Anzac Day either side of the ditch
Less than a fortnight after arriving in New Zealand, Australian Lewis Taylor attended his first Anzac Day service here and reflects on the differences.
Less than a fortnight after arriving in New Zealand, Australian Lewis Taylor attended his first Anzac Day service here. He reflects on the differences.
Attending an Anzac Day service in Timaru was always going to be an interesting thing for me, because I have not attended an Anzac service in Australia for four years.
The last one I attended in Australia, in my hometown of Alstonville, seemed to me to glorify rather than mourn war, so I hadn’t been back.
Would Anzac Day in Timaru be any different? I would have to see.
Walking to the service at around 9.40am, I looked across the green parklands of Caroline Bay. In the cold sun, hundreds of white crosses stood. It was a striking sight, one that goes to the core of what Anzac Day is about to me; remembering and respecting those who have died in times of war.
After a few minutes, I took my seat in the odeon-shaped Soundshell for a service which emphasises respect for the nation’s past enemies far more than I’d been used to at home. Namely, the Turks.
The Timaru gathering also focused a lot more on soldiers in general, rather than Australia’s focus on individual warriors.
The service seemed more mournful, and did not glorify war in any way. It was a service that spoke to me, and my belief in the meaning of Anzac Day.
I was particularly moved at one point when a quote from Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, was recited. Ataturk’s quote heaped praise on the Anzacs, and stated that both they and the Turks were due their respect as soldiers. Ataturk’s words were loaded with an important reminder: Everyone who has fought and died in war is a human being. And everyone who has died in war, and has not helped to instigate that war, is worthy of respect no matter their nation, race, or creed.
When I got home an hour later, I talked to my Dad on Skype about Anzac Day in the Australian town of Casino, where he is a school principal. He said it was done in its own way there too. No reference was made to the English monarchy, as it was in Timaru. The service of Indigenous Australian soldiers was praised, in a salute to Casino’s large Indigenous population. This mirrored the Maori hymns and the Maori verses of the New Zealand national anthem sung in Timaru.
Unlike Timaru, no reference was made to the Christian God at services in Casino. One hymn was sung during the Casino service, but religion did not feature in the speeches.
I sat on my bed after the call and started getting ready to go to the gym.
It was interesting thinking about how services are done differently in different places. Every town, from Timaru, to Casino, to Alstonville, does Anzac Day rather differently. This reflects the culture and beliefs of those holding the service.
I was moved by Anzac Day in Timaru. The service was respectful both to the dead, and to New Zealand’s past enemies.