Quote:
Originally Posted by Catfish
(now ducking for incoming bullets  )
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No, not really I'm sure that's a common viewpoint. That thought has gone through my head. My understanding as a Yank bystander, is that Gallipoli has come to mean so much to Australians as it was the first time that country, as an independent nation, had fought in open warfare. It was obviously not a military victory, but in some way it became an Australian statement of nationhood. It sounds paradoxical, but to them it's not and I figure that's the way it is. They had greater losses on the Western front in places like Pozières, Messines, Passchendaele, the Somme, Mont St. Quentin and Villers-Bretonneux. Because Gallipoli was the first, it stands out. I guess in some respects it's similar to the Battle of Bunker Hill for Americans which was also an American defeat.
In any case it certainly can't hurt to place some poppies in remembrance.
