I want to talk about war. Why? Because our national remembrance day is coming up and I’d like for UMC1 and UMC2 to attend an event. Now before I start waffling on with my little lecture about that, I do need to discuss our remembrance day and it’s history. I am going to try to do this without glorifying war, but also acknowledging the true horror or war. I’m also writing this from a country that is not at war currently or suffering through a civil war. With that said, here we go…

Our remembrance day is known as ANZAC Day and it’s observed on 25th April. It is marked in New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, Turkey, Canada, France, Malta and many, many other countries. It stems from the disastrous Gallipoli campaign in the First World War.

In a nutshell, the Gallipoli campaign was about the Allied Forces invading the Gallipoli peninsula, in Turkey. The idea was to weaken and knock the Ottoman Empire¹out of the war, because they were supporting the Central Powers of the German and Austria-Hungary Empires. The Allies believed if they could take control of the Turkish Straits, they could also control the flow of supplies through the Suez Canal. They did this through naval bombardment and amphibious landings; though after 10 brutal months, they came to the conclusion, that it was never going to work and retreated.

Among the several Allied countries involved in the campaign, was a division of troops comprised of Australian and New Zealand forces, which became known as the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps; or also known as ANZAC. They landed on the shores of Gallipoli on 25th April 1915, which eventually became known as ANZAC Day.

The purpose of ANZAC Day and I can imagine for various different remembrance ceremonies around the world, is to honour the men and women whom gave their lives, in the defence of their own country or the protection of others.

I am not going to speak for every New Zealander, because I don’t know that many people, but also I won’t. Reflecting on ANZAC Day to me, has always been mixed with pride and sadness. I was taught at school a long time ago, that these people “…gave up their tomorrows, for our today.” In addition to this, ANZAC Day is strange for me, because it was also my grandfather’s birthday; so it’s a day of reflecting upon death and sacrifice, but also of life and heritage.

Through the large cities, big towns and small communities of this country, there are statues, cenotaphs, plaques and war memorials everywhere. For the majority of the year, I think people see them as part of the landscape or in the background of the country; like rivers, trees, rugby fields and beaches. However, for a small period of the year, we actually see them and give them the respect they deserve.

Over the years, ANZAC Day has come to commemorate not only World War I soldiers, but military personnel from all armed conflicts and peace keeping missions.

With the exception of 2020, ANZAC day starts with a dawn service at 6am. People wear poppies, speeches are given, prayers and hymns are spoken and wreaths are laid at different war memorial sites around the country. The Last Post ² and the Rouse are played, two minutes of silence is observed; along with the reading of the fourth verse of Laurence Binyon’s ‘For the fallen’ and the singing of the national anthem. Some services also have fly overs and gun salutes.

Later in the day, in the various communities up and down the country, parades are held. These can involve the Army, Army Reserve, Air Force, Navy, Scouts, Air Cadets, Sea Cadets and possibly anybody else I have forgotten, so I’m sorry about that.

There is also the parade that everybody is there to see: the Diggers aka the Veterans. Surviving members of the armed forces that have served over the years, they put on their finest clothes, display their medals and march (walk or get wheeled) down the road; to hundreds, if not thousands of people applauding for them.

As the old soldiers march, you can see various emotions on their faces, like pride and happiness; but also a lot of sadness. To me, it’s like survivors guilt, as in they made it home, but their mates did not. There are a lot smiles at an ANZAC Day service and parade, but also a large number of tears.

Descendants of the soldiers also walk in place of their family member, whom has passed away or simply unable to be there. These people can also wear medals awarded to the family member and young children have been seen wearing them, marching with the veterans.

I have never been fortunate to experience ANZAC Day in Australia, but I understand it is very similar to New Zealand, in the way it’s commemorated.

This leads us to UMC1 and UMC2. For many millions of children all over the world, war is a daily event, so their knowledge of it, sadly is through experience. For others, war is an alien concept, that is very far removed from their lives.

This year, my wife and I have decided to take the boys to one of the services; either the dawn service or the parade. They are usually up causing carnage well before 6am. However having them fully dressed, fed and waiting in the early morning darkness, could be a step too far! Maybe the 10am service, possibly.

Anyway, the point is that if they are going to an ANZAC Day service, they would need to what it’s about; hence talking about war to them. UMC2 is nearly three, so we have decided to give him a simpler version of what his older brother received. UMC1 is nearly six, so we needed to explain the meaning of ANZAC Day, but also discussing the concept of war.

We discuss a vast array of subjects in our house, these usually pop up naturally when the children see or hear something and they come to us with questions. But war has never come up naturally, a fact that I’m very grateful for. We didn’t know exactly what to say to him, war is such an abstract concept when you are 6 years old and living in peacetime. So we sat and wrote down some key points we wanted to discuss with him. This was difficult, because how do you talk of war when all your parenting strategies revolve around talking things out and using compromise to find solutions to your problems?

Below are the key points we discussed with UMC1, so he could comprehend the concept. Please feel free to use these points with your children; if it helps of course, but you can always change, alter or adapt them to suit your family, culture or country.

• ANZAC Day is a solemn, remembrance day and not a holiday to celebrate.
• What ANZAC means is Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. It is our two countries working as a team, standing together.
• Every 25th April, we remember the people that fought for our country and also the people that died.
• Sometimes leaders of countries make “silly choices” and try to take over other countries. Sometimes they treat their people extremely badly.
• The United Nations (UN) is an organisation, made up of different representatives from countries around the world. It is their job to talk to these countries and try to find peaceful solutions to these problems, but sometimes this does not work and a war can start.
• War is when two or more groups or countries, fight about something in a physical way. This means trying to stop, hurt or kill the members of the other country or group.
• Our defence force is made up of men and women in the Army, Navy and Air Force. Their job is to protect you from danger from outside of the country, but also to step in to help when other countries need support. They can do this by building new infrastructure like roads, schools and hospitals. They can also help the injured; support with resettlement and housing; and also supplying people with food. Not just fighting.
• The Army has soldiers that work on land, the Navy has sailors that work on ships, while the Air Force has people that work on and fly aircraft.

I have made a small resource list to help children understand ANZAC Day/Remembrance Day, as well as the concept of war.

Books:

A Day to Remember by Jackie French and Mark Wilson.

ANZAC Ted by Belinda Landsberry.

Dawn Parade by Philippa Werry and Jennifer Cooper.

Grandad’s Medals by Tracy Duncan and Bruce Potter.

Lest We Forget by Feana Tu’akoi and Elspeth Alix Batt.

Lest We Forget by Kerry Brown, Isobel Knowles and Benjamin Portas.

My Grandad Marches On ANZAC Day by Catriona Hoy and Ben Wood Johnson.

Simpson and his Donkey by Mark Greenwood and Frané Lessac.

The ANZAC Puppy by Peter Millett and Trish Bowles.

The Last ANZAC by Gordon Winch and Harriet Bailey.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rapkYgnXxWA

Thanks for reading and see you in a fortnight!

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¹ Currently known as the Republic of Turkey.

² In military terms, the Last Post is a bugle call that signals the end of the day. It is also used at commemorative ceremonies like Remembrance Day and ANZAC Day.