ANZAC DAY REMEMBRANCE

Good Morning, Readers:

Another year has passed since we remembered ANZAC day.  ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

The 25th of April was officially named Anzac Day in 1916.

On the 25th April 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula.  These became known as Anzacs and the pride they took in that name continues to this day.

The Anzacs landed on Gallipoli and met fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders.  Their plan to knock Türkiye 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.  Both sides suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships.  Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed.

The meaning of Anzac Day today includes the remembrance of all Australian and New Zealand soldiers killed in military operations.

Below,  are a few verses of my poem, “Gallipoli, ” which I wrote in 2020.

Their courage comes, we know not how,

    To fight to save their fellow men and comfort them to the end,

Is selfless and heroic, never thinking of themselves;

    Never shirking their duties and their team.

For all of this, the Anzacs will always be remembered by

    Countries near and far, by friends and relatives they left behind,

Not knowing what lay ahead, nothing could prepare them

    For the fields of the dying and the dead.

But red poppies sprung up from the terrible earth, as if they

    Were giving back, and giving birth to a new age, with no more war;

No more wars in a foreign place where men died alone, in distant fields, long ago.

    The Anzacs will never be forgotten, we will always remember them,

They died for their country and their mates,

    They gave us what we have today, our freedom, and our lives.

LEST WE FORGET

Commemorative services are held at war memorials at dawn – the time of the original landing in Gallipoli. Later in the day, current and former servicemen and women meet to take part in marches.

Lest we forget,

Anne   

An Australian despatch rider galloping along the coast road at Anzac Cove to avoid sniping. He is passing a war cemetery

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