World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula; World War, 1914-1918 -- New Zealand
Captain F. A. Wood, M.C., Auckland Mounted Rifles (N.Z. Staff Corps).
[A]Lieutenant-Colonel R. Young, C.M.G., D.S.O., Wellington Infantry
Battalion.
The Place-Names of Anzac.
Some unfortunate tracts of country are destined from their situations
to be the battlegrounds of the world. Old world names, before this war
but the memory of former campaigns, have once again become household
words. So Mons and St. Quentin, Kantara and Damascus, have become
familiar to the boys of the present generation, for have not their
elder brothers been on police picket in the back streets of every one
of them?
But war sometimes chances to descend on poor, unsettled and otherwise
unimportant territory. Such a place was Anzac--rough and hungry clay
hillsides, no habitations in its area except the lonely Fishermen's Hut
near the mouth of the Sazli Beit Dere, and a poor shepherd's hut at
the foot of Monash Gully. Into this desolate country, with only a few
ridges and watercourses important enough to be marked on the map, came
legions of foreign soldiers who peopled every scrubby ridge and winding
gully.
The necessity for place-names became very pressing. Retaining such of
the native ones as were shown on the maps, a multitude of Australian
and New Zealand names appeared spontaneously at Anzac, just as the
English and French names appeared at Helles.
Difficulties often arose. An Australian unit holding a part of the
line had local names for every place within the sector, whereas a New
Zealand unit taking over manufactured or evolved names quite different.
The preparation of a trench map or operation orders written by the
Staff fixed the name for all time. Place-names like "The Sphinx" are
evidence of this.
Ismail Oglu Tepe with its wavy crestline, naturally became the "W"
Hills of Anzac. From Walker's Ridge the description point--"W"
Hills--never failed to be recognized.
Most places in Anzac are named after men or units. This is natural.
But sometimes accidents crept in here, too. For instance, an attack of
measles made what might have been "Johnston's Ridge," into "Walker's
Ridge."
The word "Anzac" arrived in quite a different way. "Anzac" obviously
suggested itself. But numerous stories are current as to its origin,
and doubtless many of the stories are correct. Statements on this
subject have been made by the two most important Generals connected
with the campaign, and their claims may easily be reconciled.
1. In the "Anzac Book" General Birdwood stated that when he took over
the command of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps in Egypt, he
was asked to select a telegraphic code address for his Army Corps, and
adopted the word "Anzac." Later on, after the landing, he was asked by
General Headquarters to suggest a name for the beach, and in reply he
christened it "Anzac Cove."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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