The UN Commemorative Service was held at the UN Memorial Cemetery at Busan on 26 April.
The veterans were greeted with enthusiasm and affection everywhere,but there was an especially boisterous reception on arrival at the Busan railway station. (Yes – they have very fast trains in South Korea.)
The Anzac Day ceremony was held at the Korean War Memorial in Seoul and was followed by the dedication of the Memorial of the Irish Dead of the Korean War.
At the ceremony to dedicate the Irish Memorial, the Irish Ambassador Dr Eamonn McKee said “It is unknown how many men of Irish birth and heritage fought and died in Korean but it is clear that the sacrifice of the Irish through their participation in the armies of the Commonwealth and USA armies was very significant.
On my recent visit to Korea, I was privileged to attend ceremonies at the Commonwealth, Canadian and Australia/New Zealand memorials in Kapyong on 24 April – Kapyong Day.
Veterans from Australia, Canada, New Zealand were in attendance at the appropriate ceremonies, together with Australian Ambassador to Korea Bill Paterson, New Zealand Ambassador Patrick Rata, Canadian Minister for Veterans Affairs Steven Blaney, Korean Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Park Sung Choon, the US 8th Army Band and many others.
The ceremonies began at the Commonwealth Memorial in Kapyong town – a somewhat plain white obelisk highlighted in April by flags and magnolia’s in full bloom. The Commonwealth Memorial is located close to where 3RAR Headquarters was in April 1951.
Gallipoli still resonates with us because the battlefields are the best-preserved of all those of the First World War, and because the cemeteries were established close to where the men fell.
We can thank Charles Bean for that, as for so many other things, as it was his report after the 1919 Historical Mission that resulted in the conservation of the battlefield cemeteries, rather than the collection and concentration of the graves in large cemeteries, as often happened on the Western Front.
Bean was also quite interested in providing access to these places of pilgrimage, and made detailed recommendations for the establishment, or reestablishment of roads and paths to give access to the cemeteries and monuments.
‘With reference to the roads, Anzac is accessible by Ford car during fine spells even in winter, and (the journey) would easily be practicable in summer … The first cost or repair of motor roads from Boghali to North and South Anzac and around the Beach would be about £600 and the annual cost £200.’
(13 March 1919 Report in Gallipoli Mission, AWM 1952 p 384)
I don’t know what Bean would have made of Anzac today – especially the widening of the road in 2005, and the construction of the retaining wall in 2011.
The Anzacs themselves made the road above Anzac Cove in 1915, and it was developed further by the Turks after the evacuation Tremendous earthworks were also undertaken in 1915 – dugouts, tracks and the large scale terracing (Malone’s Terraces) near Quinn’s Post.
Remember Them 