On the 25th April, 105 years ago, Australians

landed at Gallipoli fighting a battle against

Turkish soldiers who were fighting on their

own land. This was later known as ANZAC day.

So, why were we fighting against the Turkish

troops?

Well, in August 1914, when World War 1 broke out, we, being part of the British

Empire, felt obliged to support the mother country, Great Britain, in its war against

Germany and its allies, and Turkey was one of Germany’s allies

Many Australians from all walks of life

immediately joined up to fight as the

government asked them to.

This war had started in 1914 but by the end of that year

no real gains had been made so it was decided that that

there should be an attack on Turkey in the area around

the Dardanelles. So,the Australian and New Zealand Army

Corps, which became known as the Anzacs, along with

the other allied troops, were sent to fight there.

So, on Sunday the 25th of April 1915 ----- 105 years ago ----- the

Anzacs sprang ashore at what was later to be called Anzac Cove.

However, their task was far from easy. They had landed at the bottom

of steep cliffs and in full sight of the Turkish troops stationed at the

top, who were determined to protect their own land.

Life was terrible. Nowhere was safe The

conditions both sides suffered were terrible -

they had to dig into the ground, live and fight in

frightening and horrific conditions.

Then when it became obvious that the Allies were being

defeated it was decided to evacuate them – which happened

in December 1915 after 8 and a 1/2 months of fighting. 8,000

Australian s died at Gallipoli and the Turks lost 86,000!!

Life had been terrible for

both sides , but

interestingly there was

respect for each other. See

here an Aussie soldier

carrying a Turkish soldier

to safety.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk- first President of the Turkish Republic, was a

commander in the Turkish army during the Gallipoli campaign. He showed

this attitude of respect as can be seen in the next slide:-

This statement,

now on a

monument

erected by the

Turks in

Gallipoli,

shows the

generous spirit

of the Turkish

people.

So, Gallipoli was a defeat,- why then do we honour it so much? Why is it so

important to us? It is because the Anzac soldiers gained a reputation for their

bravery, mateship resourcefulness and their determination to keep going

despite the horrors they faced.

This mateship has become very much

part of Australia’s identity. In this

school we are mates regardless of our

ethnic, religious or cultural

backgrounds- as stated in the song “I

am, you are, we are Australians”

Many of the Aussies who had fought at Gallipoli went on to fight on the

Western front in France and had to face horrific situations there too.

We continue to commemorate the Gallipoli campaign because it reminds

us of the sacrifices made by Australians in this war and it expanded since

then to all Australians, working in the forces to protect us.

8.5 million men of the armed forces of all countries involved in this

war died, 21 million were wounded and over 5 million civilians died.

So all this death and suffering of people from so many countries. Why do

we spend time on this? It is because we need to remember the suffering

of people involved in all wars on all sides, men women and children- and

not forget how horrible war is. You know there hasn’t been one day since

the end of World War 2 in 1945 when there hasn’t been war or fighting in

some part of the world. So, when we commemorate Anzac Day we are not

glorifying war or looking down on past enemies, we are doing quite the

opposite. We are remembering ordinary people who have suffered and are

still suffering due to war- remembering the horrors and waste of war, and

determining it must not happen again -that we must work for a world that

solves its problems peacefully.