ANZAC Day

Lest We Forget.  The 25th of April is the day when Australians remember the sacrifice of all those who have died in war.   It takes a special person to selflessly serve their country, and secure the freedoms of a democracy, leaving homes and families for long periods and in some cases never returning.   Many have been killed in the prime of their lives, so we can live ours in safety, liberty and autonomy.

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.

ANZAC Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces.  During the First World War they joined an allied operation to capture the Ottoman capital of Constantinople/Istanbul – allied to  Germany – and secure a sea route to Russia.   The ANZACs landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25 April 1915, but met fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders.  The campaign dragged on for eight months, but ultimately failed and the allied forces were evacuated on 9 January 1916, after both sides had suffered heavy casualties –  over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed.

The Rising Sun is the official insignia of the Australian Armed Forces.  The first rising sun badge was designed in 1902 with a crown surrounded by bayonets.  Worn by soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Australian Imperial Force in both World Wars, the badge has become an integral part of the Digger tradition.  The distinctive emblem worn on the upturned side of a slouch hat  illustrates the spirit of the ANZAC  – endurance, courage, ingenuity, larrikinism and mateship.  Laconic, irreverent in the face of authority, and naturally egalitarian, soldiers in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps were disdainful of British class differences.