The foundations of a nation

Australians around the world rekindle the glories, the tragedies and indeed the pride when they come together to celebrate Anzac Day at dawn today. The sombre notes of the Last Post will sound and Australians will remember. Gallipoli has the power to grip the imagination and stir the spirit of this nation, my home for the last 53 years.

Anzac Day is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during World War I. Anzac stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as Anzacs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

I remember very vividly and agree wholeheartedly with Paul Keating, a former Australian Prime Minister, when he declared: "In honouring the immense sacrifice of Gallipoli, we in no way glorify war nor do we seek to justify the immeasurable tragedy of World War I, still working its way through human history, in the tremendous events re-shaping Europe today".

Yet, there can be no doubt as to the profound and enduring impact the Great War and all it stands for has on Australia. It lies deeper, much deeper than Australia's pride in courage, endurance and prowess in battle. It was the bonding of young Australians thrown together for the first time, not as individuals but in an unbreakable mateship. They quickly came to realise how much they loved Australia, their home even if they were fighting so far away in the dug-outs of Gallipoli, Turkey and elsewhere on the other side of the world.

For four years of the Great War, more than 330,000 Australians answered their young country's call. By 1918, more than 60,000 of them had spent their lives, and more than 150,000 had been wounded - which produces the astounding casualty rate of two out of every three. At the time, Australian males numbered fewer than 2.5 million, of whom only 1.3 million were of "eligible" age for service.

The nine-month land invasion by Commonwealth forces, French, Greek and Egyptians between April 1915 and January 1916 left only misery and devastation. It was bloody and a disaster as a military operation. Some 1,000 Maltese served in a special labour corps and others served on RN ships or were attached to the British and Anzac regiments. A total of 115,000 British and 47,000 French were killed, wounded or missing. The Turks, under Kemal Ataturk, had 63,256 killed and 168,612 wounded.

When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a Federal Commonwealth for only 14 years. The new national government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the allied navies.

The plan was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. They landed at Gallipoli on April 25, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships.

Malta became not just and R&R location for the Allied forces at Gallipoli but the Nurse of the Mediterranean with some 20,000 Anzacs sick and wounded accommodated in the 27 emergency hospitals set up in Malta and Gozo.

Australia Hall was also built in Pembroke by the Australian Red Cross in November 1915 as a memorial to Australian and New Zealand troops.

It was maintained by the British Forces until they left in 1979.

It now stands like the Opera House at the entrance of Valletta, only this one is a relic of World War I, neglected, dilapidated and in a state of disgust.

For 308 Anzacs, the cemetery at Pietà became a permanent resting place. There are 229 Australian and 79 New Zealand war graves in Malta.

Indeed, a bond that stands the test of time between the two islands, a tiny one in the Mediterranean and the island continent of Australia.