ANZAC Day address
Shane Flanagan, Australian Ambassador to the State of Qatar
April 2024
Before dawn on 25th April 1915, the first soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the shores of the Gallipoli peninsula.
They were part of a joint campaign with allied British, French, Indian, and Canadian forces that commanders hoped would end the Great War.
Their mission was to destroy Turkish guns that were preventing naval ships from reaching and bombarding the Turkish capital, Constantinople.
Australians were the first to land.
They faced heavy gunfire and determined resistance from the Ottoman forces dug in on higher ground.
It was a day of confusion and fear. By nightfall, some 2000 Australians had been killed or wounded.
All sides suffered immeasurably.
We also remember and honour the bravery of the Turkish soldiers who gave their lives defending their homeland.
After eight months of battle and bloodshed, the campaign for Gallipoli ended in stalemate and retreat.
By then, about 8700 Australians and almost 2700 New Zealanders had been killed – among 130,000 soldiers on both sides who lost their lives at Gallipoli.
Their bravery and commitment to the cause resonated with the people back home in Australia and New Zealand, and the ANZAC spirit was born.
On a grand scale the Gallipoli campaign was an epochal moment in the forging of a sense of a national identity for the newly federated nation of Australia.
But interwoven within this overarching story, and an integral part of it, were the many compelling stories of the men and women who served.
I will now tell one of these.
Among those who landed on Gallipoli on 25th April 1915 was George Joseph Williams – a 23-year-old cabinet maker from Carlton in Melbourne.
The youngest of nine children, he had enlisted as a signalman in the 7th Battalion in August 1914 – in the first influx of those who volunteered after the declaration of war in July.
In the pre-dawn of 25th April – with his comrades - he found himself preparing to land amongst the second wave.
Of course, he had no idea of the horror that awaited – or that that the events of day would see it become known as ANZAC Day through the generations to follow.
George was wounded during the fighting that day – shot in the shoulder.
He survived, and after treatment in Cairo he returned to Gallipoli in May before being wounded again in July. His official military record records his injury as splinters – which must be a kind of strange military euphemism!
He was out of action – literally – for several months receiving treatment and convalescing.
George rejoined his comrades in Gallipoli again at the beginning of December – until the evacuation later that month.
When the 7th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force was split to help raise a new battalion, George joined the newly formed 59th Battalion in March 1916.
He fought on the Western Front France and Belgium from June 1916 until February 1918, surviving more horrors there and bouts of sickness requiring hospitalisation.
Unlike so many of his mates George survived the war and returned to Australia in May 1918.
He later married Helena Thompson in July of that year – they had seven children together; and George passed away in 1966.
George Joesph Williams is my mother’s grandfather and my great Grandfather, so it is with great pride and in his honour that I make this address today.
While I tell his story with pride, each of those who serve has their own story.
Anzac Day has been one of the most important dates on Australia's calendar since 1916.
At first, it gave people a chance to honour the original Anzacs – the Australians and New Zealanders who fought on Gallipoli.
Then it became a day for those who had served in the First World War.
With the Second World War, and wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations that have followed, it has become an occasion to honour all who have worn our country's uniform in service.
Today, we reflect on that service.
We recognise more than a hundred thousand Australian service men and women who have lost their lives in military service in our country's name.
We also recognise the Australians and New Zealanders who have served together in recent operations including in Timor Leste, Solomon Islands, Iraq and Afghanistan. And we recognise those who serve now.
We honour the values that have been invested in the original Anzacs.
Loyalty. Selflessness. Courage
And we take time to measure our own achievements against those of the soldiers who fought on Gallipoli – like George Joseph Williams.
Lest we forget.