ANZAC Day 2024

ANZAC Day 2024

Well ANZAC Day has come and gone for another year. As always, the Penrith RSL Pipes and Drums were very busy. The band was involved in 5 different events on the day, spread out from Penrith to Emu Plains, the Sydney CBD to Bondi Junction. The events being:

1. ANZAC Dawn service Penrith                                        Tim, Mark, Leo, Terry and David Tyler

2. ANZAC Community Service Emu Plains                       Tim, Mark and Wendy

3. Bondi Icebergs to Bondi RSL March                               John

4. United Irish Ex Services Association Australia         Entire band

5. NBL1 ANZAC Round                                                     Tim

In the attached photo (top L to R – The band in the CBD, Emu Plains, Penrith Dawn Service)

                                    (Main picture – The band in the CBD with the Irish Association)

Also, over the April period, the band was also recognised  in the media with:

1. Three consecutive weeks in the Nepean News,

2. Social media YouTube channel has been updated with videos of all events by Dave Gear (thank you) with thousands of views in some cases,

3. Website will be updated by myself, and

4. The band was shown on National TV during the ANZAC Day march in the CBD.

 I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in the band for all their efforts to date. Everyone contributed to a successful month. Whether you are a member of the band, a family member or friend, everyone contributed to the Pipes and Drums being recognised as a community asset.

BIRTH OF THE AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAN ARMY CORPS

The word ANZAC – or more precisely the acronym – has become a cherished part of Australian culture. It represents heroism , sacrifice, honour, mateship, courage and respect. For more than 100 years it has been safeguarded by its own legislation: Protection of Word “ANZAC” Act 1920.

And while the legend of the ANZAC was born at Gallipoli in 1915, the word itself has its origins in the capital of Egypt, Cairo.

2024 is the 110th anniversary of the foundation of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. When Australia entered World War 1 in 1914, Major General William Birdwood was given command of the Australian and New Zealand forces who had already arrived in Egypt for military training. That December, in Birdwood’s Cairo Headquarters, the official rubber stamp for te new army corps was cut with the letters “A.&N.Z.A.C”.

In the coming months the term “ANZAC” became part of the vocabulary; was used on maps to distinguished Australian and New Zealand positions from the British in the Gallipoli Campaign; and was the basis  for naming “ANZAC Cove” where Australian and New Zealand troops landed on 25th April 1915. The word was also popularised in the works of Australian’s official war correspondent, Charles Bean.

The original Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was disbanded in 1916 not long after the evacuation of Gallipoli. In its place was an expanded two new corps, each utilising the ANZAC acronym. At the end of the eight month Gallipoli Campaign, there had been 26,111 Australian casualties, including 8,141 deaths.