ANZAC Remembrance Day, 2009.

Today is an important day, important in remembering fallen ANZACS, Australian New Zealand Army Corp soldiers. On this day in Australia and New Zealand we get to honour soldiers who fought during the First World War and in today's conficlts.


Back in 1915 the ANZACS made their trip across the ocean to Turkey. Soldiers also travelled to France and Belgium.

On April 25th 1915 The ANZACS landed at Gallipoli and suffered massive casualties. I have read diary extracts from soldiers who landed and what they described is mind numbing. Australia lost over 8,000 soldiers and New Zealand 2,700 soldiers during the fighting.

This is what happened one day at Gallipoli.

On 18 May approximately 42,000 Turkish soldiers were massed as they wanted to push the ANZACS back to the beach. But aircraft of the Royal Naval Air Service, flying as observation planes for Royal Navy warships, spotted them. At 3.00 am on 19 May, well before dawn, the Anzac trenches well fully manned and awake all along the line in the expectation of a Turkish attack.

Shortly after 3.00 am, Turkish soldiers were observed in the clear night. The Australians began firing and by mid-morning had poured 948,000 rifle and machine gun bullets into waves of attacking Turks

Approximately 3,000 Turks had been killed and another 7,000 wounded. The Anzacs, by comparison, lost 160 killed and 468 wounded.

And then this happened.

Within days of the attack the air was heavy with the smell of rotting corpses. A truce was arranged between 7.00 am and 4.30 pm on 24 May to allow both sides to bury their dead.


This is the diary extract of a soldier.

I will never forget the armistice;

It was a day of hard, smelly, nauseating work. Those of us assigned to pick up the bodies had to pair up and bring the bodies in on stretchers to where the graves were being dug. First we had to cut the cord of the identification disks and record the details on a sheet of paper we were provided with.

Some of the bodies were rotted so much that there were only bones and part of the uniform left. The bodies of the men killed on the nineteenth (it had now been five days) were awful. Most of us had to work in short spells as we felt very ill. We found a few of our men who had been killed in the first days of the landing.

This whole operation was a strange experience – here we were, mixing with our enemies, exchanging smiles and cigarettes, when the day before we had been tearing each other to pieces.

Apart from the noise of the grave-diggers and the padres reading the burial services, it was mostly silent. There was no shelling, no rifle-fire. Everything seemed so quiet and strange. Away to our left there were high table-topped hills and on these were what looked like thousands of people.

Turkish civilians had taken advantage of the cease-fire to come out and watch the burial. Although they were several miles from us they could be clearly seen.

The burial job was over by mid-afternoon and we retired back to our trenches. Then, sometime between four and five o’clock, rifle-fire started again and then the shelling. We were at it once more.

Albert Facey.

I can remember buying red Poppies for remembrance from when I was a little boy; I never really knew the significance until much later in life.

To the fallen and returned soldiers, I thank you.

The Ode.

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.

Brunty