April 25th marks ANZAC Day, a widely observed holiday in Australia and New Zealand which began as a way to remember the soldiers who fell in the famous WWI battle of Gallipoli. The ANZAC acronym stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and the troops who fought within their ranks earned the name Anzacs. They wore it proudly and served with distinction even in the most desperate of times.
No battle typifies the horrible waste of life that was WWI better than Gallipoli. With thousands of young soldiers being mowed down by Ottoman Turkish fire, the Allied commanders continued to order these brave men into certain, pointless death. You can read more about it in Peter Hart’s superb book, Gallipoli.
For a stunning, Hollywood-style visual interpretation of the battle check out the 1981 feature film starring a young Mel Gibson. The film also stars talented character actor Peter Weir.
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Folks interested in the Turkish (re: Ottoman) perspective on the battle should check out Michael Reynolds’ book, Shattering Empires : The Clash And Collapse Of The Ottoman And Russian Empires, 1908-1918.
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Since being officially named in 1916, ANZAC Day has come to signify a time of reflection on and thanks to all those soldiers who have served and given their lives defending the interests of Australia and New Zealand.
–Scott
Eleventh Stack 
This made me think of the excellent movie Breaker Morant, about the Boer war when three Australian solders ‘following orders’ end up as the scapegoats. Very interesting perspective about war crimes.
Love Breaker Morant! Edward Woodward, The Equalizer delivers a riveting performance. The Boer War is one of those everybody loses conflicts.
–Scott
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And to celebrate, you can make the ANZAC cookie.