The Anzac Day ceremony of 25 April is a form ofmilitary funeral and follows a particular pattern. The day's ceremonies have two major parts: one at dawn and another, more public event, later in the morning.
Things had reached a stalemate on the Western Front by the end of 1914. An assault on the Dardanelles by the British and its allies would, it was believed, knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war.
The word Anzac is part of the culture of New Zealanders and Australians. The word conjures up a shared heritage of two nations, but it also has a specific meaning, dating from December 1914.
The capture of the French town of Le Quesnoy by the New Zealand Division on 4 November 1918 has special significance in New Zealand's military history. This is not merely because it was the last major action by the New Zealanders in the Great War - the armistice followed a week later - but also because it was captured in a particular way.
Just 4 kilometres east of Beaudignies in northern France is Le Quesnoy. This town was in German hands for almost all of the First World War, from August 1914, until the New Zealanders liberated it on 4 November 1918.
Leslie Cecil Lloyd Averill was born on 25 March 1897. He volunteered for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in 1916 and left New Zealand with the 34th Reinforcements two years later.
Captain James Matheson Nimmo was born on 22 September 1897. When he enlisted in 1917, he omitted his first Christian name for obvious reasons. He left New Zealand with the 37th Reinforcements in May 1918 and, after further training in England, joined 3rd Battalion, 3rd New Zealand (Rifle) Brigade on 27 September 1918.
The ANZACs began digging in to their positions on the Gallipoli Peninsula on the evening of 25 April 1915. Short battles that were often costly, for both sides became the pattern of events for several weeks.
The Wellington Battalion, which William George Malone commanded, landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25 April. Malone immediately began to impose order. By example, determination and drive he transformed weak defences held by frightened men into ordered garrisons that dominated their Turkish opponents.
George Bollinger's diary was kept from the time he left Wellington on 16 October 1914 and documents superbly the experiences and shifting attitudes of a New Zealand soldier during the Gallipoli campaign.
Lieutenant Colonel William George Malone stands outside his bivouac on Walker's Ridge. Malone, a Stratford farmer and lawyer, was the commander of the Wellington Infantry Regiment at Gallipoli. He was killed during the fight for Chunuk Bair on 8 August 1915.
This list of 147 fatalities of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was collated from Commonwealth War Graves Commission records. The exact date of death cannot be verified for 23 of those listed.
The diary that Bollinger kept from the time he left Wellington on 16 October 1914 documents superbly the experiences and shifting attitudes of a New Zealand soldier during the Gallipoli campaign.
Henare Wepiha Te Wainohu was a chaplain during the Gallipoli campaign. At first there was official opposition to sending Maori troops into battle, and after months of training in Egypt and garrison duty at Malta, the Maori troops were becoming restless.
Evelyn Brooke was appointed matron on the hospital ship Maheno, which embarked for Turkey in July 1915. As a hospital ship matron, she was responsible for all nursing arrangements. Much of the work was carried out by male orderlies, whom she trained but were under the command of a non-commissioned officer (the wardmaster).
On 17 April 1915 Charles Begg, a qualified doctor and Field Ambulance superviser, embarked for Gallipoli from Alexandria. When the Anzacs landed on 25 April, casualties were unexpectedly heavy. Begg sent his bearer sections ashore while his surgical teams provided treatment on various ships.
In July 1915, during the Gallipoli campaign, Ettie Rout set up the New Zealand Volunteer Sisterhood and invited women between the ages of 30 and 50 to go to Egypt to care for New Zealand soldiers.
This is the memorial arch to Lieutenant Colonel William George Malone at Stratford, Taranaki. Malone, a Stratford farmer and lawyer, was the commander of the Wellington Infantry Regiment at Gallipoli. He died on the slopes of Chunuk Bair on 8 August 1915.
