One hundred years ago, to the day, as dawn broke, men of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp nervously, excitedly, bravely, boarded small boats, to be rowed ashore on a beach in modern day Turkey.
A place called Gallipoli, and a beach on what would, in time, be renamed Anzac Cove.
These men couldn't know what awaited them. In the fullness of time and with the benefit of history, we now know that it would be a bloody and awful battle that lasted many months and cost thousands of lives, on both sides.
It was to become, almost immediately, the focal point of our remembrance of those who served, suffered and died for Australia and her allies. The landing was first commemorated a year later, then annually, until it soon became officially proclaimed a day of remembrance.
At ANZAC Cove there is a memorial featuring the words of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the commander of the forces that fought the ANZACs at Gallipoli, and the man who would be the founding President of Turkey. The memorial reads:
Heroes who 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 Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away 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.
ANZAC Day is a time to remember not only those brave men who landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, but the veterans of all wars.
We remember those who paid the supreme sacrifice, laying down their lives in the service of our country.
We remember those who were injured, and thereafter carried (and still carry) physical reminders of that service.
We remember those who returned with scars that are unseen — the mental and emotional trauma that is just as real as if they'd suffered physical disablement.
We gather at dawn, and throughout the day at services and marches to remember those who fought and those who fell. We pay our respects and thank them for their service.
As the dawn breaks this morning, Australians and New Zealanders will gather to pay our respects at services around our countries. The ANZAC Dedication will be read:
At this hour, on this day, ANZAC received its baptism of fire and became one of the immortal names in history. We who are gathered here think of the comrades who went out with us to battle but did not return. We feel them still near us in spirit. We wish to be worthy of their great sacrifice. Let us, therefore, once again dedicate ourselves to the service of the ideals for which they died. As the dawn is even now about to pierce the night, so let their memory inspire us to work for the coming of the new light into the dark places of the world.
The Ode of Remembrance has its origins in Binyan's poem, For the Fallen. Its third and fourth verses read:
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow,
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are 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.
LEST WE FORGET
