Angus is to take a poignant place at the heart of commemorations marking the sacrifice of Antipodean servicemen on the centenary of the First World War’s disastrous Gallipoli campaign.
For almost 20 years, an April ANZAC ceremony organised by the New Zealand Society Scotland with assistance from Arbroath members of the Royal British Legion Scotland has been held in the grounds of the Angus town’s Western Cemetery.
The event commemorates the sacrifice of all New Zealanders and Australians in two world wars and its place as one of the most significant dates in the calendar of the two nations has even greater resonance a century on from the April 25 1915 landings on the beaches of the Gallipoli peninsula that would ultimately lead to massive losses for the Allies, including almost 11,000 ANZAC servicemen.
The Angus ANZAC ceremony takes place around the graves of four New Zealand pilots, killed while training with the Fleet Air Arm in the Second World War when they were stationed at what is now the 45 Commando Royal Marines base at Condor, around a mile away.
Now, with the Gallipoli centenary on the horizon, the county’s lord lieutenant has urged Angus residents to consider the sacrifice of the southern hemisphere servicemen with support for what is set to be one of the largest commemoration events outside of Edinburgh.
New Zealand-born Mrs Georgiana Osborne said the annual Angus ceremony was an important annual reminder of the sacrifice of her fellow countrymen and their Australian counterparts.
“More than half a million allied troops participated in a campaign aimed at opening a route to the Black Sea for the allied navies, including not only the ANZACS but men from France and India, the Royal Naval Division, including the Royal Marines and hastily drafted naval recruits,” said the lord lieutenant.
“For eight long months they battled harsh conditions and the Ottoman forces desperately fighting to protect their homeland.
“By the time the campaign ended, more than 130,000 men had died; at least 87,000 Ottoman soldiers and 44,000 allied soldiers, including more than 8,700 Australians.
“Also among the dead were 2,779 New Zealanders, about a fifth of all those who had landed on the peninsula.”
Mrs Osborne has been working closely with organisers of the Arbroath ceremony on Sunday April 26 and said it would be a fitting commemoration of both ANZAC Day and the Gallipoli centenary.
Representatives from the Australian and NZ High Commissions will be joined by local dignitaries, with Arbroath Instrumental Band and pipers from the Arbroath Royal British Legion Scotland Pipe Band also playing at the ceremony.