ANZAC Day in the capital

Australians and Kiwis celebrate ANZAC Day on April 25th every year.  What's ANZAC Day?  Well, it's...

ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia's most important national           occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action           fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.           ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers           in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon           took in that name endures to this day.
(thank you, Australian War Memorial dot com)

I've been going to the Dawn Service for a few years now.  What's the Dawn Service?

The Dawn Service observed on ANZAC Day has its origins in an operational routine which is still observed by the Australian Army today. During battle, the half-light of dawn was one of the most favoured times for an attack. Soldiers in defensive positions were, therefore, woken up in the dark, before dawn, so by the time first light crept across the battlefield they were awake, alert, and manning their weapons. This was, and still is, known as "stand-to". It was also repeated at sunset.

After the First World War, returned soldiers sought the comradeship           they felt in those quiet, peaceful moments before dawn. With symbolic           links to the dawn landing at Gallipoli, a dawn stand-to or ceremony           became a common form of ANZAC Day remembrance during the 1920s; the           first official dawn service was held at the Sydney Cenotaph in 1927.           Dawn services were originally very simple and followed the operational           ritual. In many cases they were restricted to veterans only and the daytime           ceremony was for families and other well-wishers. Before dawn the gathered veterans would           be ordered to "stand to" and two minutes' silence would           follow. At the end of this time a lone bugler would play the Last           Post and then concluded the service with Reveille.           In more recent times the families and young people have been encouraged           to take part in dawn services, and services in Australian capital cities           have seen some of the largest turnouts ever. Reflecting this change,           the ceremonies have become more elaborate, incorporating hymns, readings,           pipers, and rifle volleys. Others, though, have retained the simple format           of the dawn stand-to, familiar to so many soldiers. (thanks again, AWM dot com)

       

The Dawn Service at the Australian War Memorial was attended by a few hundred people the first time I went.  Last year the organisers estimated the number at somewhere in the vicinity of 10,000, while another blogger said he'd heard there were 30,000.  I don't know if all those people were Canberrans, but for any Australian wanting to go somewhere meaningful and significant for the Dawn Service, the AWM is a hell of a lot closer than Gallipoli.  (what's Gallipoli?).

 

Maybe that's why the numbers are growing?  Aussies without the means to travel all that way can instead come to Canberra.  Being part of a crowd of tens of thousands of people, silent and respectful, is bloody awesome and if you're in Australia and haven't come to Canberra since you had to on that primary school excursion, you should come for ANZAC Day and attend the Dawn Service at the War Memorial.  The hairs on the back of your neck will stand on end, I guarantee it.  The War Memorial is at the foot of Mount Ainslie, and at that time of day you can't hear anything (no traffic) except the cockatoos and the magpies greeting the sun.

The Dawn Service is followed by a mid-morning parade of serving military personnel and descendants of people who served in the Australian armed forces.  Or as Shauna might say, The How Many WWI Diggers Have We Got Left Now Parade?  More and more young Australians are joining the parades in their cities, proudly wearing the medals their grandparents and great-grandparents left to them.  There was some initial resistance to all these young 'uns getting involved, but I think the general consensus now is that, well, someone's got to carry those medals, and it might as well be the proud family members.  I think it's terrific, and I reckon the people who earned those medals would be thrilled to know that we're still remembering them all, every year, and will continue to do so forever.

I'll be at the South Coast with the girls this Friday, so will miss the Dawn Service at the War Memorial, but the town we're staying in has a Memorial in their Park so perhaps I will go there.  I have relatives who died in WWI in Europe, and other relatives who served elsewhere in the Australian Defence Forces.  I also have friends with family members in active duty, or who lost their lives recently while serving their country.  I don't know why it is, but when I see a man or woman in uniform I get a lump in my throat and I just want to thank them.  The Australian Defence Force Academy is in Canberra, and one time I was driving past and there were 50-odd soldiers, men and women, in full battle fatigues (I guess) and carrying their weapons and enormous packs and I took one look at them, jogging along the road in the hot sun, and burst into tears.  I really just think they're amazing. (Click on that photo of the young boy, or here, and read his story... I just did, and my eyes are stinging.)

OK, enough of that.

The other thing I do on ANZAC Day is make these:

These are ANZAC Biscuits.  They're what the wives and mothers and sisters and daughters baked and sent to their men who were away at the war.  In little airtight tins.  They lasted the two month journey by boat and arrived crunchy and tasty.  In our house, they last about two minutes (before they get eaten).

Here's the recipe.  There are a zillion versions of this, but this is the recipe I used for the biscuits in the picture.  I got this recipe from Donna Hay and tweaked it a little.

ANZAC BISCUITS

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons golden syrup (I put in about 3)
125g butter
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons hot water

Preheat the oven to 160 C.  Mix the oats, flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl.  Place the golden syrup and butter in a saucepan and melt over low heat (or just microwave).  Mix the 'carb soda with the water and pour into the butter/syrup - it will froth up a little.  Pour all of this into the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until all combined. 

Roll tablespoons-full into balls and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.  Flatten slightly with the back of a fork (or you can squash them flat if you want extra-crispy biscuits).  Leave room for spreading.  Bake for 12-14 minutes (or 8-10 for the flatter ones) or until they look like the ones in my picture.  I personally like my ANZAC Bikkies a little chewy on the inside.

Store in an airtight container on a ship for up to two months.  And don't call the ANZAC Cookies.

Comments

[Trish]

thanks for sharing this recipe I was about to go Googling .
Lest we forget !

[Kirsten]

Thanks for the recipe Trish. I was just talking on the phone to a friend in America yesterday morning and she told me they now sell something over there called 'ANZAC cookies' - she was wondering if they are really anything like the proper biscuits so I've sent her your recipe.

[Trish]

You're both welcome! I love that ANZAC biscuits are yummy either chewy or crunchy and that you can make them however you like them.

You can use treacle or golden syrup, but golden syrup gives a lighter flavour. I've only ever used golden syrup.