ANZAC Day. For any Australian it conjures up images of mud-stained diggers, slouch hats and Gallipoli, but it is so much more than those fragmented images. I'm not sure that there are any words or images which can truly do justice to what this day means not only to our country as a whole but to every single individual citizen who stands shoulder to shoulder with their fellow man to remember the times of hardship that gave us the freedoms we now enjoy.
ANZAC Day is celebrated on April 25th, the anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli in 1915.
Nearly 9,000 Australians and nearly 3,000 New Zealanders lost their lives in the campaign that lasted until 9th January, 1916.
A further 24,000 combined ANZAC troops were injured.
In population of approximately only 6,000,000 people in both Australia and New Zealand, 36,000 casualties of war is a significant number in a campaign that lasted less than a year.
In total over 60,000 Australian troops lost their lives during World War I.
Nearly 40,000 were lost in World War II.
Since then a further 2,000 troops have given their lives.
ANZAC Day commemorates not only those who died during that fateful campaign in Gallipoli. It commemorates all casualties of war. It commemorates all who have served; it commemorates all who currently serve; and it commemorates all who will serve.
"This is not a day of celebration but of national memory. It is a day when we learn, and learn again, of the horror of purposeless war. It is a day for looking after your mates, cherishing your home, your neighbourhood and family ... It's a day for realising how rare this wonderful country of ours is and how precious it is." Bob Carr, Minister for Foreign Affairs (2012 - date)
Australia has, time and time again, stood taller than statistics say it should have been able to. It has sacrificed more than it should ever have to. More families have lost sons and daughters than should need to. More brave soldiers have returned broken by things they should never have to see or experience.
The liberties we enjoy, the freedoms we all too often take for granted, are gifted us by the monumental sacrifices of those who have gone before us. Troops far outnumbered, holding the line. Fighter pilots reaching their targets against tremendous odds. Naval commanders outmanoeuvring far superior fleets. Today we thank those mates and neighbours who braved the elements, those family and strangers who were courageous under fire; those leaders who made those impossible decisions that none of us should ever have to make.
"The ANZAC spirit runs through todays Australians. We see it, of course, in our forces. But we also see it, every day, in our rural, remote and urban communities. Australians are coming together to mark ANZAC Day, to honour the loss of precious life, to ponder the gift of service." Quentin Bryce, Governor-General of Australia (2008 - date)
The ANZAC spirit is an oft talked about feature of what it means to be Australian. it encompasses the battle-worthy qualities of endurance and courage as well as those qualities needed in order to survive not just physically but mentally, including ingenuity, good humour, larrikinism, and mateship. These qualities are not reserved for that minority who take up arms in order that the majority need not. These qualities are within every single Australian.
Every day, Australians band together to help those who are less fortunate, those who have experienced hardship, those who are struggling for whatever reason. Every day, we see those efforts and rarely are they rewarded but none are done for reward, or even recognition. Those efforts are made because it is what is right. It is what should be done. It is what needs to be done.
As I have written this piece, I have struggled with what words to use, what images to conjure. There are many traditional images I have used throughout this post - the rising sun, red poppies, the war memorial, the Australian flag, the grave of the unknown soldier - but perhaps the most powerful image I could ever leave you with is not something I can see. It is that which your own mind brings forward. It is that which is in your heart and in your soul. It is that which is stronger than any picture on any screen, and more relevant and more personal than any blog entry I could write.
I have shed more than a few tears as the words have flown but more tears will fall as I write the closing lines. It is the Ode of Remembrance, taken from Laurence Binyon's poem, "For the Fallen".
- 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.
