This word is worthy of careful examination. It means rather more than most words do, and it is one of the most honourable names in the British Empire.

The word is made up of the initial letters of the following words, all except one which does not greatly matter: Australian (and) New Zealand Army Corps. The name Anzac was given to that part of the coast of the Peninsula of Gallipoli on which the Australians and New Zealanders landed on the same day as the Lancashires made their landing farther to the south. And in time the name Anzacs was given to the Australians and New Zealanders alike. It was a convenient short term for them.

They were a merry lot of men. “We are having an iron time,” one of them wrote home, “we live in an iron ship, sleep on an iron floor, have nothing to eat but iron rations, and now, to crown all, I hear we are commanded by a fellow called ‘Iron’ Hamilton.”

The various operations of April 25, 1915, are known as the Battle of the Landing, and the attack delivered by the Anzacs was by far the greatest of all. The force numbered some 12,000 men and the place chosen for the landing was one of the most difficult on that rocky coast. The assault is one of the most heroic in the records of the British Army. A single body of men seemed to act as one, and won everlasting fame not only for themselves but for the nations to which they belonged.

The landing was to be made with the help of a squadron consisting of five battleships, one cruiser, eight destroyers, a seaplane carrier, a balloon ship and fifteen trawlers carrying supplies as well as a number of transports. Some of the men were carried on the battleships, and to these was given the honour of making the first landing.

The ships left their base on the afternoon of the 24th and steamed all night with lights out. At one o’clock they were all collected about five miles from the place where the landing was to be made. It was a bright moonlight night, which was rather unfortunate, for it gave the sentries on the slopes above the bay a warning which they were not slow to act upon.

At one o’clock the men on the battleships were silently roused and were served with a hot meal. They were very quiet and steady but cheery, and quite confident that they could give a good account of themselves in the coming fight. It was, indeed, a severe trial of strength, skill, and nerve power which lay before these brave colonials. They were not like the Germans or even the British regulars who had been trained for fighting over a long period. Yet these men from the farms and pastures as well as from the towns of the Southern Land had been selected for the post of honour on that great day.

As soon as the meal was finished, orders were given to lower the boats. These included not only the cutters but also the steam picket boats which were to tow them to the beach. In a very short time the men had embarked to the number of 1500 and the boats were towed towards the shore. The battleships were cleared for action and steamed closer in.

It was a few minutes before five o’clock when the first boats drew near to the shore above which towered a lofty cliff with a winding pathway leading from the beach to its right flank. At that moment a light was seen on shore which proved to be a signal, for a few minutes later a rifle volley rang out followed by the sound of a machine-gun, and a number of men in the leading boats fell dead or wounded. The landing of the Anzacs was to be disputed.

This reception was exactly what the men needed to nerve them to their attack. A body of Turkish soldiers was seen advancing to meet them. Without waiting for the word of command they sprang from the boats into the shallow water, and ran to meet the foe. “Their magazines were not even charged,” we read, “so they just went in with cold steel, and I believe I am right in saying that the first Ottoman Turk since the Last Crusade received an Anglo-Saxon bayonet in him at five minutes after five a.m. on April 25. It was over in a minute. The Turks in the first trench were bayoneted or ran away and a Maxim gun was captured. Then the Australians found themselves facing an almost perpendicular cliff of loose sandstone.”4

Half-way up the face of this cliff was a second trench, from which a steady fire was now pouring from rifle and machine-gun. The face of the precipice was dotted with short bushes and behind each of these pieces of scrub a marksman was concealed. The fire from the enemy was directed not only upon those men who had already landed but also upon those who were now being brought from the transports.

The men at the foot of the cliff threw their packs to the ground, charged their rifles and set out on their desperate climb. In about fifteen minutes they were in possession of the second line of trenches and the Turks were on the run, or rather on the climb, to the top of the lofty cliff. The men were so full of eagerness that some of them pressed too far and were cut off from the main attack.

Meanwhile the battleships were bombarding the Turkish positions and were receiving such a heavy fire in return that the landing was greatly checked. The beach was very narrow and soon became crowded to such an extent that the men got in each other’s way and there were more casualties than there would have been in more open country. But there was no quenching the spirit of the men. One eager Australian fell over a cliff 100 feet high and was picked up little the worse for his fall. A man from New Zealand was seen going down a deep hollow and was warned that there would probably be a mine at the bottom. He laughed and called out, “Then you can catch me as I come up.”

A dressing station protected by sand-bags had been set up on the beach, and when the wounded had been given first-aid they were quickly conveyed to the ships. The men showed wonderful courage and cheerfulness. “I saw some lighters full of bad cases,” wrote one who was there, “as they passed the battleships. Some of those on board recognised our vessel as the ship they had left that morning; whereupon, in spite of their sufferings and discomforts, they set up a cheer which was answered by a deepening shout of encouragement from our crew.”

By the afternoon of that great day the Anzacs found themselves in a strong position above the beach for which they had won immortal fame. Their first task was accomplished. They had invaded Gallipoli, and had fixed themselves ready for the next stage in the stern work, which was not long delayed; for the Turks soon attacked in force, but were unable to move the Anzacs from their position.

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