Australian and New Zealand Army Corps

TheAustralian and New Zealand Army Corps(ANZAC) was originally aFirst World Wararmy corpsof theMediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed inEgyptin December 1914, and operated during theGallipoli campaign. GeneralWilliam Birdwoodcommanded the corps, which primarily consisted of troops from theFirst Australian Imperial Forceand1st New Zealand Expeditionary Force, although there were also British and Indian units attached at times throughout the campaign. The corps disbanded in 1916, following the Allied evacuation of theGallipoli peninsulaand the formation ofI ANZAC CorpsandII ANZAC Corps. The corps was re-established, briefly, in the Second World War during theBattle of Greecein 1941. The term 'ANZAC' has been used since for joint Australian–New Zealand units of different sizes.
Plans for the formation began in November 1914 while the first contingent of Australian and New Zealand troops were still in convoy bound for, as they thought, Europe. However, following the experiences of theCanadian Expeditionary Forceencamped onSalisbury Plain, where there was a shortage of accommodation and equipment, it was decided not to subject the Australians and New Zealanders to the English winter, and so they were diverted to Egypt for training before moving on to theWestern Frontin France.The BritishSecretary of State for War,Horatio Kitchener, appointed GeneralWilliam Birdwood, an officer of theBritish Indian Army, to the command of the corps and he furnished most of the corps staff from the Indian Army as well. Birdwood arrived inCairoon 21 December 1914 to assume command of the corps.
It was originally intended to name the corps the Australasian Army Corps, this title being used in the unit diary in line with the common practice of the time which often saw New Zealanders and Australians compete together asAustralasiain sporting events.However, complaints from New Zealand recruits led to adoption of the name Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The administration clerks found the title too cumbersome so quickly adopted the abbreviation A. & N.Z.A.C. or simply ANZAC.Shortly afterwards it was officially adopted as the codename for the corps, but it did not enter common usage amongst the troops until after the Gallipoli landings.
At the outset, the corps comprised two divisions; theAustralian Division, composed of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Australian Infantry Brigades and theNew Zealand and Australian Division, composed of theNew Zealand Infantry Brigade,New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade,Australian 1st Light Horse Brigadeand4th Australian Infantry Brigade.The 2nd and 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigades were assigned as corps level troops, belonging to neither division.
Despite being synonymous with Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC was a multi-national body: in addition to the many British officers in the corps and division staffs, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps contained, at various points, the 7th Brigade of theIndian Mountain Artillery,Ceylon Planters Rifle Corpstroops,theZion Mule Corps,several battalions from theRoyal Naval Division,theBritish 13th (Western) Division, one brigade of theBritish 10th (Irish) Divisionand the29th Indian Brigade.
Following the evacuation of theGallipoli peninsula, in December 1915, the Australian and New Zealand units reassembled in Egypt. The New Zealand contingent expanded to form their owndivision; theNew Zealand Division. TheFirst Australian Imperial Forceunderwent a major reorganisation resulting in the formation of two new divisions; the4thand5thdivisions. (TheAustralian 3rd Divisionwas forming in Australia and would be sent directly to England and then to France.) These divisions were reformed into two corps:I ANZAC CorpsandII ANZAC Corps.I ANZAC Corps, under the command of General Birdwood, departed for France in early 1916. II ANZAC Corps, commanded by Lieutenant GeneralAlexander Godley, followed soon after.
In January 1916, the 4th (ANZAC) Battalion,Imperial Camel Corps, was formed with Australian and New Zealand troops. The 1st and 3rd Battalions were Australian, while the 2nd Battalion was British.Then in March 1916, theANZAC Mounted Divisionwith three Australian and one New Zealand brigade, was formed for service in Egypt and Palestine.The division's name was abbreviated to the A. & N. Z. Mounted Division,to the ANZAC Mounted Division,and to the Anzac Mounted Division by the Australian,and the New Zealand official history.Also serving alongside the ANZAC Mounted Division in theEgyptian Expeditionary Forcewas the ANZACProvost PoliceCorps,the 1st (ANZAC),3rd (ANZAC),and 4th (ANZAC) Battalions,Imperial Camel Corps Brigade.There was also the1st (ANZAC) Wireless Signal Squadron, which served with the British expeditionary force inMesopotamiain 1916–1917.The acronym was not inclusive. One formation that had troops assigned from both Australia and New Zealand, during the war, and did not use it was the5th Light Horse Brigade.
In early 1916, the Australian and, to a lesser extent, New Zealand governments sought the creation of anAustralian and New Zealand Army, which would have included the New Zealand Division and all of the Australian infantry divisions, but this did not occur.
During World War II, the AustralianI CorpsHQ moved toGreecein March 1941 (Operation Lustre). As the corps also controlled theNew Zealand 2nd Division(along with Greek and British formations), it was officially renamed ANZAC Corps on 12 April.TheBattle of Greecewas over in weeks and the corps HQ evacuated mainland Greece on 23–24 April, with the nameANZAC Corpsno longer being used.
Some troops evacuated toAlexandria, but the majority were sent to the Greek island ofCreteto reinforce its garrison against an expectedGermaninvasion from air and sea. Australians and New Zealanders were respectively deployed around the cities ofRethymnoandChaniain western Crete with a smaller Australian force being positioned inHeraklion. The invasion began the morning of 20 May and, after the fierceBattle of Crete, which lasted ten days, Crete fell to the Germans. Most of the defenders of Chania withdrew across the island to the south coast and were evacuated by theRoyal NavyfromSfakia. Many others evaded capture for several months, hiding in the mountains with generous assistance from the local Cretan population.Others who were captured and transported to Axis POW camps in mainland Europe were able to escape en route viaYugoslavia. Those who escaped found refuge withChetniksandYugoslav Partisansuntil they were either repatriated or recaptured by Axis forces.
During theVietnam War, two companies from theRoyal New Zealand Infantry Regimentwere integrated intoRoyal Australian Regimentbattalions. These integrated battalions had the suffix (ANZAC) added to their name (for example, 4 RAR became the 4RAR/NZ (ANZAC) Battalion).An ANZAC battalion served as one of the infantry battalions of the1st Australian Task Force(1 ATF) from early March 1968 until its withdrawal in December 1971. Due to the rotation of forces, there were a total of five combined battalions of this period.
TheANZAC Battle Groupwas the official designation of Australian and New Zealand units deployed toTimor Lesteas part ofOperation Astute. The battle group was established in September 2006.
As well as referring to specific units, the termANZACalso came to refer to soldiers themselves: originally those who participated in the Gallipoli landings, then all Australians and New Zealand soldiers in WWI and now more broadly to all Australian and New Zealander defence personnel.This use is reflected in ANZAC Day, which commemorates both the Gallipoli landings specifically and all Australian and New Zealand soldiers that have served or died in wars more broadly.
During WWI, the term also referred to the location of the Gallipoli landings, in what is now known asAnzac Cove(also called simplyAnzacat the time).Another use of the term is forAnzac biscuits, a kind of biscuit that is derived from those sent to soldiers during WWI.
The termANZACis protected through domestic legislation in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom and internationally in all of the 180 countries that are members of theParis Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.In Australia, the term cannot be protected as atrademarkor design, nor used in trade, business or entertainment or as the name of any boat, residence or vehicle.However, the term may be used with prior approval from theminister for veterans' affairswhen selling Anzac biscuits, where the recipe does not significantly deviate from the traditional recipe and the food is referred to only asAnzac BiscuitsorAnzac Slice, notAnzac Cookies.Similar protections exist in New Zealand, under the responsibility of the minister for culture and heritage.
In response to lobbying by the Australian and New Zealand governments, in 1916 the United Kingdom introduced legislation prohibiting the use of the term in trade or business without the approval of the government of Australia or New Zealand.This resulted in the cancellation of around 29 already registered trademarks including "Anzac Motor Company" and "Anzac Soap". Before the act came into effect, a housing development received much criticism after selecting the nameNew Anzac-on-Seaas a result of a naming competition. The area was ultimately renamed to the current name ofPeacehavenfor reasons unrelated to the use ofAnzac, as the naming competition fraudulently gave runners-up (practically every person who entered into the competition) the opportunity to buy land in the development that was too small for habitation.
Australia and New Zealand governments were unsuccessful post WWI in persuading other governments to introduce similar restrictions. However, in 2003 the countries successfully applied to registerAnzacas an "official sign, hallmark or emblem" under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, requiring signatory countries to refuse the registration ofAnzacunder their domestic trademark law.