MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Australian and New Zealand war dead remembered in Falkland Islands
At dawn on the 25th of April, members of the growing Australian and New Zealand community in the Falkland Islands and friends gathered together at the Cross of Sacrifice in Stanley in an act of remembrance, which echoed similar gatherings taking place all over the world.
The 25th April, known as ANZAC Day after the initials of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, is probably Australia's and New Zealand's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. This was the landing of an allied expeditionary force on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli, which was to lead to the deaths of more than 8000 ANZAC soldiers and has been described as the point when ?The Great Adventure' turned into a national disaster.
Though the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Constantinople and knocking Turkey out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand troops' actions during the campaign led to the creation of what became known as an "Anzac legend." This has since become an important part of the national identity of both nations and the anniversary of this specific action at Gallipoli is now an occasion when all New Zealand and Australian war dead, right up to and including the current campaign in Iraq, are proudly, if sadly, remembered.
Stanley's ceremony, as the sun rose on a blessedly calm morning, drew what its Australian organiser, Bruce Wilks, described as a "record attendance" of fifty-two people.
Personal accounts of what ANZAC Day means to them were delivered by Australian, Derek Reeves, Project Manager of Falklands Gold and Minerals Ltd. and eleven year-old New Zealander, Shaun Reynolds. Prayers were led by the Rev.Paul Sweeting of Christ Church Cathedral in Stanley and wreaths were laid, amongst others, by His Excellency the Governor of the Falkland Islands, Mr.Howard Pearce, CVO.
John Fowler (Mercopress) Stanley
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