Anzac Day and the Australian Identity

Anzac Day street march 2013,Sydney, massed pipe bands

Anzac Day held on the 25th April each year - a day of increasing national commemoration of the service of Australians in war - has in many respects become something of a national identity day being imbued so heavily with service, sacrifice, honour, bravery and tumultuous international events such as two world wars. The significance of the 25th April is simply marking the day in 1915 when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps forces landed on the Gallipoli beaches in Turkey as part of the ill-fated Dardenelles campaign, initiated by the then First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill. The purpose of the expedition and landings was to force the Ottoman Empire, an ally of Imperial Germany out of the First World War. It was an extraordinary failure and the Allied Forces retreated and left the region by 20 December 2015 having lost 53,000 killed and 96,937 wounded. Of these figures Australia's casualties were 8,709 dead and 19,441 wounded whilst New Zealand lost 2,721 killed and 4,752 wounded. There was no lack of bravery on the battlefield and from this event the Anzac legend has been crafted. However it was a defeat and the Australian forces on the Western Front in contrast performed just as bravely but with greater success and contributed to the victory and the end of World War 1. It remains a somewhat perverse practice to have this focus on the Gallipoli landings rather than the Australian successes on the European battlefields.

As a sombre reality the first Anzac Day was held in 1916 with the objective of raising funds to support wounded soldiers returning from the frontlines. With the creation of the Department of Veterans' Affairs and special pension and health schemes for servicemen and women in later years this activity was no longer required so Anzac Day evolved into a form of memorial day covering all wars. With the First World War veterans now all gone, the Second World War and Korean War veterans dwindling and much smaller numbers of service personnel from later conflicts, it may be that the future of this day will become more of an Armed Services Memorial Day.