Today was ANZAC Day here in Australia. I am sure that those of you who are avid fans of the History Channel know about this day, but I am not a good student of history or military campaigns, and thus I had never heard about it.
The Australian Government's Cultural and Recreation Portal explains the meaning of the day:
On 25 April every year, Australians commemorate ANZAC Day. It commemorates the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. The date, 25 April, was officially named ANZAC Day in 1916. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. In 1917, the word ANZAC meant someone who fought at Gallipoli and later it came to mean any Australian or New Zealander who fought or served in the First World War. During the Second World War, ANZAC Day became a day on which the lives of all Australians lost in war time were remembered. The spirit of ANZAC recognises the qualities of courage, mateship and sacrifice which were demonstrated at the Gallipoli landing.
The kids did not have school, and many commemoration services were held at dawn across the country. Rick, who has a patriotic streak that seems to rise above his home country, had hoped to make one of these commemoration services, but it was pouring at 5AM, which held him off. But the Sydney ANZAC parade was shown on TV (we were struck by how so many people turned out to watch so many veterans interspersed with a few bands march in the rain- no floats, no silly Shriners, nothing to distract from the solemness of the occasion) and a very moving dawn service was broadcast from Gallipoli, Turkey.
This day seems to be much more ingrained in the national identity here than Memorial Day or Veterans' Day are in the US. Children can tell you the meaning of the day, and it seems that most people, young and old, observe it with great respect.
If you are interested in learning more about ANZAC Day, you can visit this website:
http://www.culture.gov.au/articles/anzac/
So, school has started back up into Term 2 and the weather is getting chillier and rainier. Now it feels like mid-October. We were really missing the wonderful fireplaces we had in our Cheshire home today!
Anne
2 comments:
It is so strange to hear of the weather getting "chillier"...and I thought I had the hemispheres straight in my head! (Yeah, yeah, I know they're curved! :-> )
Australia, for all of its vagabond-like reputation, seems to hold together more as a culture and to gather around touchstone events like this. I have reflected sometimes on how the three "patriotic holidays" in the States -- Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Veterans' Day -- all seem to merge into the same day observed three times. I'm not even sure where we could have watched ANZAC Day ceremonies here; perhaps on the Web.
Sorry about the fireplaces! (We just cleaned ours out for the season last weekend.) Everything turned green this week after a mammoth storm system flooded out most of Cheshire. We had pumps going in the basement of the church most of the week. Sure did jump-start the growing season, though!
Our best to all!
Anne - I have a delicious recipe for Anzac cookies (or bikkies as they are referred to there) if you're interested!
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