The Australian and New Zealand armed forces commonly known as ANZAC’s served in both WWI and WWII
Amongst the major achievements has been the Australian Light Horse charge at Beersheba with 800 men on horseback on October 31st, 1917, when God used one of the most recent nations in the world to take Jerusalem from the Turks and Germans, liberating Jerusalem from four hundred years of rule by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, – eleven Crusades throughout history had been unable to achieve, the military genius of Napoleon and the British Army with 50,000 British Infantry had fought bravely but were driven back, was accomplished by 800 fresh-faced Australian Light Horsemen at Beersheba. On 31st October 1917, the day of the Beersheba charge, the British Government drafted the Balfour Declaration, which was the foundation for the recognition of the State of Israel.
The Recessional used in ANZAC Services was an ode written by the English poet Rudyard Kipling in 1897. It was originally published in the Times of London for Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee. The poem struck a chord and speedily became an imperial hymn opening with the words God of our fathers, known of old and set to the tune Melita.
It was composed just in time for use in the commemoration of the dead from the South African War and has since become even more famous as the source of the often quoted words Lest we forget in ANZAC Day ceremonies held annually on the 25th April to commemorate the sacrifice of those who gave their lives.
Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
During the eight months of the Gallipoli campaign the Australians sustained 26,000 casualties of whom 8,000 died.
Many graves throughout the world remember the sacrifice of over 102,000 Australian military personnel who died with the symbol of the cross which reminds us of the verse in Colossians 2:15 “having disarmed the powers and authorities, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them on the cross“.
