O
n 25 April 1915, 16,000 Australian and New
Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soldiers landed
at what’s now called Anzac Cove, on Turkey’s
Gallipoli peninsula. About 2000 were killed or wounded on
that day alone. Weeks later, Australian newspapers published a
flattering account of the landing by British war correspondent
Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett and our soldiers’ deeds at Gallipoli
came to be seen as a rite of passage for our fledgling country.
That view was fostered by Charles Bean, Australia’s war cor-
respondent and later official historian, and continues today.
During 1914, various organisations had formed in
Australia to raise funds for our troops and European civilians
affected by the war. In m id-1915 many of them began hold-
ing fundraising days that combined patriotic displays with
carnivals. The South Australian government turned Labour
Day, an October public holiday characterised by pageantry
and celebration, into one and organisers called it Anzac Day.
By that year’s end all allied forces had been evacuated
from Gallipoli and it was clear the campaign had failed.
But the final death toll was huge – 8709 Australians, 2779
New Zealanders, tens of thousands of British and French
troops and even more Turks – and many Australians felt
the landing had been of enormous national significance and
needed marking. Anzac Day organising committees formed
spontaneously in each state.
The federal government recognised Gallipoli’s symbolic
significance and hoped also that commemorating the cam-
paign might reverse declining enlistments. In 1916 the acting
prime minister and minister for defence, George Pearce,
officially named 25 April as Anzac Day. All states marked it
with a commemorative service and a march of new enlistees
and Gallipoli veterans. In many towns, lunch was provided for
veterans and most states held afternoon or evening festivities.
In Queensland, however, Anzac Day 1916 was organised
by the Anzac Day Commemoration Committee, ensuring
the d ay revolved ent irely a round com memorat ion. It forbade
fundraising because that would involve a festive element
deemed inappropriate. In contrast, Victorian organisers
focused on fundraising through pageantry and celebration.
In New South Wales, opinion was divided.Syd ney’s Lord Mayor, for ex a mple, wa s cr it icised by fa m i-
l ies of the dead for spend ing £10 0 0 on decorat ive l ig ht ing for
public buildings. And yet many returned servicemen urged
the state government to make the day festive, reflecting what
they thought fallen comrades would have wanted.
In London that year about 2000 sombre A nzacs marched
through the streets, cheered on by enthusiastic Britons, before
attending a commemorative service at Westminster Abbey.
Troops stationed in Egypt held services for fallen comrades.
Brigadier (later General Sir) John Monash explained in a letter
to his wife that after the service in the morning troops took
part in cricket, other games and “a great aquatic carnival”.
Anzac Day has been observed every year since and by the
1920s ceremonies were held throughout Australia. In 1927,
for the first time, every state observed a formal public Anzac
Day holiday. And by the mid-1930s all the now-associated
rituals – from dawn vigils to street marches and wreath-laying
ceremonies – were part of Anzac Day culture. Most of these
were devised and disseminated by canon David Garland, a
military chaplain and the energetic secretary of Queensland’s
Anzac Day Commemoration Committee, who sought to
make services ecumenical and accessible to all Australians.
Later, Anzac Day also served to commemorate Australians
who died in World War II and all subsequent military and
peacekeeping operations in which our nation has been in-
volved. From the 1960s to the 1980s Anzac Day’s popularity
diminished, partly because fewer people seemed to think
armed conflict was worth commemorating.
Since the 1980s commemorative activities at Gallipoli itself
have become common. In 1990, to mark the campaign’s 75th
anniversary, prime minister Bob Hawke went to Gallipoli
for Anzac Day, accompanied by a group of aged veterans of
the conflict, the first prime minister to do so. Anzac Day has
now regained much of its original status, with many seeing it
as a way to honour the memory of our fallen soldiers.PHOTO CREDIT: COURTESY JOHN OXLEY LIBRARY, STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND 39805FIRST
ANZAC DAY
30 Australian Geographic
Part of the Defining Moments in Australian History project.
To find out more: nma.gov.au/definingmomentsSpectators lined Brisbane streets to watch the procession of
the 41st Battalion, on the first Anzac Day in 1916.