A day of quiet contemplation
ANZAC day is a commemoration, and not a celebration.
6.45 am – My little girl comes out into the kitchen and asks me what I'm doing.
"Making ANZAC Biscuits," I say.
So far so good…
She sits up at the table and rubs her eyes.
"Why do we celebrate ANZAC Day Mum?"
Oh dear, there's that word again. It's the word that causes arguments in my house every 25th of April. Celebrate…
"Darling, we don't celebrate ANZAC Day, on ANZAC Day we commemorate the terrible things that happen in wars, and remember the people who die in wars."
She's quiet for a while, I think I've escaped.
"So ANZAC Day is a special day because Australians did something special on ANZAC Day?"
Oh oh, here we go, this is the bit that I just can't lie to her about.
"No, on ANZAC Day we did something very terrible and very stupid. On ANZAC Day a bunch of Australian soldiers went to the other side of the world and invaded a country called Turkey, and started shooting Turkish soldiers who were defending their county."
More silence.
"That wasn't very nice, why did we go there?" She says after thinking for a minute or two.
"Because the English told us to, it was a terrible place to land and lots of Australians and New Zealanders died, and lots of Turkish people died. That's why it's a very sad day," I say.
"So why are you making biscuits?"
"Because these are the biscuits that they ate at Gallipoli the place in Turkey where the Australian soldiers landed," I say hoping not to have to explain the connection too much further.
"And when we eat them we say that poem and remember how naughty we were, and not to do it again?" she says.
This is where I wimp out.
"Yep, that's why we eat them and say the poem, so we remember not to do it again," I reply.
Like many Australians I get disturbed by the flag waving and cheering on what should be a quiet, contemplative day, and I'm not prepared to pander to cheap nationalism or half-baked histories. The members of my family who saw service in WWI and WWII are long dead, but I observe the day in their memory, and in a manner which they handed down.
To the sons of Turkey who died defending their land and to the people of Turkey who to this day accept tens of thousands of young Australians we owe an enormous debt. The real honor goes not to ANZACs at Gallipoli but to Mustafa Kemal better known as Atatürk, who in 1934 wrote some of the most moving words of forgiveness and peace:
Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives… You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours… you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land. They have become our sons as well.
Have a peaceful and commemorative ANZAC Day Australia, and if you must wave a flag, wave it for the honorable deeds we've done, not for the Gallipoli campaign.
caitlinfitzsimmons
April 27, 2009 at 8:26 am
Anzac Day in Gallipoli and history of WWI
I never went to the Anzac services when I was growing up but in 2004 I went to the Dawn Service at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli. I was struck by how welcome we Australians and Kiwis were made to feel, not only at the service itself but also in the nearby towns. I was moved to see the Australian, New Zealand and Turkish flags side by side. Atatürk had a lot of faults but his version of nationalism was an expansive, generous one and I'm grateful for that.
At the same time, I feel that I can recognise the sacrifice and individual honour of the soldiers at Gallipoli, and the campaign's importance in the evolution of our national consciousness, without agreeing with the aims of the campaign, which were set by generals in Britain. Also, it's slightly disingenous to paint it purely as a case of Australians invading Turkey. That may well be how many young Turks saw it at the time but the Ottoman Empire entered the war, and chose to enter the war, before we mounted this incursion. That's not offered as an excuse on the Australian part but history, as ever, resists simplification.
alison gordon
April 28, 2009 at 1:58 am
would agree with Caitlin….
…..but would also add that we shouldn't be too harsh in judging people's intentions behind waving flags. I think most people who attend the Anzac marches view it as something of great significance. Having an Aussie flag in tow doesn't necessarily mean the gesture is insensitive or misguided, or that they are "celebrating". For some it's just a way of expressing pride and thanks for the country they are very fortunate to live in.
Douglascomms
April 28, 2009 at 8:20 am
ANZAC day services…
I often went to ANZAC day services as a child and remeber vividly watching a man who reminded me of my grandfather breakdown and cry in great heaving sobs that shook his whole body. It's a terribly tragic day. Save your flags for Australia Day and go and wave them outside the local town hall to celebrate all the migrants who take a conscious choice to become Australian.
One day I'd like to go to Galipoli – I would not think it possible to celebrate on the ground where so many young people had died – although there are lots of young Australians who do just go there for a party. Would you wave a flag and cheer at at funeral? Choose some other day for cheep nationalistic stunts. If nothing else we owe that to the people who have killed others in our name.
caitlinfitzsimmons
April 28, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Flags and funerals
One does not normally wave a flag at a funeral, but flags sometimes have a place at a funeral. As for partying, I've been to plenty of wakes – partying is often considered a good way to celebrate someone's life.
The Gallipoli service was not really a party atmosphere – it was quite sombre. But you do have to go there the night before so you can either try to sleep on the coach, or sit up on the beach. On the beach there's music and alcohol but more to pass time. I checked it out but opted to try to sleep on the bus.
Of course this is just for Anzac Day. You can go to Gallipoli any day of the year and more or less have the place to yourself.
PS I left a comment on here earlier in response to Alison, where I pointed out that not all flag waving was benign. It doesn't seem to be displaying. Is this a technical error or some rather over-zealous moderation?
sally.rose
April 28, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Comment not received.
Hi Caitlin
Thanks for your comments. None of them have been moderated. If there's something you wrote which isn't displaying it's because we never received it. Please try entering it again and make sure you click "preview a comment", followed by "post a comment". Any hassles you can contact srose@openforum.com.au for assistance.
Best Regards
Sally
Nick Mallory
May 11, 2009 at 10:24 am
I’m assuming your serious? I’ll take you seriously then.
I hope your daughter then explained to you what the First World War was. Australia entered the War on the same day Britain did on August 4th 1914. She might then go on to explain about the Ottoman Empire as well, as Turkey didn't actually exist then as a country. That would be the Ottoman Empire which entered the war in an attempt to grab Goeben and Breslau and fought in the middle east allied to the central powers of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire against, you know, those who you clearly consider to be the real enemy. Presumably a lot of unpleasantness could have been avoided if the allies had just seen sense and surrendered?
The War Memorial in Canberra says that 2721 New Zealanders and 8709 Australians were killed in Gallipoli. The Turks lost around 66,000 men. The nasty British whose dead you somehow forgot to mention lost 43,000 dead and the French about 8,000. Easy to forget about that though, the British lost 50,000 killed and wounded on the first day of the Somme alone and around 885,000 military and 108,000 civilian dead in the war overall. Good job the British always made the helpless Australians do their fighting for them while they hid behind their fancy palaces eating crumpets and torturing puppies, otherwise they might have suffered a bit themselves, eh?
Let's read that again. "The real honour goes not to ANZACs at Gallipoli but to Mustafa Kemal…" I note that his moving words of forgiveness and peace didn't mention anything about the forced march, starvation and massacre of up to one and a half million Armenian men, women and children at the hands of those loyal, brave, wonderful, peace loving Turks in 1915. Turkey still denies that vast genocide took place even today. You don't appear to have heard about it either, perhaps because the British could not be blamed – though I'm sure you'd have a go if pressed.
Why do you think Ataturk came to power and so was in a position to give that speech? Why do you think Turkey even came into being as a country? It couldn't possibly be anything to do with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Great War in 1918 and the war – yes WAR I'm afraid – of independence which Ataturk led from 1919 to 1922 against the Sultinate? No, probably not, complete co-incidence I'm sure.
Still, as you're still hazy about the whole 'Great War' thing, no harm done eh? Just so long as white Australians are the bad guys and everything they ever did was wrong. "If you must have a flag, wave it for the honourable deeds we've done, not for the Gallipoli campaign." I thought you said we should be honouring Mustafa Kemal? Let's check…""The real honour goes not to ANZACs at Gallipoli but to Mustafa Kemal…"
Yes, you really did say that. So don't wave a flag, your nation's flag, but if you do, wave it for him. For a pretty speech which turned a blind eye to the mass slaughter his nation still denies. What is worse, you simply don't consider Australia's participation in the Great War honourable, do you? This is why you don't want to honour the men who died in battle. You don't consider them honourable either.
Was the Gallipoli Campaign a strategic mistake? In hindsight, of course. It was a grand gamble pursued long after the losses of men and material far outweighed its meagre gains. Was the Great War an historical calamity? Again, this is a commonplace. The eagerness of the Central Powers to strike a knockout blow condemned Europe to four years of horrific slaughter. What is more it led to the rise of the twin evils of communism and fascism and their catastrophic reigns of tyranny, slaughter and terror. Does your blog address any of this? Of course not. Bravely couching your argument in childish terms doesn't make it any less infantile.
Enjoy your biscuit. You live in peace, freedom and prosperity because people you clearly despise died for you. I have to say your blog leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Douglascomms
May 13, 2009 at 3:40 am
put your shirt back on Mallory…
… ANZAC day is not an excuse for you to beat your chest about comments I didn't make. Unlike the ANZAC day flag wavers I have the deepest sadness for what happened, a sadness which I share with the real diggers. Unlike every other commentator here I have participated in ANZAC day conmemorations throughout my life, and my understanding of the day is based on a very human reaction to their experiences, not on some political agenda.
And while I'm delighted that you passed History 101 I'm afraid you've bombed out on childhood development. My daughter is six – and while she's very bright it's probably still a little early to be explaining the intricacies of European history.
As you say the Gallipoli campaign was a mistake. A very costly mistake – and by no means a cause for celebration.