ANZAC Day April 25th

A couple of points that have come to mind since I posted this; as Mike
mentioned there is an Australian movie "Gallipoli" starring Mel Gibson
that tells the story fairly well.



The second rather amazing thing is our Nation was onl 14 years old at the
outbreak of world war 1, white settlement took place 112 short years
before that, so our troops really were babes led to slaughter.

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. ANZAC
stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those
forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in
that name endures to this day.

. In 1915 Australian and
New Zealand soldiers formed
part of the allied expedition
that set out to capture the
Gallipoli peninsula to open the
way to the Black Sea for the
allied Navy the plan was to
capture Constantinople
(now Istanbul), capital of the
Ottoman Empire and an ally
of Germany. They landed at
Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting
fierce resistance from the
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 were killed.

The Battle of Lone Pine.

The name Lone Pine originates from a single pine tree which grew
on the site of the battle. Before it was destroyed early in the battle,
the soldiers called it Lonesome Pine after a popular song of that
era called "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine". However the seeds
from the original tree were collected and taken back to Australia
to grow. When this symbolic plant was mature enough, it was
transported back to the site of the Lone Pine Battle where it now
stands as a major feature of the Lone Pine Memorial.

The Australians attacked the
Turkish trenches at Lone Pine
in the late afternoon of
6 August 1915. They had a rare
victory at Lone Pine, but at
great cost. After four days, in
an area the size of two football
fields, 2000 Australians and
7000 Turks lay dead.


Dawn Service At Lone Pine
Memorial at Gallipoli, there is an annual pilgramage to commemotate
Anzac Day where it all began..