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 Australian soldiers on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915. New Zealand soldiers landed on the 26th April.
Suggested Task:
Students investigate the facts, explore people’s values and perspectives and consider how a decision could be made on this issue.
Finding out information
Watch the Overview and Gallipoli sections of Part One of the DVD and complete the viewing template
The DVD provides a narrative of the journey soldiers made to Gallipoli and what happened during this campaign.
A follow on activity could be to trace the story of a soldier who made the same journey. If possible find an Old Boy from your school,
a member of your local community (look at the war memorials in your local district) or a member of a student’s family. Students could consult
old school magazines, interview members of their family or community; consult books as well as websites to complete this task.
The Auckland Museum Cenotaph website is an excellent source of information about New Zealand’s war dead.
The experience of these soldiers could be compared and contrasted with the experience of conscientious objectors such as Archibald Baxter. David Grant provides an excellent summary of his life in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
There are a large number of websites that provide information about the Gallipoli campaign. Some are listed below.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/passchendaele-the-battle-for-belgium is an excellent website for students to learn about what happened at Passchendaele. There are also many activities to help engage students on http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/classroom/classroom-ideas-new-zealanders-in-belgium
Remember to also consult your school library for appropriate books for your on these topics.
Exploring values and perspectives
- This could involve students surveying members of their school, family and local community. See the survey worksheet for a possible framework.
Considering decisions
Reflection and evaluation
Some reflective questions that students could ask themselves include:
- What do I now know about this issue?
- What further learning do we need to do? Where to next? (This could involve them brainstorming their next steps in deciding whether we should be celebrating Passchendaele Day instead of Anzac Day. This could include approaching MPs, initiating a referendum, educating people about the issue, starting a petition)
