United in remembrance: Aussies and Kiwis honour the bravery of the ANZACs who forged bonds of courage on the shores of Gallipoli.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
Our national identity is influenced by how we acknowledge those who step up at critical times, as well as by significant events and dates.
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Aussies and Kiwis celebrate April 25 as Anzac Day for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, who first fought under national flags in the 1915 Gallipoli campaign.
This campaign to open the Dardanelles narrows for shipping between the Mediterranean and Black Seas took nine months and cost 11,000 Anzac, 33,000 British and 841,000 Turkish lives. Every April 25, representatives of these nations gather for dawn services at Gallipoli, honouring their sacrifice and showing how humanity’s common bond ultimately outstrips the wars fuelled by political intrigues and ambitions.
Returned service personnel have experienced brilliant successes, heavy defeats, technical advances, and heroism that have ranged from quietly reassuring to breathtakingly spectacular. Fully aware that their future was never assured — against enemies who were either in full view, invisible, up close, or remote — they know sights, sounds, smells, and emotions that no-one ever should. Worse still, some have endured the stagnation, starvation, and slave labour of concentration camps.
Unlike English or European civilians who had experienced similar destruction to their frontline troops, those who welcomed home our returning service personnel had only known war as a relentless but remote source of anxiety. This made sharing the barely describable stories extremely difficult, while those who didn’t carry the scars needed to be extremely willing to listen and try to understand, even while struggling to grasp what it must have been like.
Today, we recall the pain and paradox of war — a futile necessity at best — for former enemies are major trading partners, and previous battle zones are tourist magnets. Yet, as we seek to avoid the fearful cost of warfare, we must be prepared if conflicts in Ukraine or the Middle East further escalate and if — or maybe when — simmering East Asian tensions spiral out of control.
“No man shows greater love than to lay down his life for his friends,” said Jesus, though his love for the whole world meant that his death was for enemies and friends alike.
His love can still defuse hostility, not by external pressure or through heavy emotional artillery. Whenever we allow him to touch our deepest hopes and fears with his clarity, forgiveness, and courage, we can let the past go and move towards a future where nobody misses out.
— Noel Mitaxa
On behalf of a church near you, Inviting you to explore God’s love.
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