Words like bravery, courage, skill and camaraderie were used in descriptions of Australian soldiers in the newspapers. Shortly after the landing at Anzac Cove (Gaba Tepe), those on the home front were reading about the 'worthy sons of the Empire'. The Dardanelles Campaign was the first time since the Second South African (Boer) War of 1899 to 1902 that Australian troops had been sent into battle. At the time World War I broke out, the young nation's cultural and political ties to Britain were still strong. Before Federation in 1901, each of the current states of Australia was a British colony. They were part of a hastily planned series of landings by a British Empire Force of 75,000 troops from Britain, Ireland and India, and troops from France and her dominions.Īustralia, as a nation, was only 14 years old. The Anzac legend was born on 25 April 1915, when some 16,000 soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landed under fire on the shores of Gallipoli, in modern-day Türkiye. The term also expresses the characteristics that are seen as Australian, including:

Once used to refer to those who fought in World War I, 'Anzac' now represents all men and women who serve Australia. The Anzacs on Gallipoli helped shape the Australian story. Is it not now time for Australia to cast it aside?

It is an idea that had currency a hundred years ago. The key premise of the Anzac legend is that nations and men are made in war. In the myth of Anzac, military achievements are exalted above civilian ones events overseas are given priority over Australian developments slow and patient nation-building is eclipsed by the bloody drama of battle action is exalted above contemplation. The mettle that a race can show / is proved with shot and steel. On the day the news came that Australian soldiers were in action at the Dardanelles, and the first list of our killed and wounded arrived, we were a changed people. 'Anzac Cove', the site where the Anzac legend began.

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