A Brief History of the ANZAC'S (1914-1918)

The opening of the 20th century was characterised by rising nationalist sentiment. This could be seen not only in the arrogance of the established European powers but in the unrest that was occurring amongst the subject peoples of their multinational colonial empires. This along with economic and colonial rivalries, the formation of hostile political alliances and an ongoing arms race contributed to a growing sense of international tension during the prewar years.

This all came to a head with the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914, as a result of Austrian interference in the Balkens. It proved to be the spark that ignited the conflict that would become known  "the Great War," .It quickly escalated to involve all the great powers of Europe with Britain and Germany declaring war in August 1914. Australia and New Zealand had previously offered army and naval support to Britain and so we to became involved.  Eventually nearly all the countries of the world were to be touched by the struggle.  By the time it was over it would eventually cost the lives of more than eight million soldiers.
 
On the 1 Nov 1914, Australia's initial commitment sailed from Princess Royal Harbour in Western Australia.  It comprised 20,000 members of the Australian Imperial Force and two New Zealand brigades. On arrival in Egypt the Anzac troops became involved in the abortive plan to storm the Dardanelles and capture Constantinople.  It was envisaged that the capture of Constantinople would force Turkey to surrender and enable the allies to clear sea-lanes to Russia. With the failure of the Anglo-French naval bombardment of the Dardanelles (18^th March 1915), the Anzacs, British and French troops landed on five beaches at the tip of Gallipoli Peninsula on the 25^th of April. However strong resistance by the Turkish opposition prevented any attempt to capture the prime objective, that being the heights that commanded the Dardanelles. A second attempt to capture the heights occurred on 6 August [Battle of Sari Bair] but was also unsuccessful.  During the Gallipoli campaign  Anzac troops suffered heavy casualties at Chunuk Bair, Hill 60 and Lone Pine. By December 1915 it was clear that the situation was untenable and  that any further advance was unlikely. So on 8 ^th of December all allied troops were withdrawn from Peninsula. The campaign resulted in over 33,532 killed, 78,518 wounded and 7,689 missing.

Following the withdrawal five Anzac infantry divisions were transferred to France in 1916. They arrived in time to take part in the nightmare that was the first battle of the Somme. Anzac troops took part in combat at Fromelles and  captured Pozieres.  Lighthorse battalions were transferred to Egypt and continued to fight the Turks in Palestine up untill the armistice in 1918.

Anzac troops then served briefly in and around the Ypres salient but returned to Somme line to assist in taking higher ground at Bapaume in March 1917. April 1917 saw the Anzacs attacking the German line at Bullecourt. The initial assault saw them briefly hold it, but counter attacks and heavy casualties forced a withdrawal.  On 3 May  a second attempt on the line was made and this resulted in it being successfully captured.

The Flanders offensive of June 1917 saw the Anzacs participating in the successful thrust to capture Messines Ridge. The Anzacs also fought in the main British offensive at Ypres in July. In November 1917 they were withdrawn after suffering extremely heavy casualties.

Anzac troops were back in the line by  March 1918 and blunted the German attack on Amiens, countered critical attacks at Villers -Bretonneux and participated in the August offensive with British troops in the battle of Amiens. They also successfully captured the lines at Mont St Quentin and in September breached the Hindenburg line with other Allied troops. After this offensive Allies gained upper hand and Germans signed Armistice 11 November 1918.