Camp Gallipoli Launches in NZ for Anzac Centenary Year

CAMP GALLIPOLI LAUNCHES IN NEW ZEALAND FOR THE ANZAC CENTENARY YEAR – Tickets now on sale!

100 years this month since the term ANZAC first created

11 December, 2014 – Auckland, New Zealand

Camp Gallipoli launches in New Zealand this month with tickets now on sale for the momentous event to be held overnight on 24 April 2015 – which will mark 100 years since the landing of New Zealand and Australian forces at Anzac Cove.

Kiwis of all ages from around the country are being invited to attend Camp Gallipoli at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland to commemorate 100 years of the ANZAC spirit. Gates will open at 3:00pm. The evening’s programme includes documentaries and interviews, live performances by Evermore and 1814, as well as a feature movie. Kiwis will have the opportunity to sleep under the stars, just like the ANZAC soldiers did 100 years ago, and wake to a Dawn Service on ANZAC Day itself.

Camp Gallipoli is a once in a lifetime opportunity for families and school groups to commemorate ANZAC Day as participants, rather than spectators - as mates coming together on one special night to honour the sacrifice of the brave ANZAC soldiers 100 years ago.

Camp Gallipoli Foundation CEO, Chris Fox says “Our aim is to educate and reinforce the ANZAC values - teaching young New Zealanders and Australians about the sacrifice the ANZAC soldiers made through memorable and uplifting moments of remembrance”.

Thousands of Australians will also be attending Camp Gallipoli events in six of Australia’s capital cities. “Camp Gallipoli represents the spirit of mateship and the unique spirit of ANZAC which unites Kiwis and Aussies from all walks of life and cultures, rich or poor, young or old. It will bring together Australians and New Zealanders from varying backgrounds and cultures, from cities and rural areas to honour the ANZAC tradition of equality, loyalty and friendship,” adds Mr Fox.

100 years since the term ‘ANZAC’ was first created[i]

This month also marks 100 years since the term ‘ANZAC’ was first used to describe the joint army corps from Australia and New Zealand.

Members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force had travelled from Wellington to Albany, Western Australia, to join troops from the Australian Imperial Force and together were transported to Egypt for training.

It was at the training camp in Egypt that the term ‘Australian and New Zealand Army Corps’ was first adopted as the label for Australian or New Zealand soldiers. Initially the term ‘Australasian Corps’ was put forward, but it is understood that both Australians and New Zealanders were reluctant to lose their separate identities.

No one knows who came up with the term ‘ANZAC’. According to historical records, it is likely that a clerk used 'ANZAC' as convenient shorthand for use on a rubber stamp. Later the corps used ANZAC as their telegraph code word.

- Ends -

ABOUT CAMP GALLIPOLI NEW ZEALAND

• Camp Gallipoli will be held at the Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland – 80 Ascot Avenue Remuera.

• Ellerslie Racecourse will be transformed into an event arena reminiscent of a soldiers’ camp. Individuals participating in the commemoration event will experience a night of education, entertainment and remembrance.

• Some of New Zealand’s leading entertainers have joined together for this event, including Evermore and 1814.

• For more information go to: www.campgallipoli.co.nz or www.facebook.com/campgallipoli

• Tickets for Camp Gallipoli are available through Ticketek: www.ticketek.co.nz, 0800 842 538. Prices range from $88 - $139.

ABOUT ANZAC DAY[ii]

• Anzac Day occurs on 25 April. It commemorates all New Zealanders killed in war and also honours returned servicemen and women.

• The date itself marks the anniversary of the landing of New Zealand and Australian soldiers – the Anzacs – on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915. The aim was to capture the Dardanelles, the gateway to the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. At the end of the campaign, Gallipoli was still held by its Turkish defenders.

• Thousands lost their lives in the Gallipoli campaign: 87,000 Turks, 44,000 men from France and the British Empire, including 8,500 Australians. Among the dead were 2,779 New Zealanders, almost one in four of those who served on Gallipoli.

• It may have led to a military defeat, but for many New Zealanders then and since, the Gallipoli landings meant the beginning of something else – a feeling that New Zealand had a role as a distinct nation, even as it fought on the other side of the world in the name of the British Empire.

ABOUT CAMP GALLIPOLI FOUNDATION

Camp Gallipoli Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that was established to help preserve and foster the unique spirit of ANZAC commemorations.

________________________________________

[i] http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/anzac-day/the-anzacs

[ii] http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/anzac-day/introduction

© Scoop Media