Meaning
The word Anzac is part of the culture of New Zealanders
and Australians.
People talk about the 'spirit of Anzac'; there are Anzac
biscuits, and rugby or rugby league teams from the two
countries play an Anzac Day test.
The word conjures up a shared heritage of two nations,
but it also has a specific meaning.
Anzac is the acronym for Australian and New Zealand
Army Corps.
This corps was created early in the Great War of 1914–
18. In December 1914 the Australian Imperial Force and
New Zealand Expeditionary Force stationed in Egypt
were placed under the command of Lieutenant General
William Birdwood.
Initially the term Australasian Corps was suggested, but
Australians and New Zealanders were reluctant to lose
their separate identities completely. No one knows who
came up with the term Anzac. It is likely that Sergeant
K.M. Little, a clerk at Birdwood's headquarters, thought of
it for use on a rubber stamp: 'ANZAC' was convenient
shorthand. Later the corps used it as their telegraph code
word.
Meaning
The Anzacs first saw action at Gallipoli on 25 April
1915. The small cove where the Australian and New
Zealand troops landed was quickly dubbed Anzac
Cove.
Soon the word was being used to described all
Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fought on
the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Eventually it came to mean any Australian or New
Zealand soldier.
Anzac Day
Anzac Day occurs on 25 April. It commemorates all New Zealanders and
Australians killed in war and also honours returned servicemen and women.
The date itself marks the anniversary of the landing of New Zealand and
Australian soldiers – the Anzacs – on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915.
Thousands lost their lives in the Gallipoli campaign: 87,000 Turks, 44,000 men
from France and the British Empire, including 8,500 Australians and 2,721 New
Zealanders (almost one in four of those who served on Gallipoli).
Anzac Day was first marked in 1916.
The day has seen many changes over the years. The ceremonies that are held
at war memorials all over New Zealand and Australia, and in places overseas
where New Zealanders and Australians gather, remain rich in tradition and
ritual befitting a military funeral.
Anzac Day Service
Outline Commemoration Service for ANZAC Day
(Brief version suitable for primary schools)
Introduction (2 minutes)
Hymn (2 minutes)
Prayer (1 minute)
An address by an ex Serviceman, Serving Member of the Defence
Force, Local Dignitary, Teacher or Student
Wreath Laying
Ode
Last Post
Minute Silence
Reveille or Rouse
National Anthem
This service would take approximately 20 minutes depending on the
length of speeches and prayers and the number of verses of hymns
sung. The ceremony should normally take place in the morning. The
introduction should briefly set the scene of the ANZAC Day
remembrance. Prayers or Odes should be of remembrance, for
peace and for the future of Australia and New Zealand.
The address should be given by an appropriate person and should
stress the sacrifices made by servicemen and women in all
conflicts, the meaning of ANZAC in the establishment of the
Australian national identity and stress that remembrance does not
glorify war.
The Red Poppy
The red poppy has become a symbol of war remembrance the
world over. People in many countries wear the poppy to remember
those who died in war or who still serve. In many countries, the
poppy is worn around Armistice Day (11 November), but in New
Zealand and Australia it is most commonly seen around Anzac Day,
25 April.
The red or Flanders poppy has been linked with battlefield deaths
since the time of the Great War (1914–18). The plant was one of the
first to grow and bloom in the mud and soil of Flanders. The
connection was made, most famously, by Lieutenant Colonel John
McCrae in his poem 'In Flanders fields'.
‘In Flanders fields’
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row
on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still
bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw
sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In
Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands
we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith
with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In
Flanders fields.
Poem
In Flanders field
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between
the crosses row on row, That mark our
place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely
singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns
below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived,
felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were
loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you
from failing hands we throw The torch; be
yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us
who die We shall not sleep, though poppies
grow In Flanders fields.
by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
craft
Make a Poppy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Colour poppy flower red and cut out
Colour circle black and cut out. This is glued to the front of the flower in
the centre.
Cut out stem (with name tag attached). Glue to the back of the poppy.
Honour a soldier by putting his/her name on the name tag.
Put your own name on the back.
Gallipoli Slang (1)
Once they had enlisted, and contacts with the outside world were cut
short, the Anzac troops quickly adopted a number of new words and
expressions. Many of them reflect their daily lives in the Gallipoli
trenches. The following are just a few of such slang words. You may
recognise some of them and use them yourself today.
Abdul a nickname for a Turkish soldier. See also 'Jacko', Johnno' and
'Johnny Turk'. Also used as a collective noun. 'Abdul did not seem to
trust the situation and was pretty active in our sector.
adventurer, an
a member of the 1st Division (name given by the 2nd Div. who thought
they had joined for the adventure and nothing else).
alf a mo
1. one moment, please
2. a tiny moustache
"half a moment" and by analogy "half a moustache”
Anzac button, an
a nail used instead of a button to hold up trousers.
Anzac soup
a shell hole full of water polluted by a corpse.
Anzac stew
any improvised meal the troops managed to prepare from their
monotonous rations. e.g. a bucket of hot water with one rind of fat bacon
in it.
Anzac wafer, an
a hard biscuit. See 'rock-chewer.
Auntie,
another name for a Turkish broomstick bomb. Sent as a warning:' Auntie
coming over!
Gallipoli Slang (2)
axle grease,
butter
backshish,
(backsheesh, buckshee)
Begging for cigarettes or chocolate, or offering services as a guide etc.
bags of
A lot, a great number, a great amount. (‘We had bags of shrapnel on the
beach last night.)
banger, a
a sausage.
banjo, a
a shovel. ‘Swinging the banjo’ was used for digging.
Base wallah, a
someone with a relatively safe job at base, far behind the front line.
bettle, a
a landing craft for 200 men.
bergoo,
Porridge
Birdie,
General Birdwood who, according to the troops, was a ‘decent enough
bloke’.
bivvy, a
bivouac
Body-snatcher, a
Either a stretcher bearer, or a member of a raiding party.
bonzer, boshter, bosker,
very, very ... , expressing a superlative quality of something.
Gallipoli Slang (3)
brass, brass hat
Nickname for higher officers
buzz off,
to go or run away
camel dung
Egyptian cigarettes.
clobber
clothes.
cobber, a
a mate, a friend.
coffin nail, a
a cigarette.
cow, a
an obnoxious person in whose company a ‘dinkum’ soldier would not be
seen.
cricket ball,
a Turkish handgrenade the same shape and size as a cricket ball.
digger, a
Anzac soldier
dinkum
real, original, vintage.
dinkum Aussies / Fair Dinkums: volunteers.
dinkum oil: true news
divvy, a
a division.
dry rations,
a sermon.
Gallipoli Slang (4)
En-Zedders
New Zealanders
furphy, a
a camp rumour
Gallipoli gallop, the
diarrhoea (also know as the ‘Turkey trot’)
Gippo
Egyptian.
greybacks
lice.
grungey
self-made dish consisting of bully beef, buscuits, onion, water and salt.
Then heated.
gutzer, a
a piece of bad luck, a misfortune.
igri,
hurry up.
Imshi Yalla
go away.
Jacko
(Johnny) Turk, also ‘Johnno’
jam tin (bomb), a
Crude bomb made from a jam tin filled with an explosive charge, metal
scraps, lengths of barbed wire or empty cartridges, and then given a
fuse. As the supply of bombs during the campaign was very insufficient,
a ‘factory’ for the manufacturing of these ‘jam tins’ was established
inside Anzac Cove.
Gallipoli Slang (5)
kangaroo feathers
the emu plumes at one side of a Light Horseman’s hat, in fact a patch of
emu hide with the feathers still attached. Among the Arabs, the Light
Horsemen became known as “the Kings of the Feathers’.
Kiwi
New Zealander
Knocked (out)
Killed or wounded
Lance corporal bacon
Very fat bacon, with only one streak of lean running through it.
Lazy liz, a (Liz, Lizzie)
a big shell fired by the battleship Queen Elisabeth and passing overhead
with ‘a lazy drone’.
Linseed Lancers, a
Field Ambulance men
Luna Park
Cairo Hospital
mafeesh
Finished, not available anymore (‘When we finally reached the place, all
the eggs were mafeesh.’)
maleesh
Never mind, it doesn’t matter.
Jacko
(Johnny) Turk, also ‘Johnno’
mate, a
Aussies did not have friends, they had ‘mates’.
Gallipoli Slang (6)
oil
Information, news.
outed
Killed, taken care of
Peninsh, the
the Gallipoli Peninsula
pill, a
a bullet
possie, a
a firing position, but also a hole excavated in the side of a trench to rest.
red-caps, the
British military police
Rock-chewer, a
a dry biscuit, responsible for many broken teeth and dentures, a problem
that was even aggravated by the fact that originallly there were no
dentists (nor any instruments for dental surgery) with the medical
services on Gallipoli.
shrapnel
apart from the explosive, also used for the chicken peas that Australian
POW’s in Turkey sometimes found as an addition to their standard dailty
ration of boiled wheat.
smoko, a
a break for a cigarette.
snipe, to
to shoot at the enemy from a hidden position.
stiff, a
a corpse, a dead soldier
Gallipoli Slang (7)
stiffs’ paddock, a
a graveyard.
stunt, a
Originally a small-scale operation, involving a relatively small body of
men, but later also used for bigger enterprises.
stouch, to
to fight, hit, kill or use violence in general.
taube, a
German airplane, used for reconnaissance over the lines, but also
capable of dropping explosive ‘eggs’.
throw a seven, to
to get killed.
typewriter, a
a machine gun.
wallah, a
A man, a person.
wangle, to
to acquire through some sort of trick or clever scheme.
wazzah, a
a dugout
whizz-bang, a
German 77 mm shell
write-off, a
a casualty, a corpse, a ruined military vehicle.
Gallipoli Slang
A soldier’s letter
Read this letter, which contains the sort of language soldiers used on Gallipoli.
Refer to the slang list provided in this resource or research using the internet
and recommended sites.
Try to work out the meaning before you use the list! Would this soldier
understand the slang you use today?
Dear Harry
Here I am propped on the peninsh with a crowd of other tourists, so I
thought I’d grab a few mos now that the brass hats have gone off to
have a chin-way and tell you a bit about what it’s like stouching with
Abdul. Well, most of the time we’re bored to death, the rest of the time
we’re scared to death, especially when auntie visits or a cricket ball
comes over. We spend a lot of time winging the banjo, and only
yesterday had to put in a new winze, following damage to our trenches
from Beachy Bill. ANZAC soup all over no-man’s-land. The food’s pretty
crook. Most days the babbling brook brings bully and hard tack; we
were hoping the arrival of a supply ship meant we’d be getting acle
grease with it today, but apparently that was just a furphy. We had a
couple of bumrushers here this morning, warning that the base wallahs
would be arranging short arm inspection before we were allowed to go
on leave, so we had better make sure we were wearing clean chatbags. Where do you think we’re going to find water to wash them in?
You should’ve seen the lookk on his dial when I asked him that! It’s
enough to make a man ask for an Aussy. Well, old chap, must fly. Give
my regards to Emma and Jane and send us a few packets of coffin
nails next time you write.
Your pal
John
When you have worked out what the soldier meant in the extract above, try
writing your own letter, using current slang. Do you think your grandparents
would understand what you have written? Do you think your future
grandchildren will? What does this tell you about the nature of slang?
Gallipoli Slang
Across:
1. Nail used to hold up a soldier's
trousers (5, 6)
4. An Australian.
6. Water polluted by a dead body in a
hole in the ground left by an
exploding shell (5, 4).
9. Shoveling (5, 8).
10. Tinned meat (5, 4).
12. A sausage.
13. An Anzac soldier.
14. A mate.
Crossword
Down:
2. Hand-grenade (7, 4).
3. Real.
5. A hard biscuit eaten in place of bread
(5, 5).
7. Clothes.
8. A boring and poor quality meal made
with what was available, for example,
a bucket of water with a piece of
bacon in it (5, 4).
11. Very, very.
Anzac biscuits
Anzac biscuits have always been associated with Australian and
New Zealand soldiers in World War I.
Legend says that the wives, mothers and girlfriends left at home
were concerned that their fighting men were not getting enough (or
any) food of any nutritional value, so they cooked up a recipe for
treats that they would both enjoy and nutritionally benefit from.
Made from ingredients including rolled oats, coconut, flour and
sugar, these biscuits were ideal to send to soldiers abroad because
they kept well and would survive the long transit to the frontlines.
At first, they were named "soldiers biscuits", but were renamed
Anzac biscuits upon landing in Gallipoli.
Today, Anzac biscuits are manufactured commercially and sold in
supermarkets all year round. They are also used for fundraising by
the Australian RSLs and the New Zealand RSAs.
Anzac biscuits
Recipe
1 cup rolled oats 1 cup plain flour 1 cup brown sugar ½
cup desiccated coconut 125g butter 2 tablespoon golden
syrup 1 tablespoon water ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of
soda Sift flour into a bowl and stir in oats, coconut and
sugar. Melt butter, golden syrup and water in saucepan,
then add bicarb. Stir into flour mixture. Place rounded
teaspoons of mixture 5cm apart on greased baking trays
and bake at 150°C for about 20 minutes or until biscuits
feel almost firm. Remove from trays with spatula and leave
to cool on wire racks.
Great Links
http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/download/ryebuck_anz
ac.pdf
http://www.anzackids.com/index.htm
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/anzacday/introduction
http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anza
c_tradition.asp
http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australianstory/anzac-day
http://www.kiwifamilies.co.nz/articles/anzac-day/
Great Resources