Anzac Day - Lest we forget


Today we celebrate Anzac Day. Thousands of people gathered at a dawn service to commemorate those who have died in the battle in Gallipoli. I admit I don't know much about what happened in Gallipoli 93 years ago. To me, it is just another public holiday and Anzac biscuits. But watching the dawn service in Gallipoli on TV now makes me curious of what actually happened on that day, and what made it such an auspicious day for the thousands who gathered in the dawn of this day, standing in the cold, honoring men who have fought and died in the battle. Here in Perth, 40,000 gathered at Kings Park for the dawn service. There was also a parade in the city afterwards.

So what actually happened in Gallipoli in 1915? And here is what I found out from Wikipedia:

The Battle of Gallipoli took place at Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey from 25 April 1915 to 9 January 1916, during the First World War. In early 1915 Russia was fighting a multi front war against Germany, Austria/Hungary, and Turkey. While it had a sizable army it struggled to deliver sufficient supplies to the troops. The landings at Gallipoli were an Allied attempt to clear a supply path through the Dardanelles to Russia. This would also assist them by putting pressure on Turkey by threatening Constantinople (now Istanbul). On April 25, 1915, after failed attempts to force a passage through the Dardanelles by naval forces alone, a force of British Empire and French troops landed at multiple places along the peninsula. The battles over the next 8 months saw high casualties on both sides due to the exposed terrain, weather and closeness of the front lines. The invasion forces were successfully blocked by the Turkish troops and the subsequent Allied withdrawal meant the Russians would not be receiving supplies through the Dardanelles.Overall, there were around 140,000 Allied casualties including around 45,000 deaths and 250,000 Turkish casualties including around 85,000 deaths. In Turkey, the battle is perceived as a defining moment in the history of the Turkish people—a final surge in the defense of the motherland as the centuries-old Ottoman Empire was crumbling. The struggle laid the grounds for the Turkish War of Independence and the foundation of the Turkish Republic eight years later under Atatürk, himself a commander at Gallipoli.

In Australia and New Zealand, the campaign was the first major battle undertaken by a joint military formation, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), and is often considered to mark the birth of national consciousness in both of these countries. Anzac Day (April 25) remains the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in Australia and New Zealand, surpassing Armistice Day/Remembrance Day.

And so, Anzac Day is commemorated every year by the countries who have sent and lost their children in the battle in 1915. If you visit Kings Park, you can see the memorial that was built. For many of us, it is just a memorial built to remember those who have fought and died in battle, but for families who have relatives who were lost in the battle, this means a lot to them.

In Malaysia, we commemorate those who died during WWII. The Tugu Negara was built to remember those who died in our country's struggle for freedom, from the Japanese during WWII and later from the British from which we gain our independence.