LEST WE FORGET
Sami D. - CPRM.RMIA
Assistant Director, Risk & Audit | Certified Practising Risk Manager @ RMIA | Masters Degree, Risk Management
On 28th June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated at Sarajevo, Bosnia. By 28th July, Europe, was plunged into a war of attrition which was to last four years. The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was formed in Egypt in 1915 as part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It operated during the Gallipoli campaign.
In March 1915, an Allied fleet attempted to gain control of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus straits. It was intended that Constantinople would be captured and a defendable supply route opened to Russia. Following the failure of the proposal to force the straits, Allied troops were landed at several places along the east coast of the Gallipoli Peninsular on the 25th April 1915.
Several misadventures and serious errors favoured the Ottoman forces. A lack of co-operation amongst the Allies was not conducive to success and continually placed the expedition at a disadvantage. The Allied forces were able to make little headway into Turkish territory, and what little advance they made was gained at far too great a price and under appalling conditions.
Following month of futile combat, during the night of 7 and 8 January 1916, the entire expeditionary force was evacuated by sea. That night there were no direct casualties. Although disbanded after the withdrawal from Gallipoli, the Corps functioned on several occasions as an integrated force, including World War II, Vietnam and Timor Leste.
The Gallipoli Campaign cost the lives of some 56,707 Allied military personnel, while 123,598 were wounded. Australian dead: 8,709. Australian wounded: 19,441. New Zealand dead: 2,721. New ?Zealand wounded: 4,752. It is estimated that the First World War, 1914 -1918, claimed more than 37 million lives, military and civilian.
Australia and New Zealand are unusual amongst the nations of the world in selecting as their principle memorial day the beginning of a campaign that was unsuccessful. Whatever the reasons of choice of Anzac Day as the national memorial day, the annual commemoration speaks to us not only of the futility and the grim reality of war, but also of the heroic sacrifices and profound awareness of a common humanity on the part of so many combatants.
On Anzac Day Australians and New Zealanders do not celebrate a great victory, no trampling upon our enemies, no conquest of cities and no triumph over others. Rather with heartfelt gratitude, tinged with pride and sorrow, we quietly remember Australian servicemen who died that others might be free.
The average age of Australian soldiers engaged in World War I was between 18 and 34. Many were no more boys; and from amongst these boys, so quickly become men, there were numerous acts of courage, fraternity and compassion – they soon learned to be their brother's keeper. As a proportion of those enlisted, the casualty rate was 65% - one of the highest in the British Empire.
This year will undoubtedly present us with many opportunities to reflect upon the many sacrifices made by countless young men, not only on the Gallipoli Peninsular, but on the European battlefields, of the past, now marked by the war cemeteries of millions, and the continued senseless war in Ukraine. ?
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The 2023 commemorations should not be let pass without our learning more about those events which seem now at so great a distance. Encourage your children to research the so-called Great War in general, and the Gallipoli campaign in particular.
0 Lord, unto our glorious Dead, grant memory eternal!
Take a minute to check out some of the images at the Australian War Memorial
Picture (top centre) - Description
An Australian carrying a wounded comrade on his shoulders on Walkers Ridge down to a medical aid post. The men were cracking jokes as they made their way down from the front. (Photographer: Brooks, Ernest (Lieutenant)