Anzacs' sacrifice remembered

A ecumenical service and wreath-laying ceremony was held yesterday morning at the Pietà military cemetery to mark the 91st anniversary of Anzac Day which commemorates those Australians and New Zealanders who died in action at Gallipoli in 1915 and in subsequent military actions.

The service and ceremony were conducted by Mgr Philip Calleja, Fr Lawrence Zammit and Canon Tom Mendel.

Wreaths were laid by President Eddie Fenech Adami and representatives of Australia, New Zealand, Britain, France, Turkey, the United States of America, the Armed Forces of Malta, the Royal British Legion, the George Cross Island Association, The King's Own Malta Regiment Association, the Emigrants Commission, the Friends of Australia Association, the Maltese-Australian Association, the Maltese Australian Chamber of Commerce and Culture, the Malta GC Unit of the Sea Cadet Corps and the Scouts of Malta.

The battle by Allied soldiers to capture and hold the Gallipoli Peninsula was one of the hardest fought but ultimately futile campaigns of World War I. As the troops landed on the beaches by the peninsula, they were cut down by sustained and concentrated machine-gun fire. There was very heavy loss of life on both sides during the nine-month campaign that followed.

Some 50,000 members of the Australian Imperial Forces, from a total Australian population of just five million, served at Gallipoli and more than 8,700 Australians and 2,700 New Zealanders were killed during the campaign.

This heavy toll of dead and wounded carved deeply into the psyche of the people of Australia and New Zealand, and April 25 has been set aside in both countries as a Day of Remembrance. The significance and solemnity of Anzac Day has strengthened over the years as the community remembers all those who have laid down their lives in the many conflicts fought by Anzacs since the Gallipoli campaign.

Malta was closely associated with the Anzacs from the beginning. Many of the original Anzacs who were wounded at Gallipoli were evacuated to Malta for treatment. History remembers Malta as the Nurse of the Mediterranean. However, for 308 Anzacs, the island became a permanent resting-place as there are 229 Australian and 79 New Zealand war graves in Malta.

Also yesterday, a Dawn Service was held at 5 at the Mtarfa military cemetery conducted by Fr Guido Schembri from St Dominic's Priory, in Rabat, and Fr Lawrence Zammit, Chaplain of the Armed Forces of Malta. Representatives from Australia, New Zealand, Britain and the AFM participated in this service.