Anzac - A Nation's Heritage

1965, 26 Minutes. Exempt from classification.

In 1965 a commemorative film was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli. Using archival footage, war art and a re-enactment at Anzac Cove, the film traces the history of the war between the Allies and Turkey, culminating in the fateful ANZAC landing on the beach at dawn on 25 April, 1915.

The film is interspersed with scenes of modern day Turkey and draws a powerful analogy between the 1915 Gallipoli campaign and the heroic battles of the Trojan War, which took place close by at Troy, southeast of the Dardanelles.

“On the Gallipoli Peninsula the Anzacs became one with the mainstream of history [the Trojan War]...It is a precious thing for a nation to possess its own heroes, men who have fought nobly in a great cause. For Australia and New Zealand, the Anzacs were such men”.

© 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.