ANZAC Day

In Australia today it is ANZAC Day. A national day of remembrance of all those who served in theatres of war. Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first campaign that led to major casualties for Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

104 years ago, at the behest of Winston Churchill, an ANZAC force landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Army. What had been planned as a bold strike to knock the Ottomans out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months, resulting in an appalling number of casualties, incredible privation, and withdrawal in defeat.

One in every 2 or 3 families lost sons, fathers, and sisters in World War 1. ANZAC day has come to symbolise the Australian character – a land of the fair go where people would do whatever was needed, even against insurmountable odds. After Gallipoli, the Australian war effort focussed on the Western Front and the colonial Middle East.

My maternal Grandfather, Edward John Weston, was a farmer from Bismarck (Collinsvale), a fertile valley high in a valley off kunanyi (Mount Wellington) in the Wellington Ranges. A town renowned throughout the colony for the quality of the fruit from its orchards and its root vegetables.

In early summer of 1915, he travelled to the Sydney Town Hall Recruiting Centre to enlist in the 6th Australian Light Horse Regiment specialising in mounted infantrymen, wild colonial boys from the Snowy Mountains. He shipped out for Egypt in May 1915.

Military personnel records only show essential details – deployments, medical and casualty records, and any promotions in rank. At first, one sees a series of hospitalisations for dysentery with an AWOL penalty, and eventual repatriation. Researching the military archives reveals something of my grandfather’s wartime experience.

On their arrival in Egypt, the 6th Light Horse Regiment, still part of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade, was assigned to the newly formed ANZAC Mounted Division. By April 1916, they were positioned to defend the Suez Canal from an Ottoman incursion. In August, the regiment took part in the battles of Romani and Katia, following up the retreating Ottoman forces into the Sinai desert.

The regiment spent the next few months patrolling the desert, until fighting in the unsuccessful first and second battles of Gaza. This was followed by the successful battle of Beersheba in October 1917. After the battle, the regiment took part in the pursuit of the Ottoman forces, which eventually resulted in the capture of Jerusalem. The 6th Light Horse then took part in an operation along the River Jordan, which ended with the capture of Aman and Es Salt. The Ottoman Empire surrendered soon after that and before returning home the regiment was sent back to Egypt to provide internal security as riots broke out there.

In June 1919, the regiment sailed for Australia. Their casualties for the First World War were 111 dead and 461 wounded.