ESSAY COMPETITION

Grey River Argus, 28 May 1935, Page 3

ESSAY COMPETITION

The Lake Brunner U.S.A, recently held an essay competition, the subject being- “Anzac Day,” and two of‘the entries were placed equal in second place, being as follows:—

By Graham Bowse, Kotuku School— The word “Anzac” is made from the words “Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.” Anzac Day is kept sacred throughout the British Empire because on that day. the twenty-fifth of April, the Australian and New Zea land soldiers first fought on Gallipoli Peninsula. After they had had but a few months training, they were set the almost impossible task of making a landing on the well-fortified Anzac Cove. Turkish rifle-fire poured into the barges and their tugs. Rowers fell as they plied the oars. There were barb-wire entanglements and enemv batteries awaiting them as they crossed Hie beach and scaled the almost vertical c iff. The Turks emptied their rifles point-blank into the mass of khaki-clad figures. Onr men struggled on too utterly exhausted to answer fire. That night the moon looked down upon a scene of dark bloodshed and horror, wounded men lav everywhere. Doctors were shot down before they could attend the sick. Bullets zipped and whirred; shells burst with a roar; shrapnel was scattered everywhere. The only safe place for the wounded was the friendly shelter the e’iffs gave. Yet even here the sniper’s bullet found its way. The soldiers advanced and were driven back. One day, however, there were to be seen dummy ships—a tin hat stuck up here, a pair of boots ■somewhere else, and dummy guns everywhere. An evacuation was pending! That afternoon the soldiers were separated into three divisions, which were called A, B and C. It was with heavy hearts that A division said goodbye to the battlefield and their comrades. Many of them had been amongst the first to land at Gallipoli ami the brave fellows wanted to he

the last to leave. B and C divisions followed them. Tn such a manner was left Gallipoli Peninsula, which had lost them so much. “They toiled, they drove, they perished. That you am] I may see. The fair free lands of Britain Arise in everv sea.” By Winnie Connor. Burn School:—• Many of us have heard of the brave soldiers who went to fight our ferocious enemy, the Turks. We shall never forget the thousands of men who volunteered, from their labour, to fight our enemy and sacrifice their lives in “Gallipoli. “Anzac” was the combination of “The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.” They gathered at Trent ham Camp for a training which lasted about three or four months. At one o’clock one morning, they were awakened and given instructions to embark on the “Clyde” which was to plough through the seas to a Grecian island. Having staved at the island for a month, they then t’-avelled bv the “Clyde” to the Gallipoli Peninsula. Descending from the ship, they plunged into the cool waters, which nearly reached their armpits. To their amazement, they discovered that thev were entangled in treacherous hftrb wire. Those who were unhurt waded ashore to defeat their enemv. The Turks had now discovered that thev had arrived, and were sending showers of shrapnel down upon the advancing soldiers, who sought a huge boulder which concealed our brave men from the vision of the Turks. A hang! What was that? Why. their ferocious enemv must have discovered that thev were hiding. The cracking of bu’lets, the whining of shrapnel, the pouring of shells were se.en and heard, by the thousands of soldiers. They were, bv now, forced to scale the precipitous cliffs bearing the intolerable agonv They were experiencing the rain o p /leath-'shrapnel! Sharp-shooters were shooting down incredible numbers of the climbing men. Left and right, khaki figures were falling inevitably to the blood-stained ground. These courageous men gradually drove the boisterous Turks away from the fortified trenches. After keeping the Turks at bay, the exhausted men discovered that they could not defeat the Turks. They immediately began to empty their loaded riflles so that their enemy would think they were advancing. But. alas, our, brave men were retreating. Tired and exhausted, thousands of men sank to slumber on the sandy beach at Gallipoli. What were left wistfully retreated to their ships. Out of the eight thousand, only one thousand men returned to their homes. We shall never forget the unbearable agony our brave men suffered on that immortal day. We hold that day sacred because of the brave deeds which our colonial forces performed on the landing of Gallipoli.

“As the stars that are starry In the time of our darkness. To the end, to the end they remain.*