Beyond the Edge Beyond the Bar: 13.16 Te Awamutu: Anzac Day

16.A Anzac Green, Te Awamutu, 25 April 2013

A week ago today, on 25 April, New Zealand and Australia observed Anzac Day. In New Zealand and Australia it is a day for remembering those who have given their lives in service to their country. As I explained in my post (13.04) about Waitangi Day, ANZAC is an acronymn standing for ‘Australian and New Zealand Army Corps’.

ANZAC was formed to serve in the war, World War I, that had broken out in August 1914 between the Central Powers (primarily Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary) on the one hand and the Entente or Allied Powers (primarily Russia, Great Britain, France, Italy, and eventually the USA) on the other.

Because the German fleet controlled the Baltic, the British government was readily persuaded by Winston Churchill, no less, that it was imperative to establish an alternative, secure line of communication and transport between the western Allied Powers and Russia. The practicable alternatives were via the North Cape (around Norway to Murmansk) or via the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

I won’t go into the North Cape option, which was subsequently exploited in World War II. Suffice it to say here that gaining access to the Russian Black Sea ports, like Odessa, wasn't going to be easy. The Ottoman Empire, whose capital was in Constantinople (now Istanbul), controlled the two straits—the Dardenelles and the Bosphorus—and the small Sea of Marmara, which link the Black Sea to the Mediterranean or the Aegean, as that part of the Med is called.

The far dominions of Australia and New Zealand were asked by Britain to form up the ANZAC expeditionary force, which was supposed to play a key role in opening up a southern line between the western allies and Russia. On 25 April 1915 ANZAC landed at Gallipoli in support of nearby British and French contingents, thereby entering into what proved to be an eight-month campaign of slaughter. The Ottoman (Turkish) troops did not give way but likewise they were unable to dislodge the Allied troops. The casualty rates of killed and wounded on both sides were at least 60 percent and among Kiwi troops were reportedly 88 percent.

The one military success from the Allied perspective was the evacuation of the ANZAC troops. The Aussies and Kiwis eventually saw duties elsewhere in the conflagration of WWI, giving a very good account of themselves. But the Gallipoli experience (among other things) left a searing memory in the two young Pacific nations, as well as in what became Turkey.

Anzac Day has now become an occasion in New Zealand to honor and remember all those who have fallen in military service for their country. Across New Zealand the Anzac Day observance commences with so-called ‘dawn services’, which begin at 6:00 AM, well before dawn at this time of the year. Going by what I've read and by what I've heard from Kiwis, it's no longer just veterans who show up at the dawn services. Children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren are now to be seen along with veterans. Te Awamutu’s dawn service was held at the town’s War Memorial Park, where the names of the war dead are inscribed. I didn’t attend that service.

But Jean and I did attend Te Awamutu’s 11:00 AM civic commemoration service on Anzac Green. Anzac Green is adjacent to Te Awamutu's central business district, near various governmental offices. On Anzac Green there is a cenotaph memorializing those who fell in World War I. On the green itself white crosses had been installed for the occasion, each one associated with a local soldier, sailor, or airman who’d been killed in the line of duty (in WWI or thereafter).

Before the civic commemoration began, groups of people assembled on Alexandra Street (Te Awamutu’s main thoroughfare) in the vicinity of the RSA Club (‘RSA’ = Returned Services' Association). Leading the assemblage was the Te Awamutu Brass Band (which, by the way, had a few seconds of frame and fame in the endearing movie Her Majesty). Immediately following were uniformed Army and Air Force servicemen and women (I saw no Navy people in TA’s parade). Groups of veterans followed the servicemen, with some servicemen inter-sprinkled with the vets. Then came the uniformed all-volunteer Te Awamutu fire brigade, thence the local police battalion, and I’m not sure how many other groups. Every public and private school and every scouting and guide group in the area had representatives in the parade and at the commemoration. So did the chamber of commerce, numerous associations and institutions, and the council of churches. Eventually, the representatives would come forward when their group was named, laying a wreath at the foot of the cenotaph. The commemoration would be not only a remembrance of the dead; it was a roll call of the living.

The parade between the RSA Club and Anzac Green had no more than about two blocks to traverse. The Te Awamutu Brass Band led off this brief traverse with 'It's a Long Way to Tipperary'. With those in uniform marching and others in the parade walking, everyone in short order re-arrayed themselves on the northern and eastern periphery of Anzac Green.

The service began with the singing of the New Zealand National Anthem followed by the singing of the Australian National Anthem. Thence came the laying of the wreaths, while the TA Brass Band played a handful of solemn hymns. That was followed by the recitation of a poem by the Head Boy and Head Girl from Te Awamutu College (‘college’ often being used in the names of New Zealand high schools). The assembled joined in the singing of ‘Abide With Me’. Then three prayers were offered up, two by a local clergyman and the third by the mayor of the district council. Drum rolls preceded the recitation of the battles and peace-keeping missions of those fallen in New Zealand's military service. A bugler or trumpeter sounded the ‘Last Post’. Thence came a brief spoken resolution to remenber, to which everyone was prompted to respond, ‘We will remember them.’ Reveille was sounded. There followed additional hymns, including the royal anthem—‘God Save the Queen’.

But in some ways the most moving moment in wrapping up the commemoration was the Head Girl’s reading of portions of letters treasured by her family from an ancestor who was but a young man when he died at Gallipoli (as did his brother). Following a thank-you from the Te Awamutu RSA president, those who had marched in now marched away. The rest of us quietly disbursed.

Anzac Day is an occasion for solemn remembrance. How could it be otherwise for a people who have chosen to use a day that marks the onset of a defeat as a day of national remembrance? There is no jingoism, no spirit of revenge or triumphalism, no lust for war, only a desire to give fitting and honorable remembrance to those who deserve to be honored. Only a newspaper columnist could think that Anzac Day, itself, should be buried and forgotten. There's at least one such Kiwi columnist who seems to think that. But a people who cannot remember its past has no future. And Kiwis, by all report, are giving greater attention to Anzac Day year by year. They want to remember.

Mustafa Kemal Attatürk in 1934 graciously extended words of comfort to those back in New Zealand and Australia at the dedication of a monument at Gallipoli in what is now called Anzac Cove. Attatürk was the general of the forces that successfully thwarted the ANZAC troops. He subsequently became the founder and head of the modern state of Turkey. Here are his words.

Heroes who 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 Mehmets to us where they lie 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.

God grant us grace and peace.

Warm regards,

Tim & Jean