Arcadia New Zealand

By Tom Swan, Student Support Coordinator, Canterbury

ANZAC day, 25 April 2015, is a particularly special ANZAC day for two reasons: firstly it marks the 100th anniversary of the first major military campaign fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War; and secondly this is the first time that ANZAC day has been ‘Mondayised’ which means that although ANZAC day falls on a Saturday we all get a public holiday on the Monday following. Yay!

ANZAC stands for the Australian and New Zealand Armed Corps and dates back to WWI (1914-1918) when in 1915, the allied forces including the ANZACs tried to seize the Gallipoli peninsula and open the way to the Black Sea for the allied navies to capture Constantinople (now known as Istanbul). Ottoman Turkey was an ally of Germany at that time. Unfortunately the task was not as straight forward as hoped. The Ottoman Turks put up a fierce resistance and the campaign dragged on for eight months ending in massive loss of life on both sides. By the end of 1915 thousands had died (87,000 Turks, 44,000 men from France and the British Empire, including 8,500 Australians and 2,779 New Zealanders) and the remaining allied forces (including the ANZACs) were evacuated.

Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the Australian and New Zealand troops were proud to have played a key role in the name of the British Empire and gained a sense of national pride. NZ went on to participate willingly in WW2, both Maori and Pakeha, losing more men per head of population than any other Commonwealth nation.

So on ANZAC day you will see people in the street wearing paper red poppies - a symbol of remembrance and hope for the sacrifices made in times of war, both past and present, because poppies were the first flowers that grew in the battlefields of Flanders in Belgium during WW1.

If you really want to experience the ANZAC spirit, we recommend you check out an ANZAC dawn service near you.

At most services people lay wreaths and “Ode for the Fallen” by Laurence Binyon is read out and then a bugler plays ‘The last post’. Interestingly, ANZAC Day dawn services seem to be gaining popularity amongst the younger generation despite the dwindling numbers of war veterans still alive.

“Ode for the Fallen” Laurence Binyon 

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.

I once stood guard during a Christchurch Dawn service parade, as wreaths and poppies of remembrance were laid in memory to those who fought in Gallipoli and other battles but never returned to home soil.

Related links:

• Check out the restored Gallipoli footage by Lord of the Rings Director, Peter Jackson
• The Water Diviner. An Australian man (Russell Crowe) travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to try and locate his three missing sons.