However, there’s a vast difference between commemorating and celebrating; a vast difference between recognising and glorifying; a vast difference between remembering and trumpeting; and a vast difference between acknowledging heroism and promoting jingoism.

Those in the media, business and politics who see the anniversary as simply another opportunity to promote themselves will stand condemned for their actions.

To quote the late Major-General Alan Stretton, a veteran of four wars (World War II, Korea, Malaya and Vietnam), who told me in 2003 when Australia was embarking on yet another military expedition, this time in Iraq, “War achieves nothing, except mass misery for all involved.”

In the Dardanelles campaign of World War I, which Australians now call the Gallipoli Campaign, the Allies suffered losses of 44,092 killed and 96,937 wounded, total casualties of 141,029.

Australia’s component of that carnage was 8709 killed and 19,441 wounded, total casualties of 28,150.

The Turks suffered losses of 86,692 killed and 164,617 wounded, total casualties of 251,309.

That was 392,338 Allied and Turkish casualties, and for what?

Yet this slaughter at the Dardanelles was dwarfed by the madness in Europe and what was to come for the Australians later on: at Fromelles in 1916 with 5513 casualties in just one night and at Bullecourt in 1917 with another 10,000 casualties over a three-week period.

This war took the lives of 16.5 million people, and World War II took the lives of 65 million people.

There’s nothing glorious about war. Nothing.

Lest we ever forget that.

Andrew Catsaras

Moruya Heads