Anzac DayCommemoration 2020

Continuing the Mission of the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary

Saturday 25 April

The statement below is engraved on a wall at ANZAC Cove. The words are 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.

“Those heroes who 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 at peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”

The contemplation of young lives cut off in their prime is always a cause for great sadness. Remembering that people were prepared to lay down their lives for something larger than themselves, can temper that sadness a little. Being reminded that human beings can rise above their differences and embrace each other as brothers and sisters gives us hope that such sacrifice and sadness is never the final word.

Kemal Ataturk was able to embrace his former ‘enemies’ as sons of his own country. May we have the largeness of heart to do the same, in our own lives, and in the wider Australian community of 2020. If we can do this, the sacrifice of the ANZACS will never be in vain.

“And they shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

Isaiah 2:4

Gaba Tepe, the spot where Australian soldiers ‘landed’ upon the Gallipoli Peninsula. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

Letter from GallipoliPrivate Harold Gordon Craig described the landing at Gallipoli in a letter to his brother Ken, written from his hospital bed on 18 May 1915. He explained how the troops had been given orders to get their kit ready, with 50 extra rounds of ammunition, taking the weight of their packs to 68kg. They had then marched 19 kilometres to Cairo to catch the train for Alexandria. They boarded ships immediately and sailed for Lemnos where they stayed for two weeks, awaiting the arrival of more troops.

“Well, we received a letter from Lord Kitchener telling us that we were going to do work that no soldiers had ever been asked to do before, and that it would go down in history. He told us that we would have a very hard time, as we would land under fire. Never tumbled that it would be so bad as it was... We had to climb down the ship’s rope ladder into our boat... A tug took us within 100 yards of the beach and we had to row the rest of the way. The shrapnel was bursting all round us, also machine guns, rifle shot... We lost a lot of men before we landed, but our boat got ashore safely…

So we advanced together. We came to a gully and laid there for a rest and then word came to go up to the firing line at once... The country was so rough and scrubby that you couldn’t see where you were going and the shrapnel was bursting all round us and the bullets were so thick that we thought they were bees buzzing about us…

Well, after a while, a bullet hit me, and just grazed my wrist enough to burn the skin. I didn’t take any notice of that, but about five minutes after, one got me clean through the arm. I tried to go on but was settled. Just as I got hit, the chap next to me got one also.

I then made my way back to the beach. I reckon I have more luck than Jessie the Elephant, not getting hit on the way back. When I got back,

the doctor dressed my wounds and I went into the hospital boat.

Well Ken, I suppose you are tired of reading this and think I am boasting of ourselves too much, but everybody calls us the ‘White Gurkhas’. A Tommy told me that a Seat of Gold was not good enough for the Australians to sit upon. When you receive this I will be right in it again.”

Harold Gordon Craig was severely wounded by an exploding bomb on 7 August. He died the next day on 8 August, 1915, on a hospital ship, and was buried at sea.

Prayer of RemembranceToday we remember with thanksgiving those who made the supreme sacrifice for us in time of war. We pray that the offering of their lives may not have been in vain. Today we dedicate ourselves to the cause of justice, freedom and peace; and for the wisdom and strength to build a better world.

The OdeThey 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.