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ANZAC Day

By The Armorer on April 25, 2005 | | Comments (27) | TrackBacks (1)

Today is ANZAC Day, the Australia-New Zealand equivalent to Memorial Day.

New Zealand Website on ANZAC Day.

The Australian Equivalent.

The Gallipoli Campaign was the brainchild of Winston Churchill, an attempt to force the Dardanelles and reach the Black Sea, freeing up the Russian Black Sea Fleet and opening up new routes of supply and a new thrust at the Austrians and Germans via the Balkans. Churchill really had the hots for the idea that Italy and the Balkans represented the "soft underbelly" of Europe. He was to be all for going in that way during WWII, as well. Gallipoli, along with the treatment and use of Commonwealth troops in France, marked the high tide of Britain's command and control of Commonwealth Forces. The propensity of British Generals to use non-UK troops for the really bloody work, while at the same time treating them as second-class citizens, caused the command relationships to be much different in WWII. Especially since, pound for pound, the Commonwealth soldiers were in main, better quality troops than those from the UK (exceptions on both sides abounding, of course). Like it or no, the colonials were, if nothing else, generally healthier than their UK counterparts.

Regardless, all the soldiers quality was oft-times squandered by execrable generalship.

In case there is any doubt how Australians felt about it, this picture is of the Sydney Memorial.


For the Turks? This was a moment of great pride for them, marking as it did the end of a long slide to obscurity and mediocrity, and cemented Ataturk's reforms and the establishment of a secular state - and gave the Army the imprimatur of the guardian of the state's secular nature - though that hasn't always gone well...

The Arsenal at Argghhh! has several items with an ANZAC connection. Our WWI-era Vickers machine gun is an ex-Turkish gun - and by the serial number is *not* one of the ones provided to Turkey in 1940 (to keep them neutral) but is in all probability a captured gun, reworked (the Turks were always tinkering with their weapons, trying to stretch their service life.

Hi-res, click here, here, here, and here.

Second, we have a M1893 Turkish Mauser, which is quite possibly (by age and ship date to Turkey) but unverifiably a Gallipoli vet. This rifle sports a Sanderson-made M1907 bayonet, captured by the Turks and reworked to fit the Mauser. We also have a 2nd Military District bayonet (Australian) that has been through the same treatment. Since invading at Gallipoli was a Brit idea, it's the Brit bayonet that hangs on the Turk rifle.

Hi-res, click here.

Last, but not least, are the dogtags. Body recovery being tough in the conditions under which the campaign at Gallipoli was fought, when Aussie troops went 'over the top' many would leave a bayonet or stick stuck in the sandbags or walls of the trench, with their dogtags hanging from 'em. If, after the battle, they were still there...

For the Commonwealth soldier, the equivalent of Taps is the Last Post.

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam


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Visits With The Denizens from Blog o'RAM on April 26, 2005 11:07 PM

The Denizens of the Castle Arrrghhh have some pretty funky assigned duties. Me, I managed to get the job of cleaning the chandeliers. Not fun if they scruples get into the chocolate and the bedoodlewhoopies start shedding feathers. In... Read More

27 Comments

By Boudicca on April 25, 2005 10:57 AM
Good Lord, John. Have I been reading you for this long now? I have. 'Tis been over a year. I remember last year's post where I did all sorts of research on Anzac Day after I read your post. Your post spurred me to want to better understand.
 
By Heartless Libertarian on April 25, 2005 12:16 PM
Gallipoli...wonder how much the difference between what the Brits thought the terrain was and what it actually was inspired the excruciatingly thorough recon of the beaches of Normandy? (The serious lack of recon much beyond the beaches, however, was not Allied G-2s finesh moment.) And for the womenfolk, wasn't it the movie Gallipoli that brought to Hollywood's attention a certain strapping handsome young actor named Mel Gibson?
 
By Barb on April 25, 2005 2:19 PM
HL - I think it's the first move I ever saw him in. *grin*
 
By UtahMan on April 25, 2005 4:05 PM
Don't forget, the the best British regulars got chopped up pretty bad in the first four months of the war. By the way, John - have you had a chance to read Myth of the Great War? Interesting book - basically makes the assertion that the Allies would have been screwed had the Americans not come in. That's a whole other debate [Capt. H - I've got nothing against Canada and the Commonwealth - really!] but the author makes the case that there were some amazingly different attitudes towards firepower. The Germans had a lot more howitzers, and had them distributed at a much lower level than the Allies.
 
By John of Argghhhh! on April 25, 2005 4:22 PM
Yes, I am familiar with the fate of the "Old Contemptibles" - and that does nothing to change my thesis about relative quality. The ANZACs and Canadians got pretty beat about the head and shoulders too, by the end of the war, and were still better-performing soldiers, on the whole. Plenty of exceptions all 'round, of course. And yes, I've read Myth of the Great War, as well. I would add one reason we 'Muricans approached things differently (such as Pershing flat refusing to put the AEF under an allied General of any stripe) was that we took at look at how things had been going, and could see that new ways of doing things were needed.
 
By John of Argghhh! on April 25, 2005 4:26 PM
I should add, I'm not impugning the courage and conviction of the British soldier, though I can see how you could read it that way. Brit infantry was still some of the best infantry in the world, but by the end of the war, the Brits were hard put to keep up with the colonial forces in terms of general health, and, arguably, morale. Which lays at the foot of the leadership, as it always does.
 
By Boquisucio on April 25, 2005 6:07 PM
The Myth of the Great War, eh? Hafta put it in my book list. I know where you are going with your observation, John. Certainly the quality of the conscripted Brit Soldier from say 1916 forward, was... how should I be polite... Marginally Qualified. However, as UT-Man states: the BEF of 1914 was tough as nails. Pity that they got all chewed-up at the canals of Ypres. I'm sure that every reader here has lapped-up all of Tuchman's description of the initial engagements of the Great War. Regarding Gallipoli, back in '92 my bride to be and I, meandered for 6-weeks throughout Turkey. Both Troy and Gallipoli, were one of our stops. One thing that impressed me was both the Geography and Geology of the place. Looked from a map, the Dardanelles are very skinny to cross at Suva Bay, and can easily be crossed in less than an hour's hike. But one thing that is not appreciated, is the sheer verticality of the spine of hills onto Suva Bay. Given that the Spine was occupied by the Ottomans (Attaturk commanding the defenses), every single square inch of that bay was under direct fire of the defenders. That frontal assault by the White Horse, was truly suicidal. Even so, the ANZACs almost crested the spine. Another thing that struck me was that at Hill 60, (near the crest), the opposing trenches were no more than 15 yards apart. Some way to fight a war.
 
By Boquisucio on April 25, 2005 7:52 PM
Oh and on the Sanders (I'm sure close to Neffi's heart), and on the Vickers... they could also have gotten into the hands of the Ottomans either in Palestine or in Mesopotamia when Maude blundered his way up the Tigris.
 
By J.M. Heinrichs on April 25, 2005 10:19 PM
"Myth of the Great War" was written by an English prof, not a historian. Apparently he had an epiphany while reading something on the Great War and wrote the book to share this revelation with the world. Unfortunately, most of his story has been told elsewhere and by better (accurate) history tellers. He had a particular problem understanding the distinction between apples and oranges. Were someone to quote from this book, I would presume that he was unable to find real source materiel on the War. Buy a copy of Playboy because it has great articles and it's cheaper. (And no, I do not recommend this book.) Cheers JMH
 
By LUCIUS SEVERUS PERTINAX on April 25, 2005 11:36 PM
The dog tags hanging from the bayonet's hilt: could any cenotaph of marble or bronze be as poignant? Damn.
 
By Justthisguy on April 26, 2005 1:35 AM
Well, I dunno, Lucius, but have a look at this link I found on Moggy's blog: http://www.livejournal.com/users/shenya/2005/04/25 Oh, and do check out Moggy's writings, too. It *is* Autism Awareness month, after all! http://www.sonic.net/mustang/moggy
 
By Justthisguy on April 26, 2005 6:14 PM
That Sydney memorial is, well, *disturbing*. Brings to mind not only being crucified, but also broken on the wheel. That's a seven-ouchy image. And that Gallipoli thing almost worked... Owhell, it's Memorial Day here, and all of the neighbors are ignoring it. Remember Our Confederate Dead! Y'all had the advantages of population, and communication, and industry, and a police state, and still had to cheat to win!
 
By John of Argghhh! on April 26, 2005 6:57 PM
No, JTG, despite the fact that my mother's family (to include my namesake) fought for that side - the good guys won because they weren't wedded to an outmoded political/economic model, that at its base, was wrong...
 
By Justthisguy on April 26, 2005 7:29 PM
Yessir, JoA, I concur more than you can understand, having grown up in an hierarchical, backward society while owning a technical and iconoclastic mind. Still, and all, won't you allow me one day per year, to brag about what a good account of themselves my ancestors gave?
 
By John of Argghhh! on April 26, 2005 7:38 PM
Oh, they were fine soldiers - but when ya threw out Police State (even though I know from whence that comes) I hadda fire back!
 
By Neffi on April 26, 2005 7:54 PM
ah yes, our second Civil War, eh? The so-called 'Revolutionary War' was the first, IMHO. Union artillery won that North/South skirmish, along with all the industrial capacity and near limitless numbers of 'fodder' available to the North... [calmly sharpens bayonet, having opened several cans of worms] hehe
 
By Justthisguy on April 26, 2005 8:19 PM
Yup, it comes from Abe's grabbing copies of everybody's emails (called "telegrams" back then) as well as some other outrageous stuff he did. I hold no brief for the Southern Slaveocracy; my own folks all were yeoman farmers and artisans. You must admit that the "free soil" folks in the North often excluded people of obvious West African ancestry from entire states, viz Illinois and Ohio, to name two. Well, anyway, the last time I was someplace where everyone looked ethnically "normal" (that is, their faces looked like the human faces I got used to when I was very small) was when I was in Mississippi a few years back. Everybody appeared to have sprung from Northern Ireland, or Western Africa. It was very disturbing at a subconscious level. I mean, there were lots of scary dangerous-looking guys who seemed, well, familiar. And the Wimmin! There are no ugly wimmin in Mississippi, of either color! I'll put Oprah at her fattest up against any yankee skank, when it comes to sexiness. Oh, BTW, my favorite Eastwood movie is "The Beguiled." You would not believe the horrible things those MS gals did to that poor wounded Yankee. [shudder]
 
By Justthisguy on April 26, 2005 9:17 PM
O K. Now that I have The Donovan Himself holding my hand, I will now try to post a clickable link. Christchurch Memorial
   
By Justthisguy on April 26, 2005 9:22 PM
Woot Hoot Toot! It worked! JoA, you are the virtuous badass (the bestest kind), the Washington, the Garibaldi, the Juarez! (Not to mention Cincinnatus!)
 
By Neffi on April 26, 2005 9:31 PM
Good job, JTG! ...and leave off the a$$ kissing... heh [throws innocent kitty into line of fire, ducks around corridor]
 
By Justthisguy on April 26, 2005 9:33 PM
Oh, yeah, and also Belisarius. (My favorite General of all Generals who ever existed.) I think he used to give a speech to the enemy before every battle, in which he explained to them that what they were doing was wrong, that they should go home and mind their own business and not annoy their neighbors. He also pointed out to them that they would suffer horrible ass-kicking if they went up against his boys. They generally chose getting their asses horribly kicked, over going home and acting peaceful. He did warn'em!
 
By Justthisguy on April 26, 2005 9:44 PM
Yep, Neffi, you're right, just got carried away for a moment. We don't want JoA's head to get any bigger, considering the trouble he has finding hats that fit. 7&3/4 is bad enough, lemmee tellya, from own experience!
 
By Justthisguy on April 26, 2005 10:01 PM
Ok, let's turn off the sillyness, and click on that link. If it doesn't make your eyes wet to look at that, well, rouse out yer soul and inspect it.
 
By Rodney Dill on April 29, 2005 5:09 AM
Interesting picture, I have a bayonet that looks just like that.
 
By John of Argghhh! on April 29, 2005 8:47 AM
Then you've probably got a M1907 bayonet, marked either Sanderson or Wilkinson (most likely, there are others)
 
By LUCIUS SEVERUS PERTINAX on April 29, 2005 6:22 PM
yeh. I have one too, and the rifle that goes with it. The rifle is Ishapore make. It hangs on the wall of my study.