The History of the Anzacs

Gallipoli is unique in world history: it is not just a battle; it is also an epic tale of courage, self-sacrifice and stubborn endurance. It is also a story of enemies who displayed mutual respect during the battle and who became friends after it. No battle has forged such strong comradeship and everlasting peace in its aftermath. On the shores of Gallipoli, Australia and New Zealand became nations and Turkey embarked on its journey to become a republic from the ruins of an empire.

The ANZAC (the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) tradition began in memory of the 25th of April 1915 when ANZAC troops stormed the beach now known as ANZAC Cove on the peninsula at Gallipoli in Turkey. The move was designed to secure the sea passage through the Dardanelles (a straight joining the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara and which leads to Istanbul) as part of the strategy of the Allies to defeat the Central Powers of the First World War.

Five Turkish Divisions were entrenched and waiting as the Anzac forces landed on the beach, What followed was a series of fierce fighting in appalling conditions, In the eight months that followed thousands apon thousands lost their lives before the Allies finally withdrew. Heros were declared on both sides and the sevier loss of men amounted to nothing but a stalemate.

ANZAC Day was first celebrated with a Dawn Service in 1923, a tradition that has continued and grown to the present day. ANZAC Day remembers the fallen of all the conflicts in which Australia and New Zealand have participated and the term `ANZAC refers to all soldiers of New Zealand and Australia

Over time there have been changes in the way that the day has been commemorated, reflecting the changing features and concerns of our society. During the Second World War, for example, there was increased interest and a heightened sense of the relevance of Anzac Day; in the 1960s and decades following it was from time to time used as a platform for anti-war and other social protest.

Today, at a time when it seems New Zealanders and Australians are increasingly keen to assert and celebrate a unique identity, we recognize Anzac Day as a central marker of our nationhood's.

The number of Australians and New Zealanders attending Anzac Day at Gallipoli is increasing. For some younger people, the somber focus of the day receives less emphasis than do the more celebratory aspects of a national holiday. For most, though, the day is an occasion on which to formally pay tribute and to remember.

Anzac Day now promotes a sense of unity, perhaps more effectively than any other day on the national calendar. People whose politics, beliefs and aspirations are widely different can nevertheless share a genuine sorrow at the loss of so many lives in war, and a real respect for those who have endured warfare on behalf of the country we live in.

In 1993, Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating said -
That is surely at the heart of the Anzac story, the Australian legend which emerged from the war. It is a legend not of sweeping military victories so much as triumphs against the odds, of courage and ingenuity in adversity. It is a legend of free and independent spirits whose discipline derived less from military formalities and customs than from the bonds of mate ship and the demands of necessity.