We went over to Gallipoli to fight

We were all volunteers in our brigade;

Our men fought hard against the Turks,

— And fearsome fighters we made

The destruction and rank desolation

Went as far as the eye could see

But we endured the battlefield’s mire

For brave patriots then were we

It should be freely and fully admitted

That there were awful times for us all

But we knew there’d be a high price to pay

When we answered the Empire’s call

We joined for honour and freedom,

Marched to the tune of a stirring song,

And we fought hard for our country’s sake,

As our nation could do no wrong

Our people will never forget us,

Or our tragedies in barbed wire and mud,

For we created the Anzac legend —

But we had to write it with our blood.

Andrew Guild

I watched the Anzac march today,

Men marched straight and tall,

I saw faces young and old,

All had been to war.

As they marched along the route,

Eyes fixed straight ahead,

Thoughts were with their fellow men,

The mates who now lay dead.

They didn’t march for victory,

No glory did they seek,

They marched in memory of their mates,

Who they can never see.

The ones who went to war with them,

To fight for liberty,

Freedom for all people,

Such as you and me.

It’s sad our young men cannot see,

Why we went to war,

And sadder still that they think,

We should have no armed forces anymore.

Next Anzac Day they will march again,

To show that most do care,

For those men who gave their lives for us,

In those dark days of despair.

To their families for a terrible loss,

A sacrifice so great,

And tears still fall on Anzac day,

In memory of sons, fathers, husbands and mates.

Jean O’Brien

A lone pine stood one cloudy day

In a land so far away,

And in the breeze I heard it say:

“Lest We Forget”

For below that pine the fallen lay

Gallant sons to always stay,

In our hearts and the words we pray;

“Lest We Forget”

From the pine and beyond the bay

A seedling in soils of clay,

Grow the hope that come-what-may:

“Lest We Forget”

Above the clouds there shone a ray

To cast aside skies of grey,

As a nation vowed ever would they:

“Lest We Forget”

A Lone Pine stood one sunny day

In a land so far away,

And in the breeze I heard it say:

“Lest We Forget”

Maggie May Gordon

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.