Anzac Day 2019: Remembering 15,000 Indian soldiers who fought in Battle of Gallipoli
Up to 15,000 Indians fought with allied troops at Gallipoli
New Delhi, Apr 25: Anzac Day commemorations are held every year on April 25. The day honours soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who lost their lives in conflicts during the first world war. While the day is observed mainly to pay tributes to soldiers who lost lives in first world war, homage is also bid to those to sacrificed lives in other conflicts.
The day marks the anniversary of the first significant military action fought by Australian and New Zealand soldiers during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs.
In 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of an Allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies. The objective was to capture Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, which was an ally of Germany during the war. Up to 15,000 Indians fought with allied troops at Gallipoli, but their contribution remains relatively unknown and unrecognised in Australia and their homeland, says a report in www.abc.net.au.
[Why Australia & New Zealand observe Anzac Day on April 25]
Historians
believe
almost
1,400
Indians
died
at
Gallipoli
and
up
to
3,500
were
wounded.
Unlike
many
of
the
Australian
troops,
all
the
Indians
who
fought
were
professional
soldiers,
said
a
report
in
www.abc.net.au.
.
At
the
end
of
1915,
the
Allied
forces
were
evacuated
after
both
sides
had
suffered
heavy
casualties
and
endured
great
hardships.
The
Allied
deaths
totalled
over
56,000,
including
8,709
from
Australia
and
2,721
from
New
Zealand.
Historians are divided about how they summarise the campaign's result. Broadbent describes the campaign as "a close-fought affair" that was a defeat for the Allies, while Carlyon views the overall result as a stalemate. Peter Hart disagrees, arguing that the Ottoman forces "held the Allies back from their real objectives with relative ease", while Haythornthwaite calls it a "disaster for the Allies". The campaign did cause "enormous damage to ... [Ottoman] national resources", and at that stage of the war the Allies were in a better position to replace their losses than the Ottomans, but ultimately the Allied attempt at securing a passage through the Dardanelles proved unsuccessful, as per Wikipedia.
The ultimate sacrifice made by Anzac soldiers had a profound impact on both countries as well as on the forst world war itself. The battle and the sacrifice is sometimes referred to as the "Anzac spirit". To honour that spirit, tradition, and the sacrifices made by the soldiers who fought at Gallipoli, commemorative services are held on 25 April in both countries since 1916.