ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps)

Anzac Day, 25th April,  marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.  Our soldiers were known as the Anzacs. Today Anzac Day is a day to remember and honour all those who died and served in military operations for their country.


I am Australian because of these brave men and women.


Australian Heros War Memorial Anthem

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.

The Ode comes from For the Fallen, a poem by the English poet and writer Laurence Binyon and was published 1914. The verse in bold, which became the Ode for the Returned and Services League, has been used in association with commemoration services in Australia since 1921.

At the going down of the sun...

I crouched in a shallow trench on that hell of exposed beaches... steeply rising foothills bare of cover... a landscape pockmarked with war’s inevitable litter... piles of stores... equipment... ammunition... and the weird contortions of death sculptured in Australian flesh... I saw the going down of the sun on that first ANZAC Day... the chaotic maelstrom of Australia’s blooding.I fought in the frozen mud of the Somme... in a blazing destroyer exploding on the North Sea... I fought on the perimeter at Tobruk... crashed in the flaming wreckage of a fighter in New Guinea... lived with the damned in the place cursed with the name Changi.I was your mate... the kid across the street... the med. student at graduation... the mechanic in the corner garage... the baker who brought you bread... the gardener who cut your lawn... the clerk who sent your phone bill.I was an Army private... a Naval commander... an Air Force bombardier.  no man knows me... no name marks my tomb, for I am every Australian serviceman... I am the Unknown Soldier.I died for a cause I held just in the service of my land... that you and yours may say in freedom... I am proud to be an Australian.

Anon 

The following words from Kemal Ataturk, the Commander of the Turkish 19th Division during the Gallipoli Campaign and the first President of the Turkish Republic from 1924-1938 are forever engraved at Anzac Cove.

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives. You are now living 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. Cheers, Lynda