Today, 20th December 1915 marks the 100th anniversary of the final evacuation of troops from the Anzac Sector of the Gallipoli Campaign. A few weeks earlier in 1915 a tall cross-eyed gent came ashore. He was greeted warmly by the Anzacs, he was afterall a ‘soldier’s soldier’, he was Lord Kitchener. He had come to
Late in 2014 I was pondering the year ahead. I’d applied for the DVA ballot for the 2015 centenary of the landing at Anzac Cove. I had applied on behalf of my daughter and myself. I saw my daughter as a true ‘daughter of ANZAC’, a father dedicated to the history of the conflict, a
SURVIVORS – THE EVERYDAY MAN AND HIS ATTEMPT AT EVERYDAY LIFE AFTER WAR. I first met David little by way of email. I’d been asked to accompany him around the battlefield. As usual when people book through the battlefield tour company that I exclusively work with, they ask the client if there was any family
Being an avid historian of the Gallipoli Campaign and Australian history in general, I find it heartening to explore the alternative stories of ANZAC. On a recent trip back to Australia to visit my family and expose my young daughter Jasmin to her Aussie roots, I came across a fascinating story from my Brother-in-law Bill.
Having been a witness to many Dawn Services over the years you seem to forget the old ‘way back when’ ceremonies before the Australian gov’t and the DVA created the security circus that we have today. It was reported that back in 1974 there were only 3 people at the Ari Burnu Dawn Service……. How
A208…… You could not imagine a totally different group of people to those of A101, they had of course all shared a special experience. But once again they all came, or left with their own Anzac Story. One story really needs telling. The Robertson Quest! And Catherine of course…… Graham, Ian and Andrew Robertson and
Everybody has an ANZAC Story. These are some of those stories from the three groups I had the pleasure of being Mat McLachlan’s Historian for. We were given advance information on possible war grave visits and any interesting family history of our clients, but the two stories mentioned below unfolded spontaneously. Please enjoy and send
Before we start…… My problem is that once I start writing, I simply can’t stop. The Anzac Day Centenary brought forth many powerful stories that need telling so please follow as best you can. TGA. I believe that every person who comes to Gallipoli either comes with their own ANZAC Story or will leave with
The Gallipoli Artist, had the great pleasure of viewing Russell Crowe’s latest film effort, ‘The Water Diviner’, Being an avid historian of the Gallipoli Campaign, I found the opening scenes of the final charge of the Turks on 20 December 1915 refreshing compared to other movies on the conflict. As far as I know this
The case of the mystery ANZAC artist! This short article on a painting originating from 1918 by a NZ artist A. A. Forrester. But nobody is sure if it is the more famous (to our Kiwi cousins) Alfred Avery Forrester. Nice painting definitely of the jetty on north Beach looking back towards Shrapnel Valley.