At 06:00 hours on the 25th of April 1915, the First Expeditionary
Forces of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp landed on the beaches
of Gallipoli, now known as ANZAC Cove, to an unexpected welcome.
The plan was for the ANZACs to attack the Turks
across the peninsular destroying the Turkish defences in the Dardenelles
and leave the channel open for the British to sail into Constantinople
and remove Turkey from the war completely.
However, the British plans were made based on
outdated tourist maps of the area, and instead
of landing on open grasslands the ANZACs found themselves facing rolling hills
and steep cliffs covered with prickly bushes and defended by a very tenacious
Turkish
Army.
What was planned to be a quick and decisive strike soon turned into a
stalemate.
ANZAC Spirit
ANZAC Biscuits
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