Anzac, the acronym for the
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, was coined in December 1914 when the
Australian Imperial Force and the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Egypt came
under the command of Lieutenant-General William Birdwood.
Anzac Day was first observed
on April 25, 1916, to commemorate the anniversary of the Gallipoli landing.
Although usually known as ANZACs, their official
designation was AIF, which stood for Australian Imperial Forces.
Australian nurses
served in Vladivostok, Burma,
India, Persian Gulf, Egypt, Greece, Italy, France and England during World War 1.
The names of all
Australian service men and women who have been killed in wars are recorded on the Roll of Honour on the
walls of the cloisters on either side of the Pool of Reflection at the Australian
War Memorial.
An autobiography which describes his experiences as a private during the Gallipoli campaign of World
War 1 was A Fortunate Life written by Albert Facey
and published in 1981,
nine months before his death.
Some of the names
John Simpson, full name John Simpson Kirkpatrick, gave to his donkeys were Murphy, Abdul and even Queen Elizabeth but his favourite name was
Duffy.
Winston Churchill was
First Lord of the Admiralty who planned the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign who
later rose to prominence in the Second World War as Prime Minister of Great
Britain.
In recent years it has become more common for children to wear their
deceased relatives' medals on ANZAC day with The medals should be worn on the right breast as only the original recipients of the medals are
entitled to wear them above their hearts on the left breast.
Bully Beef is the
name of a canned meat given to soldiers in the field and in World War 1the
ANZACs filled the empty cans with nails, bits of metal and gunpowder to make Bully Beef Bombs.
The last Anzac was Alec Campbell
who died in 2002, aged 103.
Aussies pin rosemary to their lapels on Anzac day
as rosemary is supposed to aid memory,
and a type of wild rosemary grew on the slopes of Gallipoli.
In response to a request for help from Russia,
which was being attacked by the Turks, the Allies began a campaign in Turkey and
were to begin at the Gallipoli Peninsula with the aim of controlling the
Dardanelles and then attacking Istanbul then known as Constantinople.
Tradition has it that
Light Horse soldiers had the unlikely name of Kangaroo feathers for the plume
they wore on their hats.
Admiral Carden, who
commanded the British Navy just off of the Egyptian coast, was given the task
of spearheading the Gallipoli operation but three days before the main attack
was to take place, he fell seriously ill and had to resign.
Apart from New
Zealanders and Australians, the Gallipoli landing force included large
contingents from France and Britain, an Indian regiment, the Zion Mule Corps
raised in Egypt, and troops from Nepal and from Newfoundland, Canada.
In Turkey the
Gallipoli Campaign known as The Battle of Çanakkale, commemorated because Turks
successfully defended their homeland against a large invasion force.
Two-up, an Australian
gambling game that pre-dates WWI by at least 100 years, was popular with ANZACs
on the fighting front. Anzac Day is the one day of the year when it is actually
legal to play.
Two strange firearms were
invented at Gallipoli were the periscope rifle to shoot from concealment in the
trenches and the self-firing rifle, which were set up to work automatically, so
that there was a pretence that troops were still actively fighting when in fact
they were being evacuated.
Australian
journalist and historian C. E. W. Bean is most closely associated with
Gallipoli and is best remembered as the
Editor of the 12-volume Official History of Australia in the War of
1914–1918 published between 1920 and 1942.
During the ANZAC ceremony, the flag, which has been at half-mast, is slowly
raised to the masthead following the one minute's
silence when The Rouse or Reveille is being played as
The Rouse signifies the waking up to a new day.
The last verse of worker at
the British Museum Laurence Binyon's 1914 published For the Fallen is recited at commemorative services on Anzac Day 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.
The 10th battalion, known as The Fighting Tenth had a kangaroo as its regimental mascot.
In
1973 the Turkish Government designated 33,000 hectares of land at the southern
tip of the peninsula as Gallipoli
National Park as there are numerous war cemeteries and memorials belonging
to the different nations involved in this area.
Australian author, historian
and servicewoman Patsy
Adam-Smith wrote the 1978 book The Anzacs popularising an Anzac legend and
went on to share in 1979 The Age Book of
the Year Award.
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