We wished to honour our fallen servicemen and women on the 100th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli so arranged our own little ANZAC Day dawn service on the dock followed by a gunfire brunch at a local restaurant, El Harato. Tammy did a great job pulling it all together with an order of service, music and gunfire breakfast. The rain stopped just as we arrived on the dock at 0525 and started again as Mick read the final prayer.
Welcome by Mick
ANZAC Day commemorates the landings at
ANZAC Cove in Gallipoli that occurred a century ago, at this time of the
day. The Allies - including
Australians, New Zealanders, British, French, New Foundlanders and Indian, lost
some 50, 000 killed with almost 250,000 casualties. The Turkish forces lost
87,000 killed and sustained similar heavy casualties.
Gallipoli was the first time that Australians and New Zealanders
participated together in a major conflict. The name ANZAC – from the acronym Australian and New Zealand
Army Corps - became universally recognized symbol for the soldiers of both
nations and for those who fought and died during this conflict. It is a significant occasion in both
countries to pause and reflect on all who have served and died in the service
of their nation. To understand what the first ANZAC day was like, we have an
extract from a letter from LT William Britt, Australian Infantry describing the
landing in a letter to his mother.
Reading
1 by Tam Lowe
Reading 2 by Larry Robbins
LTCOL William G Malone, Commanding Officer, Wellington Battalion to his wife from Gallipoli, 5 August, 1915
In less than two hours we move off to valley where we will be up all night and tomorrow in readiness for the big attack, which will start from tomorrow night. Everything promises well and victory should be with us. God grant it so and that our casualties will not be too heavy. I expect to go through all right but my dear wife, if anything untoward happens to me there are our dear children to be brought up. You know how I love and have loved, and we have had many years of great happiness together. If an anytime in the past I seemed absorbed by affairs it was that I might make a proper provision for you and the children. That was due from me. I is true that perhaps I over did it somewhat I believe now that I did, but did not see it at the time. I regret very much now that is was o and that I lost more happiness that I need to have done. You must forgive me also for anything unkindly or hard that I may have said or done in the past. I have made a will and it is in the office in Stratford, I think it was justly drawn. Anyway, I intended it so to be. I hope and think that the provision for you and the children will keep you and them in ease and comfort. I know that you will never forget me or let the dear children do so. I am prepared for death and hope that God will have forgiven me all my sins. My desire for life – so that I may see and be with you again, - could not be greater but I have only done what every man was bound to do in our country’s need. It has been a great consolation to me that you approved my action. The sacrifice was really yours. May you be consoled by our dear Lord.
Your loving husband,
William G Malone.
LTCOL Malone was killed in action three days later on 8 August, 1915.
Address by Tammy
The landings a Gallipoli were a military catastrophe for the ANZACs. The campaign was a litany of errors from the word go: they landed in the wrong spot, Turkish troops were already entrenched and waiting for them in superior positions and they were cut down in their hundreds before they even reached the shore. And yet we commemorate this failure annually. What is it that we are commemorating?
When I was child, I went and watched my
Grandfather, a World War II veteran, march every year through the streets of
Sydney. We clapped and cheered the
original ANZACs as they rode in vintage Jeeps, looking frail and ancient to my
young eyes. I sat with him and my Grandmother through the memorial services. And we took the time to remember those
that did not return. Those
soldiers, sailors and airmen that fought for freedom – to thank them for their
sacrifice and to promise them that we would not take it for granted.
As time went on, the World War I diggers,
became fewer and fewer – but other conflicts brought more veterans to the
marches – those from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and more recently, the Gulf
War, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as a host of smaller but no less significant,
conflicts. ANZAC day marches were predicted to wane as the original veterans
grew older and eventually passed.
However, this has not been the case at all. In fact, there was a ballot in Australia for places at the
ANZAC Cove service today in Gallipoli – to cope with the influx of expected
visitors in such a small strip of land.
Gallipoli has almost become a place of pilgrimage for young Aussies and
Kiwis. They want to see that it is real.
It is so steeped in our national mythology that young people want to
know it’s real and see it for themselves. What is it that they are seeking?
I believe they are seeking the real stories
behind Gallipoli. Those individuals lives’ are inspiring: men who faced certain
death with courage and fortitude. They thought beyond themselves. They laid
down their lives for each other. And they were ingenuous – as evidenced by the
cleverly planned and well executed withdrawal 9 months later. And they faced all of this and more with
a dry sense of humour – a typically ANZAC trait.
Jesus said in John 15:13
"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends"
And there were so many stories at Gallipoli
in both nations, of men who did just that. And that is what the young people seek. That love. People who would sacrifice themselves for their mates. And
that is what we commemorate on ANZAC Day – those that gave their today, for our
tomorrow. So despite the fact that Gallipoli was an unmitigated military
disaster, it left both nations with a united legacy, that we will never
forget.
Prayer
of St Francis – A Soldier’s Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, let me sow pardon;
Where there is doubt, let me sow faith;
Where there is despair, let me give hope;
Where there is darkness, let me give light;
Where there is sadness, let me give joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to
be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
The Ode by Harry Dunne
They shall grow not old, as we that 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 Lord's Prayer
The Australian National Anthem - Advance Australia Fair
The New Zealand National Anthem - God Defend New Zealand
In ocean wastes no poppies blow,
No crosses stand in ordered row,
There young hearts sleep… beneath the wave…
The spirited, the good, the brave…
But stars a constant vigil keep,
For them who lie beneath the deep.
'Tis true you cannot kneel in prayer
On certain spot and think. "He's there."
But you can to the ocean go…
See whitecaps marching row on row;
Know one for him will always ride…
In and out… with every tide.
And when your span of life is passed,
He'll meet you at the Captain's Mast.
And they who mourn on distant shore
For sailors who'll come home no more,
Can dry their tears and pray for these
Who rest beneath the heaving seas…
For stars that shine and winds that blow
And whitecaps marching row on row.
And they can never lonely be
For when they lived… they chose the sea.
It was quite a bit of work to pull it all together but totally worth it knowing that all over the world wherever Kiwis and Aussies were they would be gathered together remembering those first brave ANZACs. The thought of rowing one of our 50 man lifeboats 600 yards to shore at dawn under murderous machine gunfire from entrenched positions on the cliffs is absolutely terrifying, and very sobering as you look up to the open lifeboat in the dawn light and imagine it.
Plenty of others have commented that they really wanted to do something for ANZAC Day but were not sure how to go about it, so we are glad we made the effort.
Photo credits - Dave Forrest
Thank you for showing me what a daughter is, irrespective of age. For becoming part of our family, even to the the point of getting vegetables on the boys plates when I wasn't there. Thank you for sharing your heart and dreams with me - for allowing us to be in your story.
To my "youngest" sister:
Thank you for kicking my butt when I needed it, for challenging me on a daily basis but above all for listening, over and over again, without judgement. Thanks for being my organisational translator and for an opportunity to do something different. For cups of tea and movie night. And occasional pommes frites. I am more than appreciative. Most of all, thank you that you are coming back to visit!
