ANZAC Day 100th Anniversay

[smoooth2]

25th April 1915

Very special day today for all Aussies and Kiwis .... ANZAC Day

100th anniversary of huge army campaign landings at Gallipoli in Turkey during WW1 to fight the Turks.

Was the first time Australian & New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) combined to fight for "the mother country"

British, French & Indian troops were also heavily involved.

Allied and Turkish death numbers were appalling. It was the beginning of trench warfare and walking across no-mans land into machine guns.

Regrettably was an incredibly disasterous campaign lasting 8 months. Total overwhelming victory for the Turks defending their homeland.

Christmas 1915 ... Allied troops were evacuated from Gallipoli back to Egypt ... for R+R. Most thought they were coming home. Instead they all got shipped off to France for another 3 years of slaughter on the Western Front.

Anyway ... ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand has become a day of huge national pride and rememberence for ALL of our fallen servicemen & women in all conflicts

100 years on ..... Lest We Forget

On a more personal note ... my Grandfather landed on Gallipoli 26th April 1915. Survived the entire campaign as an artillery guy, then got shipped to France. Got gassed, wounded etc etc several times. Was the only survivor of an artillery ammunition convey (horsedrawn) that got shelled. My prize personal possessions are his tin identity disc (now called dogtags), and his handwritten daily diary that he miraculously kept for 5 years that he was away. Pretty grisely reading, but hard to put aside.

[NongKi bloke]

I spent this morning at the dawn service at Hell Fire pass near Kanchanaburi. Very moving.

[dimple joe]

Mustafa Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey speaking in 1934 at a Galipoli commemoration said-

“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives … You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours … You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”

 

[mike60]

Very moving topic

I had the honour many years back to visit the memorial at Gallipoli.
It is a magnificent structure and is well kept by the Turkish army
May all the ANZAC soldiers RIP

A former Royal

[smoooth2]

I spent this morning at the dawn service at Hell Fire pass near Kanchanaburi. Very moving.

NongKi bloke ... I imagine there would have been a big crowd. Were you able to get down to the cutting for the Dawn Service, or did they have an "overflow" service up near the Museum somewhere ?

Must have been very special, and quite emotional I expect. Probably a lot of Aussie, Kiwi, Dutch & Brit flags waving also ?

I hope the Japanese tourists had the good sense, and decency, to visit somewhere else for the day.

[NongKi bloke]

It was apparently a record crowd because of 100 yrs Galipolli. We got to the bottom of the cutting because we got there at 3.30. There was a big crowd not allowed to go down because full but there was a big screen up top. Its a very eerie experience, first time for me.