Impressions of ANZAC

Anzac

WHAT DOES THIS WORD CONJURE UP IN YOUR MIND?

I guess I could say that I have grown up with the anzac spirit all around me. My gt G/Father [great-grandfather] came out to NZ with the 65th regiment in 1846 he was actually born in the army as his father was serving in Ireland at that time. My G/Father [grandfather] was not a soldier but my father certainly was he went off as a lad to the first world war and performed with distinction being awarded the distinguished service medal. He would never talk about that time in his life, but l remember hearing at one time a story of a child asking “Father what did you do in the great world war? he replied with a choice description starting off with – I learned to hunt for vermin in the lining of my shirt to squeeze them with my finger nails and feel the beggars squirt –

There were other such descriptive things but it gave an insight into the life the soldiers bore in those trenches we read about but – we can’t begin to imagine what life was like out there in that foreign land in those conditions, – there were rats, mud, glorious mud and a can of bullybeef if you were lucky – but – that is where our nations forbears forged connections with the Aussies that eventually saw the name ANZAC emerge.

It was apparently an accident, nobody knows how the name emerged, but most likely a clerk in the forces at Birdwoods hq, thought of it for use on a rubber stamp, ANZAC was convenient shorthand FOR Australia and New Zealand Army corps. Later it was used as their telegraph code. The Anzacs first saw action at Gallipoli. The small cove where they landed was soon dubbed Anzac cove and soon the word was being used to describe any NZer or Aussie.

It reminds us of a very important date in our Nations history. Great suffering was caused to our small country by the loss of so many of our young men,

But – the battles that ensued showcased attitudes and bravery, tenacity, ingenuity, loyalty to King and Comrades that helped NZ define itself as a nation even though it fought unquestioningly on the other side of the world in the name of the British Empire. NZ earned a greater confidence in its distinct identity, and a greater pride in the international contribution it could make. The mutual respect earned during the fighting formed the basis of the close ties with AUSTRALIA THAT ARE STILL IN PLACE TODAY.

ANZAC DAY AS WE KNOW IT, BEGAN TO TAKE SHAPE ALMOST AS SOON AS NEWS REACHED NZ OF THE LANDING OF SOLDIERS ON THE GALLIPOLI PENINSULA ON 25TH APRIL WITHIN A FEW YEARS CORE ELEMENTS OF THE DAY WERE SET AND THE ANZAC STORY AND SACREDNESS OF THE COMMEMORATION ENSHRINED,.

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