[anzac day] gallipoli - april 25th, 1915

Theo Spark made reference to this issue here:

We have a duty as a society to do more for those that have risked their lives for us to see that they have a life after their service.

Steve Green, of Daily Referendum, brought our attention to the injured vets who were heckled at that swimming pool:

One woman was so incensed that the troops were using the pool at Leatherhead Leisure Centre in Surrey that she told them they did not deserve to be there. The swimmer, thought to be in her 30s, is understood to have said: "I pay to come here and swim – you lot don't."

This theme was continued in America when Gloria Steinem who, in a country which has made it safe for her to live, decided to belittle John McCain's war service and the reaction was predictable:

McCain was, in fact, a prisoner of war for around five and a half years, during which time he was tortured repeatedly. Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said with bewilderment, “I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don’t think so.”

Steinem defenders say "read the text of what she actually said". I did. Her focus was not, of course, on the war record - it was just to score points off McCain for Clinton. Yet the way she tried to illustrate McCain's ineptitude for office was to single out a lowly thing in her eyes - a war record. Even Hilary distanced herself from Steinem on this.


Therein lies the malaise - the majority of non-combatants at least appreciate, with a nod, that which the men and women defenders have done but at worst there are the examples we've just seen and it is no longer an isolated phenomenon.

The service people, I believe, don't demand the sort of hero status you see in this Canadian reception above and yet surely they should be accorded that status in society? Surely they should be given the keys of the city and actively assisted by everyone from the government down?

And yet, because of the deep divisions over the subject of war itself [and count me as anti-war] there is a tendency to make this little logical jump to brand the people who actually go off to fight as part of the issue. The issue is who ordered them there - not them themselves.

In Australia, this was brought into sharp focus in Alan Seymour's 1958 play "The One Day of the Year":

In Australia, his best-known play is The One Day of the Year, which dramatised the growing social divide in Australia and the questioning of old values. In the play, ANZAC Day is critiqued by the central character, Hughie, as a day of drunken debauchery by returned soldiers and as a day when questions of what it means to be loyal to a Nation or Empire must be raised.

These days, the Australian young seem to be far more at one with the efforts of the service personnel and many make the pilgrimage to Gallipoli, where the tradition started. Though the ecological aspects of these pilgrimages are being questioned, the way the young have followed this remembrance is surely positive.

Nothing quite brings Australia together as a nation like this day, crossing all age, gender, religious and political divisions. How many commemoration services actually have the former enemy marching alongside you? As the British Daily Telegraph puts it:

In 2008, Anzac Day in Turkey has no parallel anywhere in the world. It defies all the traditional ingrained hatreds between the invader and the defender, the victor and the defeated. Anzac Day is a symbol of peace, forgiveness and understanding.

So here's a summary of the story itself:

On 4th August, 1914, England declared war on Germany and Winston Churchill wanted a strong demonstration of the Navy in the Dardanelles, with Constantinople as a final objective.

About 2 in the morning of 25th April, British Admiral Hamilton ordered the 1500 Australians of the covering force to the shore.

What was strange was that the maps issued to the officers bore no resemblance at all to the surroundings.

Instead of a flat beach and gently undulating terrain beyond, they were facing shrub-covered rocky formations and cliffs that nearly ran into the sea.

Before long, it became clear what had happened : the force had not been put ashore as intended, but in a small bay 2 km further north.

No matter where they had exactly landed, the Australian troops of the covering force did not hesitate to carry out their orders.

They immediately threw off their packs and stormed the heights closest to the beach.

Because the boats had landed in complete disorder, the beach itself was soon congested with new troops being landed without knowing in which direction to advance. After a couple of hours, chaos was complete.

They sent a message to Hamilton, who only said, “You have got through the difficult business, now you have only to dig, dig, dig, until you are safe."

According to some sources, this text gave the nickname "diggers", which the Australians would keep for the rest of their history.

Turkish sniping and bombs kept raining down on the Anzacs, who could only hope to throw the bombs back before they exploded.

The sea was literally red with blood.

For days after the landing, dead bodies would be washed ashore. One third of the troops died for 500 metres result.

As spring came to an end, a plague of flies fed on the unburied corpses, then dysentery and the water supply became a major problem.

The hostility towards their enemies gradually dropped and the Turks were considered as victims of the same deplorable situation. More than once 'presents' were thrown across no-man's land or messages exchanged.

Then the wind started blowing from the north, which led to sleet and snow. The temperature dropped far below zero and the troops had no winter equipment, which had arrived on the peninsula but had then been shipped back for some reason.

Soldiers froze to death while on guard duty, and the transport of supplies broke up completely. Fighting had become completely impossible. Turkish soldiers refused to advance against the enemy.

During the second week of December, the first phase of the evacuation was started.

Every night, numbers of small vessels came to Anzac Cove to pick up the sick and wounded first, then the prisoners of war and finally the soldiers.

The Gallipoli campaign had been a fiasco and it was one of many reasons the army became known as "lions led by donkeys".

The question of glorifying war, brought out in "The One Day of the Year", is valid. Yet no one who had been there would glorify war in any way and this helps explain the reticence of many real Anzacs, the oldest vets, to keep hashing over the details of the horror.

Redgum's song Only 19, puts it succinctly in the context of Vietnam. The images in this clip are quite moving:

One commenter on this YouTube said:

I can't bear this song without shedding tears. My brother, only 27 went over to Timor last year for war. He was meant to return in October 07. He didn't return untill April 08. He has done his share. 03 he crashed in a blackhawk. He only received minor injuries while he watched his mates die. Anyone in the army, force or even a reserve, good on you. You deserve every praise. We Love you.

Nice little non-debate going on with an Anonymous over at Theo's. Let's all remember such men and women on this day.