ANZAC Day, 2006
The words on the memorial above read as follows:
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 Mehemets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours — you, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away 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.
~ ATATURK, 1934
These are the words of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881 - 1938), the Founder of the Turkish Republic and its first President, on the Ari Burnu Memorial, Gallipoli. It was this same man, Lt-Col (later Colonel) Mustafa Kemal Bey (Ataturk), who commanded the Turkish forces pitted against the ANZAC troops on the Gallipoli Peninsular in 1915.
April 25 is known as ANZAC Day. This year it is the 91st anniversary of the landing of the Anzacs on the beaches of Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsular, 25 April 1915.
ANZAC is the acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the formation created in December 1914 by grouping the Australian Imperial Force and New Zealand Expeditionary Force stationed in Egypt under the command of Lieutenant-General William Birdwood. Initially the term ‘Australasian Corps’ had been mooted for this force, but Australians and New Zealanders were reluctant to lose their separate identities completely.
On 25 April 1915, eight months into the First World War, Allied soldiers landed on the shores of the Gallipoli peninsula. This was Turkish territory that formed part of Germany’s ally, the Ottoman Empire. The troops were there as part of a plan to open the Dardanelles Strait to the Allied fleets, allowing them to threaten the Ottoman capital Constantinople (now Istanbul) and, it was hoped, force a Turkish surrender. The Allied forces encountered unexpectedly strong resistance from the Turks, and both sides suffered enormous loss of life.
The forces from New Zealand and Australia, fighting as part of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), played an important part in the Gallipoli campaign. At its beginning, people at home greeted with excitement the news that our soldiers were at last fully engaged in the war. New Zealand soldiers distinguished themselves with their courage and skill, establishing an enduring bond with the Australians they fought alongside.
The Gallipoli campaign was, however, a costly failure for the Allies, who after nine months abandoned it and evacuated their surviving troops. Almost a third of the New Zealanders taking part had been killed; the communities they came from had counted the cost in the lengthy casualty lists that appeared in their newspapers. And the sacrifice seemed to have been in vain, for the under-resourced and poorly-conducted campaign did not have any significant influence on the outcome of the war.
Although Anzac Day, the anniversary of the first day of conflict, does not mark a military triumph, it does remind us of a very important episode in New Zealand’s history. Great suffering was caused to a small country by the loss of so many of its young men. But the Gallipoli campaign showcased attitudes and attributes - bravery, tenacity, practicality, ingenuity, loyalty to King and comrades - that helped New Zealand define itself as a nation, even as it fought unquestioningly on the other side of the world in the name of the British Empire.
After Gallipoli, New Zealand had a greater confidence in its distinct identity, and a greater pride in the international contribution it could make. And the mutual respect earned during the fighting formed the basis of the close ties with Australia that continue today.
Over recent years there has been increasing interest shown by New Zealanders generally in the observance of ANZAC Day with Dawn Parades and commemorative services held at cenotaphs around the country. Many of us would like this day to replace Waitangi Day (NZ Day) to become our National Day, and it would be very fitting for it to become so, being the day in history where we were left alone by “Mother England” to cope the best we could with the botched decisions made back in Whitehall - the day we trace back to our coming of age as a nation that stood on its own feet, stood the ground, and stood with courage under terrible odds. I personally would like to see that happen.
