ANZAC Day | Lest We Forget

Today is ANZAC Day.

All around Australia and New Zealand, children and adults will be awake, showered and dressed long before dawn. They’ll drive across town in the dark, hoping to beat the crowds and find a space in the car park at the Returned Services League (Australia) or Returned Services Association (New Zealand).

They’re heading to the ANZAC Day Dawn Service.

ANZAC Day commemorates the day in 1915 when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Gallipoli, in the Turkish peninsula. We were both new countries in 1915, part of the British Commonwealth and keen to show our loyalty to King and Country.

And so we remember.

The Dawn Service is special.

People arrive while it’s still dark and watch the sun rise as the music plays and prayers are intoned. I’m always impressed by the number of families with children. Some wear medals that used to adorn the chest of their father, grandfather or perhaps great-grandfather. They wear these medals with pride, in memory of men they may never have met, men who have become legends for their service and sacrifice.

Also present are the legends themselves.

Men who fought in France, Crete, North Africa, Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands, or Afghanistan. These men wear the medals they earned facing enemy fire under what were often horrific conditions.

There are no longer any veterans of Gallipoli with us, but we still meet at dawn on 25 April to remember and honour the men who served in that disastrous campaign, the battle that forged the Australians and New Zealand Army Corps and our identities as nations.

And we meet to honour those who served in subsequent wars in the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as those who served in the merchant navy to keep the home nations supplied and fed, and who were just at risk of being torpedoed or bombed as their army and navy counterparts.

The veterans and visitors will sing God Save the Queen, the national anthems of Australia and New Zealand, and a hymn. You’ll be able to hear a pin drop when the bugler stands beside the Cenotaph to play the Last Post, as those attending pay silent tribute to those who fought and died for freedom. Those who can will stand as a sign of respect.

After the Dawn Service, veterans, volunteers, and officials will head to the civic service. It’s at Memorial Park in my city. This service starts with a march, led by shuffling veterans who have fortified themselves at the RSA bar, followed by the cadet forces marching proudly, then groups such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides.

A group of Army, Navy and Air cadets will form the honour guard at the service, standing to attention throughout the service. The choir will lead the congregation in singing hymns and the National Anthem. The band will play quietly as wreaths are laid by representatives from local community groups. An Army chaplain will pray for the fallen.

A bugler from the brass band will play the Last Post again.

A student representative from one of the local high schools will read the famous poem, In Flanders Fields. Everyone will be silent, as befits such a solemn occasion.A student, probably the Head Girl of a local high school, will deliver a speech about what Anzac Day means to her. She might mention a family connection to one or both of the World Wars, or possibly a later conflict. She will talk about freedom from oppression, and about the innocent young men who travelled far from home and made the ultimate sacrifice, their lives in exchange for our freedom. She might even quote the Bible:

For greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

This year, she may mention the Christchurch terror attack, the way conflict can come to our very doorsteps.

But her polished speech will miss the most important sacrifice.

She won’t mention the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for your sins and for mine. She will miss the end of the story of sacrifice: the victory Jesus gained through the resurrection.

Anzac Day without Jesus is like Good Friday without Easter Sunday. It’s only half the story.

Anzac Day is important. It’s a time to come together as a community and remember those who have gone before, those who gave their lives that we might live.

But it’s more than a commemoration of sacrifice. It’s the story of victory.

Lest we forget.