The one day of the year

Many countries set aside one day each year to honour their soldiers, especially those who died in battle, and Australia is no exception.

On 25 April each year, Australians – as well as New Zealanders – celebrate ANZAC DAY. Together with Christmas Day and Easter, this day is regarded as one of the most important in the national calendar. Unlike, Christmas and Easter which are occasions observed throughout the Christian world, ANZAC Day is unique to Australia and the South Pacific.

The word ANZAC is derived from the term "Australia and New Zealand Army Corps". It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand soldiers during the First World War. When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been united as a Commonwealth for only 13 years; until 1901, it had been a collection of independent states and territories. Originally, ANZAC Day was intended to honour the soldiers who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey. April 25 marks the date of the first landing on the beaches of Turkey in 1915 at the start of what was to become a fierce eight-month long campaign. But now its significance has broadened to commemorate all those who died and served in military operations for their countries.

According to the official history of ANZAC Day posted on the website of the Australian War Memorial:

The Australian and New Zealand forces landed on Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated, after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers had been killed. News of the landing on Gallipoli had made a profound impact on Australians at home, and 25 April soon became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in the war.

Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the Australian and New Zealand actions during the campaign left us all a powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as the "ANZAC legend" became an important part of the identity of both nations, shaping the ways they viewed both their past and their future.

The 25^th April was officially named as ANZAC Day in 1916 and quickly developed into a national day of commemoration for the 60,000 Australian troops that died in that war. Commemorative services are held at dawn throughout the country to mark the time of the landing and where usually the "Ode of Remembrance" authored by Laurence Binyon is read aloud prior to a period of silent observance:

They shall not grow 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.

Usually the words Lest we forget are added at the end of the ode and before the period of silent observance. In many observations a bugler also plays The Last Post.

Binyon (1869–1943) was an English poet and art critic who worked at the British Museum before joining the British Army to fight in WW1. Actually the ode is part of a larger poem written in 1914 and known as For the Fallen. It was written just after the Battle of the Marne to honour the British war dead although nowadays the third and fourth stanzas have become a tribute to all casualties of war regardless of nation. The entire poem is reproduced at the end of this piece.

In Australia and New Zealand, the day is observed in two parts. In the early hours and throughout the morning, the emphasis is on solemnity and reflection, mourning those who have died in war and, these days especially, the futility of war. Shops remain closed and people congregate throughout the country to pay respect not only to those who died but also the veterans and those who continue to wear a military uniform in order to defend us.

In the afternoon the mood changes and from a period of solemn reflection, the focus is on friends, family and the enjoyment of life while we have it.

It is worth remembering that ANZAC Day does not celebrate a military victory since the allied forces were roundly defeated at Gallipoli. Alan Seymor in his 1960 play about Anzac Day "The One Day of the Year" summed up the national psyche in a single line:

They tried and they was beaten. A man's not too bad who'll stand up in the street and remember when he was licked.

In essence, while many other countries celebrate their victories, Australians and New Zealanders are proud to remember the heroism of their soldiers in defeat.

But perhaps, the most moving lines of all are those written not in Australia, New Zealand or even England but rather by the Commander of the Turkish forces, Mustafa Kemal Atatűrk, who later went on to become the first President of Turkey when it became a republic in 1923 and who wrote a tribute to the fallen ANZACs in the following terms:

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying 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 now 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 in peace. After having lost their lives on this land. They have become our sons as well.

For The Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, 
England mourns for her dead across the sea. 
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, 
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal 
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres, 
There is music in the midst of desolation 
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young, 
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. 
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted; 
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: 
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn. 
At the going down of the sun and in the morning 
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; 
They sit no more at familiar tables of home; 
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; 
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound, 
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, 
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known 
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, 
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain; 
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, 
To the end, to the end, they remain.