When I was in primary and middle school, I would always get in trouble for laughing at the farting sounds of the trumpet at the Anzac Day ceremony in the school hall. I would have been the same age as the youngest soldier that fought on the Gallipoli Peninsula. How times change. Today the bugle brings a tear to my eye and raises the hairs on my arms as we commemorate those who fought for us and paid the ultimate sacrifice.
In September 2012 I was fortunate enough to travel to the Gallipoli Peninsula to walk the soil and sand that witnessed ANZAC bloodshed, courage, honour, bravery, mateship and kinship – the two unsinkable ships in possession of the military forces. Walking through the trenches and hopelessly trying to scale the cliffs, I attempted to walk the same footsteps as the ANZAC’s when they fought this unwinnable war that was plagued by bad luck. Among many major differences, the biggest was that I didn’t have to contest a rugged landscape with an enemy firing at me.
I was 19 years old in this picture, the age of many of the ANZAC’s. I still can’t comprehend how these souls mustered the valour to fight for people they didn’t know and for a future they were uncertain of.
The centenary of the arrival of the diggers at ANZAC Cove is a commemoration that honours the ordinary hard working Aussie who found themselves fighting for their mates and their country. Today is a day of reflection for those who were as young as 14 years old, who fought a battle that the majority of us would be too afraid to even consider fighting today.
The ANZAC’s are the real heroes of this country we call home and the least we can do is remember those fallen with a minute silence. In my opinion, today should not be an excuse for a piss-up but instead a day to enjoy the freedom the ANZAC’s fought for. This day should be a day to remember those soldiers and their characteristics – the fundamental Aussie perspective toward life – with our mates and with the spirits of the ANZAC’s who would have called us their mates 100 years ago.
This day should not only be one to remember those who fought at Gallipoli but also all soldiers that have fought, are fighting and will continue to fight and sacrifice for our country. For everything you have done, we thank you.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Lest We Forget.