Each year Australia commemorates the anniversary of Anzac Day on the 25th
of April as the day when
Anzacs landed onto the beaches of Gallipoli. The courage, honesty,
endurance, resourcefulness and loyalty
of Anzacs became an inspiration to this young nation.
Each year Australians commemorate this day in Australia and overseas,
mainly at Anzac Cove (Gallipoli-
Turkey) with great pride and respect to its great sons of Anzacs. They
recall that from the deeds and
sacrifices of the Anzacs at Gallipoli there emerged a powerful sense of
Australian identity and culture.
In fact, the young Turkish soldiers on one side and the young Australian
soldiers on the other, were both
innocent victims of cruel and imperialist policies of the major super
powers of that time. All the wars are
unjustifiable and evil but this one was also an unofficial announcement
of
the birth of two nations:
Australians from a British colony and Turks from a collapsing Ottoman
Empire.
Australians, fought against the enemy, alongside with the British Empire Army and Navy in the land of Turks - Anatolia.
The tragedy of Gallipoli, the history and the events of 1915, does not
diminish with the
passing of the years. Gallipoli remains an unforgettable part of the
military heritage of
Britain, Australia and New Zealand, and of many regiments and naval units
that took
part. It was the most infamous holocaust the world has ever known.
Just the name Dardanelles has an enigmatic sound to it. This narrow
strategic passage
from the warm waters of the Mediterranean, through the sea of Marmara, and
from there
through the even narrower Bosphorus to the Black Sea, provides Russia's
only year round
ice free access to the world's oceans, an access historically coveted by
the Russians and
a cause of the Crimean war - another British amphibious operation of
disastrous
magnitude.
This waterway was also the historic crossing for invaders
from Asia into Europe. At the
narrows near Canakkale, known as Hellespont, the Persian King Xerxes built
a bridge of
boats to launch his invasion of Greece. Centuries before the Trojan War
was fought at the
entrance to the Dardanelles
The combined British, French New Zealand and Australian troops landed at dawn of the 25 April 1915. They landed along a dangerous coastline and were met with devastating resistance by the Turkish army who were at a very advantageous point on the hillside. The Anzacs landed on the eastern side as part of an operation involving 75 000 troops. Something went horribly and tragically wrong. The plan was that the troops land close to an open plane but instead they found themselves a mile north to the north and facing steeply rising ridges and gorges.
Initially, their plan was to surprise the enemy at dawn but instead they
found themselves on the firing line
from the Turkish defenders. 2000 of the 16 000 Anzacs were killed on the
first day. Among those who died
at Anzac Cove during this terrible siege was a Maltese/Australian soldier
by the name of Charles Bonavia.
His body, like many others, was never found.
Several Maltese/Australians, including Charles Bonavia, fought side by side with the Australian troops. Bonavia was born in Malta in 1888. His father was the registrar at the Malta Law Courts and his grandfather rose to the rank of Colonel in the Royal Malta Fencible Artillery. Bonavia studied architecture at the University of Malta and migrated to Australia in 1911.
He joined the 11th Battalion 3rd Infantry Brigade and sailed with his
regiment from Fremantle to Egypt on
2 November 1914. Bonavia's name is included in the list of the fallen
soldiers at Lone Pine and also at the
National War Memorial in Canberra. Other Maltese whose names are forever
recorded at Helles Memorial
overlooking the Dardanelles are Major Herbert Sammut who died when he was
in command of Essex
Regiment and Lieutenant Herbert Huber. Huber was a member of the Royal
Iniskilling Fusiliers and was
killed few hours before the British forces successfully evacuated from the
Turkish soil. Unfortunately, their
remains were never discovered.
Many other Maltese migrants were among the casualties at Gallipoli. According to the Maltese historian, John Mizzi, there were 800 Maltese labourers serving under Maltese officers in Gallipoli. A young private, Joe Camilleri, was 27 years old when he was killed in enemy action. He was buried in an unmarked grave close to the beach at Ari Burnu, near Anzac Cove
Indeed, Malta played a significant role in the Gallipoli campaign, not only as a back up base for the royal navy but also as one of the major hospitals in the Mediterranean. There were also convalescent centres and looked after 58 000 servicemen wounded during the World War I.
There are 1500 British and 26 Anzac servicemen buried in Malta as well as French, Indians and Egyptians together with 26 Turkish prisoners. This was Malta's greatest contribution to the Allied's efforts during this terrible war.
The early Maltese settlers have indeed given their contribution to
preserve freedom and democracy in their
adopted home- Australia. Let us hope that the nations of the earth are
emerging from the self-destructive
practices of enmity and will build, in sunlight, a world of peace,
democracy and social justice.
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E-mail to Frank L. Scicluna: frank@txc.net.au
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