25 April - ANZAC Commemoration Day

[sullygoarmy]

Just a note of respect to our Austrailan, New Zealand and Turkish allies on this ANZAC Commeration Day. Today marks the anniversary of the start of the Gallipoli invasion in 1915. I was fortunate enough to play the bagpipes at the dawn ceremony here at Fort Leavenworth. Flanders' Fields was read in the drizzle and fog at the Military Cemetary this morning. One of my favorite poems, here it is for the SWJ Community:

In Flanders’ fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead, short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders’ fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe,
To you from failing hands we throw
The Torch: be yours to hold it high!
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders’ fields.

COL John McCrae

A good website below as well for information on ANZAC day:

http://www.anzacday.org.au/education/tff/anzacday.html

[Steve Blair]

Thanks for reminding us of this! It's interesting to note the impact that WW I had on relations between Great Britain and the Commonwealth nations, especially when it came to providing troops for the Empire.

[Menning]

I covered last year's ANZAC Day at Ft. Leavenworth. Unfortunately I was unable to attend this morning. I'm sure the ceremony was very moving as it is every year. I always like to remember our steadfast allies-the Australians and New Zealanders-thank you for your continuing support.


Fort celebrates ANZAC Day

By ANTON MENNING, Times Contributing Writer April 26 2006


The mournful sound of bagpipes and a gray sky greeted those who gathered alone or in small groups. A damp chill forced its way through clothes like a creeping fog. Military and civilian personnel stood in silence, honoring sacrifices made 91 years ago on a distant shore.

The words of Lt. Col. Marcus Fielding, Australian exchange Instructor at the U. S. Army Command and General Staff College, rang true in the still morning air.

"Great events are distinguished by the quality of the human endeavor they call upon, by the examples they create for ordinary men and women and by the legends they inspire. So it is with ANZAC Day," Fielding said.

Approximately 60 people gathered at dawn on Tuesday for a commemoration of ANZAC (Australian New Zealand Army Corps) Day at Fort Leavenworth’s National Military Cemetery.

The ceremony is a tradition at the fort. Across many time zones and in many lands, Australians and New Zealanders gather every year at dawn to pay their respects to the wartime sacrifices of their countrymen.

Ninety-one years ago, in April 1915, ANZAC forces stormed ashore at the Dardanelles to invade Gallipoli, a peninsula situated between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara that was the gateway to the Black Sea.

The invasion, designed to alleviate pressure on the Western Front and open the Black Sea to Allied navies by seizing the Turkish Straits and Constantinople, was conceived by Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the British Admiralty. His intent was to open a third front that would keep Allied soldiers from "chewing barbed-wire" on the Western Front, while knocking Turkey out of the war.

When World War I broke out in 1914, Australia had attained commonwealth status within the British Empire only 14 years previously, and New Zealand only seven.

Their troops, the all-volunteer ANZACS, were eager to display their fighting qualities to the world and earn recognition among the allied combatants.

Their landings at Gallipoli, the first major amphibious assault in modern military history, encountered fierce Turkish resistance. Despite initial and subsequent ANZAC heroics, their bold gambit soon assumed the guise of the same Western Front-style trench warfare that Churchill was so eager to avoid.

Allied troops at Gallipoli suffered more than 200,000 casualties in eight months, while the Turks lost more than a quarter million. More than 7,000 Australians and 2,400 New Zealanders died in the campaign.

"These small white headstones around us this morning represent their eyes watching over their legacy and our inheritance," Fielding said.

ANZAC Day remains important to Turkish history as well.

Mustafa Kemal, commander of Turkish defenses, later known as Ataturk or Father of the Turks, demonstrated outstanding leadership abilities in countering the invasion. He subsequently transformed Turkey into a modern secular republic, serving as its first president from 1923 until his death in 1938. He dedicated the first ANZAC memorial in 1934.

Lt. Col. Adim Arslan, Turkish Liaison Officer to the Combined Arms Center, quoted from Kemal’s 1934 memorial dedication speech on Tuesday during the ceremony.

"You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away 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," Arslan said.

Although ANZAC Day commemorates those who fell during the Gallipoli campaign, it has come to symbolize much more. The closest thing to ANZAC Day in American culture is Memorial Day. In this spirit, Lt. Col. Fielding addressed American attendees.

"Know that just as we have stood beside you in all wars in the past century we stand beside you now with both our hearts and minds," he said.

After the commentary by Fielding and Arslan, Chaplain Owen provided a requiem and closing prayer.

Australian Major Tony Archer, a student at the School of Advanced Military Studies, recited excerpts from "In Flanders Fields," a poem by J. M. McCrae, a Canadian officer during World War I.

Lt. Col. Scott Clingan, Australian Liaison officer to CAC, read "Ode to the Fallen," a poem by Laurence Binyon with members of the audience repeating select lines.

"They shall grow not old

As we who 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."

Binyon’s verses also marked the laying of the Inauguration Stone for the Australian War Memorial in 1929.

Following the poetry recitations, Fielding invited guests to lay wreaths in honor of the fallen. Laurel and rosemary are elements of traditional ANZAC wreaths, with laurel symbolizing honor since Roman times and rosemary, remembrance.

At the conclusion of the ceremony all guests were invited to participate in a gunfire breakfast— coffee with an optional tot of rum.
www.leavenworthtimes.com

[sullygoarmy]

Great Article Menning! I was here at a CGSC student then and was supposed go and play at that ceremony but ended up in the ER with my younger son the night before....stagediving off the couch and busted his lip. Your article captured the feel of the ceremony perfectly!

[JD]

I enjoyed the quote from 'In Flanders Feild' but I have included below the quote, written by Mustafa Kehmal (Ataturk) and used on the memorial at ANZAC cove in Gallipoli. Remember, this is Turk writing about his invaders.

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 lay side by side
Here in this country of ours…
You, the mothers,
Who sent their sons from far away 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.

[Mark O'Neill]

Thanks to those who acknowledged ANZAC Day. It is a big day for us, arguably, our true "National Day".

I caught up with a mate of mine, a visiting USAF Colonel, in Sydney, the day after ANZAC Day. He had witnessed the Sydney March in torrential rain and was literally blown away by the numbers of civilians cheering the Veterans on as they marched.

For those interested in Mil History, the story of the withdrawal from ANZAC is a great study in how to conduct a withdrawal in Contact. Throw in the fact that it was conducted over the shore , and it is quite a remarkable story. I am not 100% sure, but I believe that there might be a case study at Quantico, as it was an Amphib op (no LCACs or Helos!).

Cheers

Mark