- Bravery honoured at Gallipoli -
25.04.2003 13:44:21
In darkness, Australian backpackers, veterans and Turks gathered at
ANZAC Cove for the traditional dawn service today.
Amid the tightest security Gallipoli has ever seen for an ANZAC Day commemoration, Treasurer Peter Costello painted a picture of that fateful landing 88 years ago.
With light about to break, the young men half a world away from home were gripped by nerves and fear and exhilaration as their boats beached at Gallipoli.
Veterans march on ANZAC Day in Sydney
But they could not have imagined the wretched months that lay ahead, the death of their comrades and the suffering.
"The first shots would have shattered any illusions they had about war," he said of the ANZACs.
"One of the men who carried the wounded described it as one of the roughest places on God`s earth."
The ANZACs were quickly acquainted with suffering and death.
"The ANZACs would never command the heights which were the key to controlling the Peninsula," Mr Costello said.
"They dug in against impossible odds and held it.
"When they successfully withdrew, over 8,000 had lost their lives.
"They were young. They had everything to live for but they died in the service of their country and their fellow citizens."
The ANZACs have been credited with forging Australia`s identity and for giving the nation a consciousness.
Until the ANZACs, Australia`s story was one of settlement, colony and federation, Mr Costello said.
The treasurer later delivered a speech at the Lone Pine Memorial on the Gallipoli Peninsula, a place of carnage and bravery.
"It has been said that the dead were so thick on the ground that the only respect that could be shown was to avoid treading on their faces," he said.
More than 4,000 Australians and 700 New Zealanders with no known graves are commemorated at Lone Pine.
With the help of Australian authorities, the Turkish government boosted security amid warnings terrorists would strike.
ANZAC Cove was surrounded by police and Turkish troops but Mr Costello warned young Australians who had made the pilgrimage to Turkey to be mindful of their safety elsewhere.
"Australians should still be careful about their personal security," he said in a radio interview.
"It`s a difficult period, but I can assure you that the government is putting in place measures to ensure that security is much, much tighter than it`s ever been."
acknowledge:
by Herald Sun
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au
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