Hi everyone
Next Thursday is Anzac Day. Photo Continental will be
closed for the public holiday so we can remember and commemorate the day with our families. And for those with ancestors who served, and you wish to honor their memory in a scrapbook page, don't forget to look at the new range from Kaisercraft called Remember Me as shown in an earlier blog. Now here are a few facts about this special day.
What is ANZAC Day?
ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia's most important
national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military
action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First
World War.
What does ANZAC stand for?
ANZAC
stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those
forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they took in that
name endures to this day.
Why is this day special to Australians?
When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a federal
commonwealth for only 13 years. The new national government was eager
to establish its reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915
Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied
expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in order to
open the Dardanelles to the allied navies. The ultimate objective was
to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey), the capital of the
Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany.
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 Flanders poppy has long been a part of Remembrance Day, the
ritual that marks the Armistice of 11 November 1918, and is also
increasingly being used as part of
ANZAC Day
observances. During the First World War, red poppies were among the
first plants to spring up in the devastated battlefields of northern
France and Belgium. In soldiers' folklore, the vivid red of the poppy
came from the blood of their comrades soaking the ground. The sight of
poppies on the battlefield at Ypres in 1915 moved Lieutenant Colonel
John McCrae to write the poem
In Flanders fields (see
The recitation).
In English literature of the nineteenth century, poppies had symbolised
sleep or a state of oblivion; in the literature of the First World War a
new, more powerful symbolism was attached to the poppy – the sacrifice
of shed blood.
What are ANZAC biscuits?
An
Anzac biscuit is a sweet
biscuit popular in Australia and New Zealand made using
rolled oats, flour,
desiccated coconut, sugar, butter,
golden syrup,
baking soda and boiling water. Anzac biscuits have long been associated with the
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (
ANZAC) established in
World War I.
It has been claimed the biscuits were sent by wives to soldiers
abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept
well during naval transportation.
So from all of us at Photo Continental, join us in remembering the sacrifice of all those individuals both past and present serving who continue to defend our shores and the rights of others to live in peace.
Thank you.
