ANZAC Day

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ANZAC Day
Observed by Memorial services, public holiday
Type Patriotic, Historical, Nationalist
Significance First landing of the ANZACs at Gallipoli
Date 25 April
Observances Military parades, remembrance services
Related to Remembrance Day (Australia), Armistice Day (New Zealand)
ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Australian War Memorial, 25 April 2005, 90th anniversary
ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Australian War Memorial, 25 April 2005, 90th anniversary

Australia and New Zealand commemorate the ANZAC Day public holiday on 25 April every year to honour the bravery and sacrifice of the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), and of all those who served their country. ANZAC Day is also a public holiday in Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga.

Contents

[edit] Origins

The ANZAC tradition began in World War I with a landing on 25 April 1915 near Gallipoli on the Turkish Aegean coast. Because of a navigational error, the ANZACs came ashore about a mile north of the intended landing point. Instead of facing the expected beach and gentle slope they found themselves at the bottom of steep cliffs, offering the few Turkish defenders an ideal defensive position. Establishing a foothold, the ANZACs found an advance to be impossible. After eight months of stalemate the Allies withdrew, leaving 10,000 dead amongst the ANZACs and over 30,000 British dead.

Although the ANZACs were a minority of the half-million Allied men who served at Gallipoli, the troops from the two young nations were often at the vanguard and became renowned for their doggedness despite what the British regarded as a lack of discipline. A full 10% of the New Zealand population (then just under 1 million) served overseas during World War I.

The last known Gallipoli veteran of any nationality, Eric Abraham of Brisbane, Australia, died on 20 March 2003.

[edit] Beginnings of the memorial day

On 30 April 1915, when the first news of the landing reached New Zealand, a half-day holiday was declared and impromptu services were held. The following year a public holiday was gazetted on 5 April and services to commemorate were organised by the returned servicemen.

From 1916 onwards, in both Australia and New Zealand, Anzac services were held on or about 25 April, mainly organised by returned servicemen and school children in cooperation with local authorities.

ANZAC Day was not gazetted as a public holiday in New Zealand until 1921, after lobbying by the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association, the RSA. In Australia, at the 1921 state premiers' conference it was decided that ANZAC Day would be observed on 25 April each year. However it was not observed uniformly in all the states.

One of the traditions of ANZAC Day is the 'gunfire breakfast' (coffee with rum added), which occurs shortly after many dawn ceremonies.

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. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as Anzacs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

When war broke out in 1914 Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only fourteen 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 to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies. The plan was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. They landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the 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 were killed. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war. Though the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Constantinople and knocking Turkey out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand troops' actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an "Anzac legend" became an important part of the national identity of both nations. This shaped the ways they viewed both their past and their future.

The date, 25 April, was officially named ANZAC Day in 1916; in that year it was marked by a wide variety of ceremonies and services in Australia, a march through London, and a sports day in the Australian camp in Egypt. In London, over 2,000 Australian and New Zealand troops marched through the streets of the city. A London newspaper headline dubbed them "The knights of Gallipoli". Marches were held all over Australia in 1916. Wounded soldiers from Gallipoli attended the Sydney march in convoys of cars, attended by nurses. For the remaining years of the war, ANZAC Day was used as an occasion for patriotic rallies and recruiting campaigns, and parades of serving members of the AIF were held in most cities. During the 1920s, ANZAC Day became established as a national day of commemoration for the 60,000 Australians who died during the war. The first year in which all the States observed some form of public holiday together on ANZAC Day was 1927. By the mid-1930s all the rituals we today associate with the day - dawn vigils, marches, memorial services, reunions, sly two-up games - were firmly established as part of ANZAC Day culture. With the coming of the Second World War, ANZAC Day became a day on which to commemorate the lives of Australians lost in that war as well, and in subsequent years the meaning of the day has been further broadened to include Australians killed in all the military operations in which Australia has been involved. ANZAC Day was first commemorated at the Australian War Memorial in 1942, but due to government orders preventing large public gatherings in case of Japanese air attack, it was a small affair and was neither a march nor a memorial service. ANZAC Day has been annually commemorated at the Australian War Memorial ever since.

Australians recognise 25 April as an occasion of national commemoration. Commemorative services are held at dawn, the time of the original landing, across the nation. Later in the day ex-servicemen and women meet and join in marches through the major cities and many smaller centers. Commemorative ceremonies are held at war memorials around the country. It is a day when Australians reflect on the many different meanings of war.

The Dawn Service observed on ANZAC Day has its origins in an operational routine which is still observed by the Australian Army today. The half-light of dawn plays tricks with soldiers' eyes and from the earliest times the half-hour or so before dawn, with all its grey, misty shadows, became one of the most favored times for an attack. Soldiers in defensive positions were therefore woken up in the dark, before dawn, so that by the time the first dull grey light crept across the battlefield they were awake, alert and manning their weapons. This was, and still is, known as "Stand-to". It was also repeated at sunset. After the First World War, returned soldiers sought the comradeship they felt in those quiet, peaceful moments before dawn. With symbolic links to the dawn landing at Gallipoli, a dawn stand-to or dawn ceremony became a common form of ANZAC Day remembrance during the 1920s; the first official dawn service was held at the Sydney Cenotaph in 1927. Dawn services were originally very simple and followed the operational ritual; in many cases they were restricted to veterans only. The daytime ceremony was for families and other well-wishers, the dawn service was for old soldiers to remember and reflect among the comrades with whom they shared a special bond. Before dawn the gathered veterans would be ordered to "stand to" and two minutes of silence would follow. At the end of this time a lone bugler would play the "Last Post" and then concluded the service with "Reveille". In more recent times the families and young people have been encouraged to take part in dawn services, and services in Australian capital cities have seen some of the largest turnouts ever. Reflecting this change, the ceremonies have become more elaborate, incorporating hymns, readings, pipers and rifle volleys. Others, though, have retained the simple format of the dawn stand-to, familiar to so many soldiers.

Each year the commemorations follow a pattern that is familiar to each generation of Australians. A typical ANZAC Day service contains the following features: introduction, hymn, prayer, an address, lying of wreaths, recitation, "The last post", a period of silence, "The rouse" or "The reveille", and the National Anthem. At the Australian War Memorial, following events such as the ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day services, families often place red poppies beside the names of relatives on the Memorial's Roll of Honor.

Commemorative ceremonies such as ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day share many customs and traditions. Here is more information about common features of a commemorative ceremony:

[edit] Commemoration

Last Post is played at an ANZAC Day ceremony in Port Melbourne, Victoria, 25 April 2005. Ceremonies like this are held in virtually every suburb and town in Australia and New Zealand on ANZAC Day each year.
Last Post is played at an ANZAC Day ceremony in Port Melbourne, Victoria, 25 April 2005. Ceremonies like this are held in virtually every suburb and town in Australia and New Zealand on ANZAC Day each year.

In Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC Day commemoration features solemn "dawn services", a tradition started in Albany, Western Australia on 25 April 1923 and now held at war memorials around both countries, accompanied by thoughts of those lost at war to the ceremonial sounds of Last Post on the bugle. The fourth stanza of Laurence Binyon's poem For the Fallen (known as the Ode of Remembrance) is often recited.

[edit] Australia

Marches by veterans from all past wars and current serving members of the Australian Defence Force are held in capital cities and towns nationwide. The ANZAC Day parade from each state capital is televised live with commentary. These events are followed generally by social gatherings of veterans, hosted either in a pub or in an RSL Club, often including a traditional Australian gambling game called "two-up", which was an extremely popular pastime with ANZAC soldiers. The importance of this tradition is demonstrated by the fact that though most Australian states have laws forbidding gambling outside of designated licensed venues, on Anzac Day it is legal to play "two-up".

Although Australia's official national day is in fact "Australia Day", many Australians have now come to regard ANZAC Day as the true national day of the country. Despite federation being proclaimed in Australia in 1901, many argue the "national identity" of Australia was largely forged during the violent conflict of World War 1 [1], and the most iconic event in the war for most Australians was the landing at Gallipoli. Dr. Paul Skrebels of the University of South Australia has noted that ANZAC Day has grown in popularity [2]; even the threat of a terrorist attack at the Gallipoli site in 2004 [3] could not deter some 15,000 Australians from making the pilgrimage to Turkey to commemorate the fallen ANZAC troops, The Age newspaper reported [4].

An Australian rules football match is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between traditional Australian Football League rivals Collingwood Magpies and Essendon Bombers on ANZAC day in celebration of the ANZAC spirit. The event has been a tradition since 1995, although Essendon and Carlton contested a once-off match on ANZAC day in 1975 (which Essendon won) in front of a record crowd of 77,770 at the MCG[5]. The blockbuster game has become the biggest match of the AFL season outside of the AFL Grand Final[6] typically selling out in advance; 91,234 people attended the match in 2006.[7][8] The best on ground is awarded the Anzac Day Medal. Recent controversy has surrounded the readiness of the MCG for the match in 2006[9] and there has been ongoing debate over what right Essendon and Collingwood have to contest the match over other clubs and their supporters.

[edit] New Zealand

New Zealand's Commemoration of ANZAC Day [10] is similar, though on several occasions the day has become an opportunity for some groups for political protest. In 1967, two members of the left-wing Progressive Youth Movement in Christchurch staged a minor protest at the ANZAC ceremony, laying a wreath protesting against the Vietnam War. They were subsequently convicted of disorderly conduct, but that was not the last time that the parade was used as a vehicle for protest. In 1978 a women's group laid a wreath dedicated to all the women killed and raped during war, and movements for feminism, gay rights, and peace used the occasion to draw attention to their respective causes at various times during the 1980s.

The number of New Zealanders attending ANZAC Day events in New Zealand, and at Gallipoli, is increasing. For some younger people, the sombre 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 they live in.

[edit] Gallipoli

In 1990, to mark the 75th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, government officials from Australia and New Zealand, most of the last surviving Gallipoli veterans, and many Australian and New Zealand tourists travelled to Turkey for a special dawn service at Gallipoli. The service at dawn in Gallipoli has since become popular to attend on ANZAC Day. Upwards of 15,000 people have attended services in Gallipoli. [4]

Until 1999 the Gallipoli dawn service was held at the Ari Burnu war cemetery at Anzac Cove, but the growing numbers of people attending resulted in the construction of a more spacious site on North Beach, known as the "Anzac Commemorative Site".

[edit] Other overseas ceremonies

Troop review on 25 April 2005 (Rarotonga)
Troop review on 25 April 2005 (Rarotonga)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Anzac Day remembered across the globe, ABC News Online, 25 April 2006
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ [2]
  4. ^ [3]
  5. ^ http://www.essendonfc.com.au/club/history.asp
  6. ^ http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=90378K Malthouse urges more history education,
  7. ^ AFL's Anzac clash sold out - Article from ABC
  8. ^ A fighting spirit
  9. ^ http://www.theage.com.au/realfooty/news/afl/afl-anzac-day-game-wont-be-moved-bracks/2006/03/20/1142703264441.html AFL Anzac Day game won't be moved: Bracks
  10. ^ A Guide to ANZAC Day for New Zealanders

[edit] External links

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