ANZAC Day

[rilnator]

Today is the aniversary of the 1915 invasion of the Dardenelles.

Not too many campaigns could emphasise the pointlessness of war better than this one.

RIP all those Australian, Kiwi, British, French and Turks who died during these 9 months.

 

[Tee Kay]

Link to video.

When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
How the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then turned all their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men answer to the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong
Who'll come-a-waltzing Matilda with me?

 

[GinandTonic]

 

[gahgah]

i am really sad about the war in Gelibolu (Gallipoli). every year we (turks) celebrate our victory againts anzacs because it lead our war of independance but we also feel deeply sad about anzacs too. because they were not our enemies. our enemies gathered innocent peoples and brought them to our shores. we had to defend our country and we successfully made it. but the war was really interesting. both turks and anzacs knew that the war is not between them. when they stopped the war to carry their deads, turks gave them cigarettes and anzacs gave some of their food to turks. they took care of each other's wounded soldiers. after the war our great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk wrote letters to anzac soldiers' mothers and said that "dry your eyes. your sons are our sons too. now they are resting here in peace." of course it is something longer but the idea is this. then we made a beautiful graveyard to ancazs in a beautiful place. every year we share anzac soldiers' grandson's pain there. RIP

 

[GinandTonic]

Even those who gathered the innocents were not really your enemies, we just wanted to help the Russians, who were not really our friends, to fight the Germans. So the ANZAC's fought because the enemy of the enemy of the enemy of my friend is my friend.

 

[gahgah]

Even those who gathered the innocents were not really your enemies, we just wanted to help the Russians, who were not really our friends, to fight the Germans. So the ANZAC's fought because the enemy of the enemy of the enemy of my friend is my friend.

You have a point but in fact Allies were planning to share Ottoman Empire. UK invaded Istanbul , France invaded Southern Anatolia, Italy invaded Southwestern Anatolia , Greece invaded Izmir (Western Anatolia) , they also support Armenians to slaughter Turkish villages in Eastern Anatolia. I mean they were planning to be our enemy and a group of Ottoman soldiers (which then ended Ottoman Empire and found Turkish Republic) knew that. I will never defend Ottoman Empire btw. Even they tried to stop Mustafa Kemal and his friends. And all started with the war with ANZACs therefore i feel both proud and sadness

 

[say1988]

You have a point but in fact Allies were planning to share Ottoman Empire.

After the Ottomans began a war against the ally of Britain and France. Starting a war you lose generally has negative consequences for the country.

The ANZAC soldiers, officers, and leaders were as innocents as any of their French and British peers, the only exceptions being the individuals who initiated the flawed campaign, insisted on continuing it and used horrible strategy and tactics that cost many lives (and the British weren't the only ones in teh last category).

 

[gahgah]

After the Ottomans began a war against the ally of Britain and France. Starting a war you lose generally has negative consequences for the country.

The ANZAC soldiers, officers, and leaders were as innocents as any of their French and British peers, the only exceptions being the individuals who initiated the flawed campaign, insisted on continuing it and used horrible strategy and tactics that cost many lives (and the British weren't the only ones in teh last category).

I should correct you. Ottoman Empire did not begin a war againts anyone. 2 German ships (it has been said that they were escaping from British Navy) came Istanbul and Ottoman Empire announced that they bougth them from Germany (to avoid British Navy entering Istanbul). Turkish names were given to these ships (Yavuz and Midilli). The German crew dressed like Ottomans and without any order they directly went to Black Sea to bombard Russian ports. Thats how Ottoman Empire "sucked" in to the war.

It also has been said that Germany never had 2 ships in Mediterranean Sea (even it they wanted to because of strong British Navy over there) so it was a trick by Allies. You should note that Britain was paid by Ottoman Empire to build 2 ships to Ottoman Navy and they did not give the ships after they built them (they took the money). Maybe those 2 ships were the ones built by Britain and the "Trick Scenario" has a point

 

[gahgah]

By the way before the WWI British, French and Russian ambassadors signed secret treaties with each other which were planning to share Ottoman Empire. I mean "sharing" was not an idea came after the war, sucking Ottomans into war was an idea to start sharing. These secret treaties are no longer secret. You may reach them and the most famous one is Sayks-Piko Treaty which is about sharing Anatolia.

 

[r16]

had the Allies not already agreed to deal with the Turkish "threat" for once and all , they would have paid more attention to offers of alliance from the Ottomans . Nobody here actually believes that Ottoman Empire could have been kept off the fight . The conduct of the war , now that is something completely different .