ANZAC Day was yesterday, the day Australians and New Zealanders commemorate our fallen and returned servicemen in all wars. It falls on the date, in 1915, when the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) landed on what is now ANZAC Cove in Turkey to begin the ultimately failed Gallipoli campaign but which has since become recognised as the first time the Diggers proved themselves on the world stage. Now, most of the battles and events Australian military tradition seems to honour on days such as this tend to be either brave defeats or defensive battles. I believe we are one of sadly very few nations who use their national days of commemoration to recognise the human cost of war rather than any victories.
Incidentally… that’s where the Turkey reference and ANZAC biscuit references in the strip stem from. Also, although it is much better in recent years, many kids don’t seem to fully grasp the importance of the day.
Also as a final note, this ANZAC Day marks the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Kapyong in the Korean War in 1951, strangely enough, another defensive holding battle we commemorate instead of an attacking victory. A heads up to any Canadians reading today, too. Your blokes were in the thick of it right alongside us back then.
Lest we forget.
In the States, we have two separate holidays in which we honor our military men and women who served. One is Veteran’s Day, which falls on November 11 (the date of the end of WW I) and celebrates all veterans of all our armed forces. The other, Memorial Day, is celebrated on the last Monday in May and commemorates all those who died in the service of our country.
I’m not sure what countries celebrate victories, etc., but I believe we’re there with you when it comes to mainstream national holidays.
Do kids in general recognize the importance of those holidays? I have no idea. I can tell you MY sons do! :)
We recognise Remembrance Day (Armistace Day) as well on November 11, but ANZAC Day is our unofficial national day. I suppose what we mean by ‘not commemorating victories’ is more that our recognition appears, at least from this side of the Pond, to me much more sombre and quiet than many other places. No pomp and fancy airs or marching bands, etc. Just a quiet moment before the local cenotaph and clapping in appreciation at the parade when it passes by.
Typically Australian though, perhaps, is that ANZAC Day is the only day of the year that the outlawed gambling game of Two Up is allowed to be played – the Diggers played it all the time out on the lines, and you try to tell Diggers they can’t do something on their day! :)
We should never forget our fallen: military, police, firefighters, et omnia alia. Unfortunately, too many do, or don’t care, or were never taught. Memorial days should be both a celebration of what their sacrifice gave us, and a mourning that there had to be a sacrifice.
OK, what is Two Up? (You knew *someone* would ask.)
Two pennies held on a short, flat piece of wood, tossed up into the air. Everyone lays bets on whether they’ll both come down heads, both come down tails, or come down one of each.
A simple little game, but on ANZAC Day it’s been known to close main roads because of the pub crowds filling the street gathered around one bloke tossing his Two Up coins in the air. :)
Canadian here, and I had never heard of the Battle of Kapyong. In school we tend to cover mostly WWI and WWII battles. Glad to hear our Princess Pats comported themselves well, alongside their Australian brethren.
In Canada, we have just the one day to remember all those who have served (and are serving) our country, and that’s Remembrance Day.
Glad to have brought that little tidbit of history to your attention! :)
We may well have only had Remembrance Day alone too, had the Gallipoli landing not taken place four and a half years before the Armistice was called. ANZAC Day was three years old by the time Armistice Day finally rolled around for the first time. Which is a shame. Three further years of war, is what that meant.
And that other nations tend to celebrate victories isn’t quite what I meant. When our blokes landed on Gallipoli, they got absolutely slaughtered but just refused to say no and stuck it out. For eight months. And never got anywhere near winning. Just the fact those cunning, stubborn Diggers put their back up and refused to bugger off is probably what made the day (and similar military events we tend to remember fondly) stick in the national psyche.
“And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain.
We buried ours, they buried theirs,
Then we started all over again.”
Yup. Love that song. One of the best ever written, in my view. :)
‘And the band played Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call.
But year after year more old men disappear.
One day no one will march there at all.’
I just remembered that every battle commemorated by the Legion D’Etranger was a defeat.
Rather sad, innit?
I don’t know. Sad for those lost, but if there are indeed more nations recognising defeats and stalemates than those glorious, piled high with dead victories, then maybe there’s still hope, eh?
Indeed.