ANZAC Day 2010

Your worship, Councillor Rod Campbell, Mayor City of Greater Bendigo, Mr Cliff Richards, President of the Bendigo District RSL, distinguished guests, retired and current members of our Defence Force, ladies and gentlemen , boys and girls, I feel very honoured to have this opportunity today.

The people of Bendigo have over 150 years of service to their country. First to their state when the Bendigo Rifle Regiment was formed in 1858, and after Federation you continued to serve, particularly when members of your 67th Battalion joined the 7th and 14th Battalions and served at Gallipoli. Later in the war members of your 38th Battalion cemented the ANZAC legend through its exploits at Messines, Broodseinde and Passchendale. In this sense Bendigo has a very direct link with our ANZAC history and it therefore gives me very great pleasure to be here and share this day with you.

It has become our tradition that on this day we commemorate the great sacrifices made by our service men and women when serving abroad and at home. As a country we have come a long way from the one we were when our first ANZACs departed our shores in 1914 for a world that was unfamiliar and a fate that was uncertain.

We have certainly come a long way since the first ANZAC commemoration in Bendigo in 1916. At that time the war was in full flight and its outcome was unknown. While they had gathered to commemorate the great feats of our ANZACs at Gallipoli, what was hoped to be a short war was now dragging into the long war of attrition. Our troops were soon to be thrown into the firestorm that was the Somme and names like Ypres, Fromelles, Dernacourt, Passchendale and Villers Brettoneaux would become forever embedded in our national psyche. Sadly the cost was great and tens of thousands of Australian families would mourn a loved one never to return and hundreds of thousands more families would bear silent witness to the damaged men who came home.

On this day it is important that we recognise that it is about commemorating sacrifice and not about celebrating our military power. Today we recognise that combination of traits which set Australians apart from the rest and which set the bench mark for all Australians for the times to come. Courage, initiative, teamwork, mateship, toughness, humour, loyalty, tenacity and compassion and ferocity in equal measure are what characterised those first ANZACs and realistically have characterised our servicemen and women ever since. The ANZACs and what happened at Gallipoli have shaped Australia and Australians forevermore and it is worthwhile reflecting what these young ANZACs did.

On 25th April 1915, under the dim light of a breaking dawn and with battle cries erupting from mouths of scared and excited men 16,000 ANZACs surged ashore at the foot of rugged cliffs on the Dardanelles Peninsula of Turkey. They were to open a campaign intended to give allied shipping access to the black sea, bring help to Russia, and perhaps force Turkey out of the war. Over time 50000 ANZACs served there and almost 9000 never returned home.

It was - historians say - an ill-conceived campaign in pursuit of a vague objective, premised on an under-estimation of the military prowess and character of the Turkish soldiers, their leader, Mustafa Kemal or Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey, and of the tactical advantages the Turks held. But the cream of the New Zealand and Australian armies - volunteers all - committed themselves with no hesitation about the nobility of their cause, and fought with great courage, skill and audacity.

I had the good fortune of being at Gallipoli on ANZAC Day a few years ago. It was a perfect time to reflect on the events that took place and the people who were once there. Like all soldiers of all times i brought home a small souvenir of my visit.

It was a stone from the beach at Ari Burnu, the first landing site of the ANZACs at Gallipoli. In itself it is nothing special, just a small flat rock of the type that most of us would have skipped across the water when we were kids. But if we go back 95 years I am sure the men who were crossing the beach would have viewed them quite differently.

As they jumped from their boats, some on shore, others waist deep into breaking waves, those young Australians and New Zealanders would have cursed these flat stones as they slipped as they tried to get some grip to move themselves forward and out of danger.

As you visit Gallipoli today just to the high left of where they landed and camouflaged by low scrub and the greyness of the early morning are the remains of a Turkish strong point.

As a soldier I could appreciate how well sited it was. With commanding views of the beach it provided an easy look at the advancing ANZACs and, as they struggled to gain a foothold, it would have taken a devastating toll amongst those trying to get off the beach. Many men, who were just boys in terms of age, never made it further than where they landed.

Ninety five years after these events and for those that haven’t been there it is hard to describe the feelings one experiences at 5am on a cool crisp clear morning, on a beach in Turkey. While there are a few more roads now the beaches and the hills of Gallipoli remain much the same as they were all that time ago.

The main difference of course is that the hills are now dotted with the manicured lawns and the white headstones that mark the cemeteries and final resting place of many fine young Australians and New Zealanders, as well as those from Great Britain, France, India, Nepal and of course Turkey. Friends and foes in life, but all comrades in death

As one walks ups from Ari Burnu through Shrapnel Gully to Lone Pine , descriptive names invented by soldiers out of both fear and practicality, and from there along the ridgeline that still separates the old Australian and Turkish lines at Quinn’s Post and finally on to the Nek a visitor will see these numerous cemeteries, some big, some small. All of them a constant reminder of the real cost of war

In all of them there are two common threads.

Firstly, it is the youth of those that died. You cannot help but be moved by seeing the row upon row of graves of young soldiers, young soldiers not unlike those fighting terror and injustice around the world today who answered the call and died doing what they thought was right.

Firstly, it is the youth of those that died. You cannot help but be moved by seeing the row upon row of graves of young soldiers, young soldiers not unlike those fighting terror and injustice around the world today who answered the call and died doing what they thought was right.

As the ANZACs moved from Gallipoli to France and Palestine they continued to fight. At the end of four long years the ANZACs had established a reputation for courage, tenacity, endurance, self sacrifice, mateship, good humour and driving all these in war, an overwhelming sense of doing something because it was the right and fair thing to do. This was the benchmark they set for all Australian and New Zealand soldiers to come. This was the torch they passed on to their descendants, both then and now.

History has shown that World War 1 became World War 2, then Korea, Malaya, Vietnam and more lately the peacekeeping operations of the nineties. 9/11 and the ongoing fight in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere in the world is ensuring that the first decade of the 21st century will forever be linked with the so called war on terror. In all, victory has always come with through perseverance but with a human cost and the price of peace has always been eternal vigilance.

I have had the privilege of visiting cemeteries representative of three wars in Turkey, France, Greece, New Guinea and Korea. Their enduring features are youth, bravery, and family.

We enjoy life in free and democratic countries today because men and women thought and continue to think these ideals were important enough to fight for.

As we stand here this morning Australian soldiers stand sentinel in an Afghan village, protecting its villagers from those who would choose to impose an authoritarian existence upon them. As some stand guard others are building schools and hospitals and are bringing the hope of a better life. It is hard and exceptionally dangerous work that has to be done and you should be proud that our soldiers do it so well.

I should add here that Bendigo is playing an amazing part in our operations in Afghanistan. The bushmaster vehicle the ‘bushie’ as it is fondly known by all our soldiers, that is built here in Bendigo has saved many Australian and Dutch lives. It truly is a war winner and life saver and the people of Bendigo should be proud it comes from your town.

This time last year I had the privilege of being in East Timor on ANZAC day. As Commander of the International Stabilisation Force I had the distinct honour of leading an ANZAC force providing security for the Timorese people while their own institutions grew their capacity. Like in Afghanistan your service men and women conduct themselves with care, compassion, humility and humour. They too are providing people the hope of a better life.

It is also important that we recognise the reservists who are here today because they too serve our country and do so with distinction. Whether it be responding to natural disasters or serving overseas in the Solomon Islands, Timor, Afghanistan, or at sea or in the air, they do our country proud.

Finally, what we as Australians must remember is that we are but torchbearers in time. For Australians and New Zealanders the first ANZACs and those after have left us a legacy not only in how they fought and died but more importantly in why they fought and died.

Today we remember the first ANZACs and thank them for the legacy they left us. We remember them and all service men and women since who have carried the torch to make our world a better place. We remember all those who have been damaged by war, both physically and mentally, particularly those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice with their in fighting for this ideal.

As we ask God to bless our ANZACs of times past may he also bless the servicemen and women serving in harms way on our behalf and pray that they come back safely.

Let us now honour and remember those who have brought honour to themselves and their country.