Remembering Our Heroes

May Writing Events Around the Globe Elizabeth Gilbert, Writer of Eat, Pra...

Remembering Our Heroes

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 Rising Sun Army Badge

In Australia on April 25th it’s Anzac Day. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The day is held on the anniversary of a landing on the shores of Gallipoli, Turkey during World War I, 1915.

Not only are our military forces from World War I remembered on ANZAC Day, we also remember all who have served and died for our country. As our Australian War Memorial says, “The spirit of ANZAC, with its human qualities of courage, mateship, and sacrifice, continues to have meaning and relevance for our sense of national identity.”

There is a great deal of debate as to whether the ANZACS landed at the correct spot in Turkey. The terrain was almost impossible to scale; there was little shelter from enemy gunfire and the campaign ended in massacre. More than 87,000 Turkish soldiers and 44,000 Allied soldiers lost their lives; including 8,700 Australians and 2,721 New Zealanders. After ten months, retreat was ordered under the cover of night. Fortunately, no more soldiers were wounded or killed in during the evacuation.

From a soldier who landed at Gallipoli:

On Tuesday [27 April] the Turks made a very determined attack against our left flank and we were standing to arms all day with bayonets fixed awaiting the charge which never came. At night the Turks did everything imaginable to raise their courage, blowing bugles, shouting “Allah” and shooting like Hell. We naturally expected every minute to be called upon to get to work with the bayonet. Every few minutes the cry rang out “Supports ready to charge” and up we rush, revolvers drawn and bayonets gleaming in the moonlight and one continuous rattle of musketry and machine guns. It was a nerve-wracking night, the tension broken every now and then by the orders “Stretcher-bearers wanted on the right or left” or “Another machine gun wanted”. But the longest night must come to an end and every man seemed to heave a sigh of relief when the grey dawn spread over the sky and showed us that, although by a hot fire we had held our position, the still forms of Australia’s manhood and the stream of stretchers making towards the clearing hospital on the beach, our name had been made with heavy casualties. [Captain I S Margetts, Diary, 27 April 1915] Source: © 2012 Copyright Board of Studies NSW

ANZAC Day is marked with ceremonies at dawn, the playing of the Last Post and it is a public holiday. Pubs are not allowed to open until after the ceremony. It is the only day of the year when the traditional gambling game of “Two Up” is allowed to be played (below). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-up

In school, every year, we were told the story of Simpson and his donkey. Jack Simpson was a stretcher bearer who was at ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli, carrying wounded men off the battlefield with his donkey. He rescued over three hundred men under constant bombardment from enemy fire, until he was hit by a machine gun in the line of duty. He was nominated for a Victoria Cross and the highest military honours in Australia.

I hate the idea of war of any kind, however, I am deeply grateful for and respectful of our military personnel who have always and still play, an important part in keeping our nation at peace.