ANZAC Day

April 25
Sydney
Partly Sunny and Mild, Windy

(NOTE: This didn't upload properly the first time around, fo that's why it's out of order. Sorry about that!)

ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance and commemoration for those who have served in the defense of Australia in some way.

The date of April 25 commemorates the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) troops joining the Battle of Gallipoli against the Turks. The Gallipoli Peninsula is a mountainous region alongside the Dardanelles, the strait leading to Constantinopole. Control of Gallipoli was therefore critical for the British; with the strait open to the British, an attack on the Turkish avenue into Europe was possible. Of course, the Turks had gun emplacements on the hilltops, heavily protected with machine gunners dug in all along the hillside. The ANZAC objective was to assist in capturing the hilltops by fighting their way up the hill, trench by trench. That they threw themselves into this with grit, tenacity, and pluck, earned the ANZAC soldier a reputation that has become legendary.

Of course, this came at a heavy cost to the ANZAC troops, with thousands dying in the battle. Moreover, the British commanders had their priorities backwards in the battle, worrying about freeing the channel for the British ships instead of concentrating on the hills on Gallipoli first. Without support, the ANZAC troops had no hope of taking the summit; the greatest success was getting so many ANZAC troops down from the hillside that had pretty much turned into a trap for them.

ANZAC Day became a day of remembrance in 1916, though it caught on as a national holiday only slowly. But by the late 1940s, the holiday began to look much like it does today. The events of the day include: 1) a pre-dawn 'stand to' attended by veterans and immediate family; 2) a parade march through the city; and 3) a commemorative service following the parade. Some Australian cities will vary this a bit, but the format is pretty much followed in Sydney. And of course, the holiday has grown in meaning so that it now is a day of remembrance and commemoration for all veterans in any military action in which Australia has taken part.

The pre-dawn service is considered private, so I skipped that one and advised the students too do the same. (I certainly could have gone, as I am still jet-lagged enough so that I am awake and ready to start my day at 3:30am! I'm sure the same is true for many of the students.) I put the 9am parade into the student's planner, though I told them that they did not need to attend the parade as a group.

I wandered around Hyde Park for awhile before the parade began. The area to the north was serving as a staging area for the marchers, and there were some vendors selling tea and sausages. A group of youngsters sold me a sprig of rosemary, an herb worn on this day in remembrance.

I watched the parade from a very nice vantage point along George Street, across from the Queen Victoria Building. I hope I got some nice photos of the event; I'll post them if they turn out. Standing next to me was a man from California visiting Sydney for the third time, so we chatted a bit during the parade. I was eventually muscled out of my spot by a family that was rather rude, but I was pretty much ready to go anyway, as the parade had already gone on for two hours.

The format of the parade is pretty straightforward: lots of marching bands, lots of bagpipes and drums, and lots of marching veterans. No floats. Veterans and sometimes their families march behind the banners for their battalion, regiment, or corps. Almost every type of service is honored. Of course infantry, light horse, armored divisions, naval, and air force were present. Signal corps, intelligence units, medics and nurses had their banners. Even ones that I would not have thought of were there: the Dental Service had a banner, as did the Entertainment Corps and the Carrier Pigeons. Even the War Correspondents had a banner. There was a unit of French and Polish veterans, and US veterans of the small ships corps had their place as well. No wonder it lasted so long.

The bagpipes and marching bands seemed to play either Scotland the Brave or Waltzing Matilda. I must have heard both of those half a dozen times each. But I love bagpipe music, so I enjoyed it.

The commemorative service began in the early afternoon, and lasted about an hour. It featured a choir and another bagpipe and drum corps. The speeches were not very memorable -- but I don't suppose the speeches at these services ever are. It was moving in the same way that a Memorial Day service is. During both the parade and the service, I was struck by the personal connections between the participants and the bystanders; a portion of the crowd would start cheering for a particular veteran who was also a great-grandfather; or a mother would take a picture of her son as he marched with the band.

I spent the rest of the day running a few errands regarding the course and photographing ibises in the park. Tomorrow is a free day, so I'll use the time to get my photos developed and do laundry. I also hope to wander about the Botanical Garden and maybe get a picture or two of a flying fox.