This Week in History - ANZAC Day (24 - 30 April)

https://ospreypublishing.com/thisweekhistory/

Oficer Dywizji Morskiej uzbrojony w rewolwer Webley Mk.VI oraz żołnierz z karabinem Lee-Enfield Mk.III

Piechur australijski z karabinem Lee Enfield SMLE Mk III

Żołnierz piechoty tureckiej uzbrojony w karabin Mauser wz. 1890

In the autumn of 1914, the Allies realised that Turkey, crucial because of its control over routes of contact between Russia and the Allies in the west, was not going to remain neutral as had been hoped, and action would have to be taken.

Two days before the outbreak of war, Germany and Turkey had agreed on an alliance against Russia, although this did not commit Turkey to military action. Events in the next few months, however, including the British requisitioning of two battleships built for the Turkish Navy in Britain, meant that the entry of Turkey into the war seemed increasingly likely. By September 1914, German command had been extended to the Turkish Navy, and the Bosphorus waterway had been closed in contravention of international law. Turkey was now firmly in the German camp. Following an ultimatum to the Turkish government, hostilities officially began on 31 October 1914. By early 1915, it was obvious that the war would be protracted, and that Russia was stretched fighting on two fronts. Into this context was born the plan to attack the Dardanelles.

Simply, the original plan was the forcing of the Dardanelles by a squadron of battleships, which were considered expendable. This would open the waterway for Russian ships and hopefully cause the downfall of the Turkish government. This would be followed by landings on the peninsulas. Plans developed, and a large number of powerful ships, with a force of British, French, Australian and New Zealander divisions (ANZAC forces), were allocated for the campaign.

100 Years ago - CHARGING TO THE MAORI WAR-CRY

IN TRAINING IN EGYPT: CHARGING TO THE MAORI WAR-CRY ANZAC DAY IN LONDON: NEW ZEALANDERS ON THE MARCH TO WESTMINSTER ABBEY. April 25, 1916-the anniversary of the landing of the "Anzac" troops in Gallipoli-was celebrated by a memorial service in Westminster Abbey, attended by the King and Queen and a great number of survivors of the campaign. BRIGADIER-GENERAL BROWN INSPECTING NEW ZEALANDERS IN FRANCE GALLIPOLI DAY AT THE NEW ZEALAND HEADQUARTERS IN ENGLAND. General Sir William Birdwood decorating Sergeant Tavender with the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Sir Thomas Mackenzie, High Commissioner for New Zealand, is on the left.


https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/from-new-zealand-to-st-pauls-pr0c02scz?CMP=TNLEmail_118918_1683345

From New Zealand to St Paul’s

God grant that before long Prince and people may again meet in thanksgiving for a peace, which, when we had it, we did not value

August 5, 1915

(By a wounded New Zealander)
Twelve thousand miles away in New Zealand there is a slate-roofed, ivy-covered college chapel, where, almost a year ago, every seat in chancel and nave was occupied by pupils past or present. The masters in hood and surplice, the choir-boys in their black cassocks, filled the back benches, and in front privates and officers sang for the last time the end of term hymn and listened to the farewell sermon. These men were on the eve of departure, volunteers going without question to succour a land that most of them had never seen.
Then the scattering of all shadows,
And the end of toil and gloom.
The notes echoed in the chapel rafters, and from the lectern the hopeful words of the Benediction fell on the bended heads of the men. Not a year has elapsed, and many of those present that evening are lying in nameless graves among the dwarf oaks of Gallipoli.

Yesterday, one of those who had passed through the Valley of the Shadow heard the words of the same hymn sung beneath the dome of England’s greatest Cathedral. They awakened sad memories, but soon the majesty of the scene and service, almost oppressive in ceremonial grandeur, filled mind and eye. Personal loss and pain both were forgotten, and, in their place, came a sense of immeasurable pride and thankfulness, pride in being a citizen of so great an Empire, thankfulness for the steadfast courage of England in her dark days.
THE SENSE OF SOLEMNITY
To many of these men from overseas the magnificence and solemnity of the ceremony was overwhelming. To them all the pageantry and panoply that pass almost unnoticed in a great Imperial city were strange. The intensity of their patriotism, the fervour of their loyalty, had been fostered by no such outward show. So it was that the splendour of the grand old church, the pealing organ, the angel-voices that soared to the misty roof, the gathering of the greatest in the Empire, formed never to be forgotten impressions that will be handed down as heirlooms.
Ignorant of Monarchy, the New Zealander looked almost reverently on the khaki-clad figure of him for whom he had fought, weIl content with the quiet dignity that gives such confidence. The National Anthem, which now means so much more than it did a year ago, was sung with thrilling fervour, and its passionate patriotism and loyalty must have in some measure compensated for the anxieties and responsibilities that beset a Throne.
Midway through the service, as the Archbishop’s fervent prayer arose, a ray of sunlight flooded the gloom, striking into sudden brightness the ring on his lifted hand. A whisper of good omen was heard as the shadows fled before the sunbeams. God grant that it may be so, and that before long Prince and people may again meet in thanksgiving for a peace, which, when we had it, we did not value.
Never have the ties of Empire been so close. They are cemented with the life-blood of the Colonies, and the King rules over an undivided dominion - God save the King!

100 Years Ago - the Great War and Votes for Women

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-01-28/register/famine-with-plenty-in-russia-kmphx76xk

january 28, 1917

Famine with plenty in Russia

Russia is experiencing famine in the midst of plenty. The scarcity of food is the one thing talked of throughout the land. Last summer the poorer people took up their positions outside the Petrograd municipal meat shops at 10 o’clock in the evening. The sun had hardly set over the Elagin Island, where fashion and wealth enjoyed their ease and the wonders of the white nights, before the poor, basket in hand, began their weary vigil. Some waited 10 and 12 hours for a morsel of meat. Since then we have seen queues become the rule — for meat, for bread, for milk, for vegetables, for sugar, people wait in long “tails”. Rich and poor participate, the latter in person, the former by proxy through their servants. With the thermometer sometimes at 20 below zero Fahrenheit, people have to wait hours outside each shop to get daily necessities. The writer of this article saw a “tail” of more than 1,200 people outside the cooperative shop for railway employees at Kosloff waiting for white flour. Kosloff had then been without flour for 10 days, though half a dozen of the largest flour-mills in Russia are within a 250-mile radius of the town.


Probably there is sufficient food in the country to feed the population for the next two years. The problem to solve is how to distribute it. The Department of Provisions has borne the burden of supplying the Armies in the field since July, 1915. As time went on the deficiency in provisioning the civil population increased. The Ministry of Trade and Industry considered the question and appointed committees, but there the matter rested. Now its efforts have completely ceased.


Throughout the war the railways have supplied the Army with all that is needed or was available. This shows some organization; but it was done at the expense of starving traffic to the capitals and large provincial towns. With thorough, or even partially, efficient organization the great towns and manufacturing centres could have been supplied with all necessities in sufficient quantities if ordinary care had been taken in the use of goods trucks. Organization and co-ordination are, however, essential if Russia is to cope with her food problem; and it is for this reason that the absence of a strong, capable, and united Ministry has been felt during the past year.