ANZAC reflections

Yesterday was ANZAC Day here in Australia and New Zealand. Another public holiday, but one that's sacred to most Australians and Kiwis.

It's our equivalent of Memorial Day in the USA. It's when we remember and honour the dead -- and the living -- of all the wars in which our servicemen and women fought.

This is focused upon the first-ever campaign fought by ANZAC troops (ANZAC = Australian and New Zealand Army Corps -- a British Army clerk created the acronym to save time and repetition, because each soldier had to be identified individually as an ANZAC because they were all listed as British at that time). This was the debacle at Gallipoli, in the Turkish Dardanelles, in which 450,000 ANZACs were killed or wounded in a useless, tragic saga of self-indulgence, incompetence and sheer pig-headedness from the British Armed Forces, from Winston Churchill to his generals and navy people.

The few positive things to come from this bloody fiasco were (in no particular order of priority)...

• a true and unique sense of national identity and worth
• an awareness of the cavalier contempt of the British military establishment for "colonials"
• an awareness of the blind incompetence of that same British military establishment
• the establishment of the reputation of the "Diggers" as the most irreverent, inventive, "kiss-my-arse"-brave, deadliest and most feared soldiers in the world (a reputation that still holds true to this day)
• the United Nations' first choice as peace keepers
• a willingness to respect and befriend former enemies (Turkey and Japan are close friends these days)

A few years ago, I became concerned by the dwindling attendances ar ANZAC Day parades and ceremonies. This year, like last year, we've witnessed record attendances. Ever since our troops began service in East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq, we've seen a resurgence in support for them and their predecessors. Not to glorify war, but to honour their service and sacrifice, and to acknowledge our reliance upon them for keeping Australia free and at peace.

I have a close friend who served as a captain in Australia's SAS (Special Air Service). My father served in the Australian Army, with distinction, during World War II. Both hated war and refused to talk about their exploits and experiences, except for the occasional guarded comment, usually along the lines of "you have no idea of what you're talking about -- wait until you've been in real fighting before you open your mouth and reveal your ignorance and arrogance".

My friend's car bears a sticker that says "Nobody loves a soldier until the enemy is at the gate". Thankfully, that no longer seems to apply, in Australia, at least. And, while we neither want nor glorify war, we understand and appreciate the importance of being vigilant and fearless when it comes time to stand up and be counted.