It's Anzac Day - not the Big Day Out

Fernando

距离Gallipoli战役百年纪念日还有两年，这个国家应该记住最后一个亲历老兵 Alec Campbell在临终前的恳求，"看在上帝的份上，不要歌颂Gallipoli战役。 那是一场惨败，一次彻底的失败，最好将它忘记。"

这是Campbell临终前的话，他是最后一个经历过Gallipoli的澳洲士兵，在10年前去世了。作为他的传记作者，这些话一直让我难忘。商业化的压力正在把这个纪念日变成一个庆祝节日。 想到纪念日的活动将充斥着激动庆祝的人群而不是安静的悼念者，这不单使得Campbell感到不适，另外10名我在90年代访问过的Anzac老兵们也有同样的感受。

。。。。。

悉尼的Ted Matthews登陆时是一名信号兵，他说，“英国人把一切都搞砸了。我们登陆时搞错了海滩，土耳其人知道我们要来，把我们打成筛子，我们一点机会都没有。"步兵Fred Kelly说，"太荒谬了。登陆的海滩太狭窄了，悬崖非常陡峭，士兵们暴露在敌人的火力范围内。" 墨尔本的狙击手Jack Buntine说，"我们没可能获胜，太困难了。" 工程兵Roy Longmore说，”我们的装备很糟，甚至没有为冬天准备，领导不力“。 (运水兵)Walter Parker说，“Gallipoli 战役没有任何收获。那些年轻的澳洲士兵死得不值“。

Len Hall在Beersheba也作战过，他说，”如果有下次，我会为土耳其人打仗。他们是好人，那里是他们的土地，不是我们的。“ 希望他们的这些话能抑制一下过度的商业活动，能阻止庆祝”我们历史上最糟糕的失败之一“。 把荣耀留给土耳其人吧，他们赢得了战争，并由此走向了民族独立。

With the Gallipoli centenary approaching, the nation should remember the words of our last Anzac Alec Campbell, who pleaded on his death bed: ''For god's sake, don't glorify Gallipoli - it was a terrible fiasco, a total failure and best forgotten''.

As his biographer, these last words from Campbell - the last surviving soldier from all nations fighting there, who only died 10 years ago - have been haunting me, as escalating commercial pressures threaten to turn the centenary into a Big Day Out. The prospect of a memorial service packed with excitable fans instead of mourners would have upset not only Campbell, but also the last 10 Anzacs I interviewed in the 1990s.

Already, the Gallipoli 2015 Dawn Service is the place to be and it will be standing room only - for those who can get a ticket. At the moment, nobody can because the gate has been locked by the Department of Veterans' Affairs and Turkish authorities. Worried by a possible stampede towards the little beach, they have created a ballot system restricting entry for this date with history.

This ballot will allow 8000 lucky Australians along with 2000 New Zealanders to attend - perhaps a historically appropriate number at approximately one guest for every Anzac killed.

Advertisement

Although the department will also invite 500 additional ''official'' guests and may give preference to the 200 living World War I widows, they have not said if any of the million plus descendants would get an inside lane. In my view, these people should get first bite. Veterans' Affairs Minister Warren Snowdon said: ''The government is aware of the interest … and an announcement is expected shortly''.

As a tour leader who attended the 90th anniversary, when official presentations included pop music which inspired dancing and couples were seen

canoodling near graves, I welcome this control. But what is badly needed - if punters are going to learn from historical mistakes - is an education campaign explaining that Australia lost and we are commemorating a bold endeavour and retreat with honour, not a glorious victory. After all, this is Australia's most famous and costly battle.

Asked to locate Gallipoli, some recent straw poll respondents placed it off Queensland, France, England and even the US; others could not explain ''ANZAC'' and thought Australia won. It is not their fault because censored war correspondent Charles Bean reported the failed invasion as a triumph, led by heroic bronzed sportsmen bravely scaling steep cliffs at great speed and driving the defending Turks inland. They were brave, but they still lost, unlike the Western Front where Australians won battles from 1916 that helped end the war.

The truth was not revealed until prime minister Andrew Fisher sent journalist Keith Murdoch in September 1915.

When Murdoch told him the landing failed miserably, thousands were killed for little gain, an advance was impossible, hundreds were dying of disease and British leaders were incompetent, Fisher recommended retreat. ''Gallipoli is undoubtedly one of the most terrible chapters in our history,'' Murdoch said.

Nevertheless Bean's propaganda took hold. Winning the 1983 America's Cup, entrepreneur Alan Bond proclaimed: ''This is Australia's greatest victory since Gallipoli!''

But Anzacs told a different story when I interviewed them for a documentary and book. In Sydney, Ted Matthews, a signaller at the landing, said: ''The British mucked the whole thing up. We landed on the wrong beach, the Turks knew we were coming, shot us to pieces and we never had a chance.'' Infantryman Fred Kelly said: ''It was ridiculous. The beach was too narrow, the cliffs were too steep and exposed to enemy fire.''

In Melbourne, Military Medal-winning sniper Jack Buntine said: ''We could never have won, the odds were too great.'' Tunneller Roy Longmore said: ''We were badly equipped, not even prepared for winter - shocking leadership.'' Water carrier Walter Parker said: ''Gallipoli achieved nothing. All those young Australians died in vain.''

And Len Hall, who also fought at Beersheba, concluded: ''Next time I would fight for the Turks. They are good people and it was their land not ours.''

Let's hope their words restrain the unbridled commercial enthusiasm and put a brake on ballot winners glorifying ''one of the most terrible chapters in our history''. Leave any glorification to the Turks: they won and got a new nation out of it.

Dr Jonathan King is a military historian and author of Gallipoli: Our Last Man Standing and Gallipoli Diaries. He is producing a film on the last 10 Anzacs.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/its-anzac-day--not-the-big-day-out-20130419-2i5a4.html#ixzz2QyqHf3N6

ChanelChanel

Let's forget.

ChanelChanel

其实Anzac day是澳洲帮忙英国攻击土耳其，彻底失败的一场战争。