Sunday, 25 April 2010
Afternoon stroll
Stornoway on Sunday is a very quiet place, where very few people move. I went for an amble round South and North Beach, and caught the following images.
Sunday 25 April - Anzac Day
Today is ANZAC day, the day when Australia and New Zealand remember their troops, lost in the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915. I refer to the linked article on Wikipedia for a detailed account of this campaign. The 95th anniversary commemorations today have been darkened by a helicopter crash near Wellington, New Zealand, in which three people were killed. The chopper was to take part in the ceremonies marking ANZAC Day.
The casualty figures of Gallipoli are sobering. The Allies lost about 44,000, with 96,000 injured. The Turks lost 86,000, with 164,000 injured. Of the Allies, the British suffered the worst losses, nearly 50% of the above total. Australia and New Zealand lost 8,700 and 2,700 respectively, with 19,400 and 4,700 injured. I once watched a movie named Gallipoli, which is a moving account of an Australian boy who put his age on in order to join up - only to be mowed down in a senseless rush on Turkish lines.
Like the First World War as a whole, Gallipoli was an unnecessary exercise in bloodletting, exacerbated by military and strategic incompetence.
More later.
The casualty figures of Gallipoli are sobering. The Allies lost about 44,000, with 96,000 injured. The Turks lost 86,000, with 164,000 injured. Of the Allies, the British suffered the worst losses, nearly 50% of the above total. Australia and New Zealand lost 8,700 and 2,700 respectively, with 19,400 and 4,700 injured. I once watched a movie named Gallipoli, which is a moving account of an Australian boy who put his age on in order to join up - only to be mowed down in a senseless rush on Turkish lines.
Like the First World War as a whole, Gallipoli was an unnecessary exercise in bloodletting, exacerbated by military and strategic incompetence.
More later.
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