landed at Gallipoli fighting a battle against Turkish soldiers ...Mustafa Kemal Atatürk- first...
Transcript of landed at Gallipoli fighting a battle against Turkish soldiers ...Mustafa Kemal Atatürk- first...
On the 25th April, 105 years ago, Australians
landed at Gallipoli fighting a battle against
Turkish soldiers who were fighting on their
own land. This was later known as ANZAC day.
So, why were we fighting against the Turkish
troops?
Well, in August 1914, when World War 1 broke out, we, being part of the British
Empire, felt obliged to support the mother country, Great Britain, in its war against
Germany and its allies, and Turkey was one of Germany’s allies
Many Australians from all walks of life
immediately joined up to fight as the
government asked them to.
This war had started in 1914 but by the end of that year
no real gains had been made so it was decided that that
there should be an attack on Turkey in the area around
the Dardanelles. So,the Australian and New Zealand Army
Corps, which became known as the Anzacs, along with
the other allied troops, were sent to fight there.
So, on Sunday the 25th of April 1915 ----- 105 years ago ----- the
Anzacs sprang ashore at what was later to be called Anzac Cove.
However, their task was far from easy. They had landed at the bottom
of steep cliffs and in full sight of the Turkish troops stationed at the
top, who were determined to protect their own land.
Life was terrible. Nowhere was safe The
conditions both sides suffered were terrible -
they had to dig into the ground, live and fight in
frightening and horrific conditions.
Then when it became obvious that the Allies were being
defeated it was decided to evacuate them – which happened
in December 1915 after 8 and a 1/2 months of fighting. 8,000
Australian s died at Gallipoli and the Turks lost 86,000!!
Life had been terrible for
both sides , but
interestingly there was
respect for each other. See
here an Aussie soldier
carrying a Turkish soldier
to safety.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk- first President of the Turkish Republic, was a
commander in the Turkish army during the Gallipoli campaign. He showed
this attitude of respect as can be seen in the next slide:-
This statement,
now on a
monument
erected by the
Turks in
Gallipoli,
shows the
generous spirit
of the Turkish
people.
So, Gallipoli was a defeat,- why then do we honour it so much? Why is it so
important to us? It is because the Anzac soldiers gained a reputation for their
bravery, mateship resourcefulness and their determination to keep going
despite the horrors they faced.
This mateship has become very much
part of Australia’s identity. In this
school we are mates regardless of our
ethnic, religious or cultural
backgrounds- as stated in the song “I
am, you are, we are Australians”
Many of the Aussies who had fought at Gallipoli went on to fight on the
Western front in France and had to face horrific situations there too.
We continue to commemorate the Gallipoli campaign because it reminds
us of the sacrifices made by Australians in this war and it expanded since
then to all Australians, working in the forces to protect us.
8.5 million men of the armed forces of all countries involved in this
war died, 21 million were wounded and over 5 million civilians died.
So all this death and suffering of people from so many countries. Why do
we spend time on this? It is because we need to remember the suffering
of people involved in all wars on all sides, men women and children- and
not forget how horrible war is. You know there hasn’t been one day since
the end of World War 2 in 1945 when there hasn’t been war or fighting in
some part of the world. So, when we commemorate Anzac Day we are not
glorifying war or looking down on past enemies, we are doing quite the
opposite. We are remembering ordinary people who have suffered and are
still suffering due to war- remembering the horrors and waste of war, and
determining it must not happen again -that we must work for a world that
solves its problems peacefully.