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Anzac Day - April 25th

© Linda Campbell

Anzac Day, April 25th, is significant for both New Zealand and Australia where, in Australia, at least, it has become far more than a commemoration of war dead. The history of this day is relatively simple but its symbolism is extremely complex.

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. On April 25th 1915, ANZAC troops landed in Gallipoli. This offensive was part of the campaign against Turkey, planned by the Allies (Britain, France, Italy, Russia, USA after 1917, and Japan) to distract the Central Powers (Germany, Turkey, then known as the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary) from the assault on the Western Front. At that time, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India and South Africa were members of the British Empire and sent troops to support the ‘Mother Country’ in her war efforts.

The Allies decided to attack and take Gallipoli Peninsula on Turkey’s Aegean Coast and then to attack Istanbul (known as Constantinople). On March 18th 1915, a fleet of British and French ships attacked the Turks but were unable neither to clear the sea of mines nor to get close enough to damage the Turkish guns and forts. Within eight hours, 700 men were dead and the naval offensive was called off.

It was now necessary to land troops to take out the Turkish defences. The force was commanded by General Ian Hamilton and its main constituents were the British 29th Division, the 1st Royal Naval Division, the French 1st Infantry Division, the 29th Infantry Brigade and the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Very early on the morning of April 25th, the attack began. The landings were spread over about 13 miles of beaches, with some areas being heavily defended resulting in the deaths of thousands of men.

A strong current and a navigational error led to the ANZACs finding themselves, not on a wide plain but, on a small beach hemmed in by hills, heavily defended by the Turkish 19th Division commanded by Mustapha Kemal. This area is now known as Anzac Cove. The first of the ANZACs leapt ashore at 4.29am, in the cold, grey light of dawn. 23,392 Australian and New Zealanders were landed but 5,000 of them were dead within five days. An allied fleet gave supporting shellfire until May 25th when a German U-boat torpedoed one of the ships and they were then withdrawn to safety. Reinforcements arrived but they were unable to gain the heights. Over the eight months of the campaign, the Allied troops never managed to get more than five miles inland on any of the beaches along the Peninsula. The ANZACS, surrounded by hills and sea, fought and died within a ten square kilometre area.

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