April 25, 1915: Lestwe forget

Anzac Day, a national day of commemoration observed on April 25 each year, remembers those who died serving New Zealand during war while honouring returned and current servicemen and women, past and present.

It honours the Anzac values of courage, compassion, camaraderie, and commitment.

April 25 marks the day in 1915 when Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landed at Gallipoli in Turkey, the site of New Zealand’s first major battle of World War One, with the loss of over 2700 New Zealand soldiers.

Since the first commemorative services in 1916, Anzac Day has evolved into the observance we know today.

The dawn service is a moving rite of passage for many Kiwis. Every year, thousands of Kiwis and Australians, young and old, attend services in communities across the world.

Pre-covid, many even travelled to Gallipoli.

THE DAWN SERVICE

The most popular observance, timed to coincide with the initial landings at Gallipoli in 1915 by Australian troops; the first ashore. The added symbolism of darkness breaking into dawn makes for an emotional, compelling experience.

ORIGIN OF ANZAC DAY SERVICES

The first Anzac Day services were held in Australia and New Zealand on April 25, 1916 to mark the anniversary of the previous year’s Gallipoli landings and to act as surrogate funeral services for those who lost family members at Gallipoli, as the dead were interred where they fell, not repatriated. The dawn service originated in Australia, primarily to mark the time at which Australian soldiers first landed. New Zealand troops began landing mid-morning, so services in New Zealand were not held until midmorning.

THE SERVICE

The commemoration typically begins with returned servicemen and women marching a short distance to their local war memorial. They are given pride of place while families and other members of the community gather informally around the memorial.

In some cases, uniformed service personnel may provide a catafalque guard around the memorial: standing to attention, motionless, heads bowed over reversed arms. A drum roll often marks the start of the service which can include: A prayer or reading; hymns; a piper playing the traditional Scottish lament ‘‘Flowers of the Forest’’; an address; The National Anthem; laying of wreaths; reading of the Anzac Dedication; recitation of

The Ode of remembrance, based on the fourth stanza of Laurence Binyon’s ‘‘For the Fallen’’.

The most solemn phase follows with a lone bugler sounding the Last Post, followed by a minute’s silence when the crowd is left to remember the dead, and the sounding of Reveille. With the first hint of dawn now visible, the service concludes and the veterans march to the post-dawn function or breakfast.

BREAKFAST

The traditional post-dawn function or breakfast hosted by the RSA enables people to warm up with a hot drink, traditionally a ‘‘rum and coffee’’, and an Anzac biscuit or breakfast. It is most of all a time to relax and reminisce.

MID-MORNING SERVICE

The mid-morning service serves as a more public commemoration. It is also the most traditional of the day’s observances and in some centres the form has changed little since the early services during and immediately after the First World War.

THE PARADE

Returned and ex-service personnel, wearing their medals, march behind flags to the war memorial. The physical act of marching has special significance as it rekindling the marches and the esprit de corps of their service years. They may be joined by members of the armed forces, cadets, and youth organisations, together with massed bands.

WREATHS

Above all, the service provides the occasion to lay wreaths in memory of all New Zealanders who served and died in past wars and conflicts by representatives of veterans’ organisations, nations, civic authorities, youth organisations, and families also lay personal tributes. Wreaths transform the thousands of war memorials into ‘‘living memorials’’, bringing renewed vitality as well as attention from those that inspect the wreaths and read the tributes during the following days.

DOWN AT THE RSA

After the formal remembrance services, local RSAS host veterans and their families. It is a time for veterans to reunite and reminisce, mix with serving personnel, and relax with family. The occasion has somewhat the atmosphere of the ‘‘wake’’ after a funeral, which is appropriate on a day that remembers New Zealand’s war dead. Ispoketoyouinwhispers I spoke to you in whispers

As shells made the ground beneath us quake

We both trembled in that crater

A toxic muddy bloody lake

I spoke to you and pulled your ears

To try and quell your fearful eye

As bullets whizzed through the raindrops And we watched the men around us die I spoke to you in stable tones a quiet tranquil voice

At least I volunteered to fight

You didn’t get to make the choice

I spoke to you of old times

Perhaps you went before the plough And pulled the haycart from the meadow Far from where we’re dying now

I spoke to you of grooming

Of when the ploughman made you shine Not the shrapnel wounds and bleeding flanks

Mane filled with mud and wire and grime I spoke to you of courage

As gas filled the Flanders air Watched you struggle in the mud Harness acting like a snare

I spoke to you of peaceful fields Grazing beneath a setting sun

Time to rest your torn and tired body Your working day is done

I spoke to you of promises

If from this maelstrom I survive

By pen and prose and poetry I’ll keep your sacrifice alive

I spoke to you of legacy

For when this hellish time is through All those who hauled or charged or carried Will be regarded heroes too

I spoke to you in dulcet tones

Your eye told me you understood

As I squeezed my trigger to bring you peace The only way I could

And I spoke to you in whispers......