April 25th is one of the most significant days of the year in Australia. It marks the day that the Australia and New Zealand Army Corp (along with other armed forces of the British Empire) landed on the beaches of Gallipoli on the Turkish peninsula.
A long, bloody, pointless and quite frankly disastrous campaign ensued the ended with a retreat. It was, like all of World War One, an horrific and senseless waste of life. And yet it was certainly a turning point in the establishment of an individual identity for Australia and for modern Turkey. Interestingly, there is quite a bit of closeness between Australia, New Zealand and Turkey over the commemoration of Gallipoli with shared respect for the sacrifices made and bravery shown on both sides. I don't know of any other major conflict where the opposing sides now identify so closely over the conflict.
Here's a video I made to mark this year's ANZAC Day.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=5hUcgvoC_NM
For anyone who wants to know more, this link leads to the official Australian government site. Also, here's a series of videos I made last year.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=qqZcZxk-Tws
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=yHRqiF0jyRw
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=4pUtu3DTf7g
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