WEBVTT 00:00:00.539 --> 00:00:03.020 Welcome in. It is fantastic to have you joining 00:00:03.020 --> 00:00:06.540 us for a brand new deep dive today. We have a 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:08.580 massive stack of sources to get through. We really 00:00:08.580 --> 00:00:11.060 do. Yeah, it covers a story that spans continents, 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:15.080 world wars, and even international intellectual 00:00:15.080 --> 00:00:17.440 property law. Which is quite the leap. Right. 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:19.940 To pick things off, I want you to just imagine 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:22.780 a simple acronym. Picture something created by 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.660 a group of exhausted administrative clerks who 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:28.019 were just, you know, tired of writing at a really 00:00:28.019 --> 00:00:30.980 long cumbersome title on endless stacks of paperwork. 00:00:31.239 --> 00:00:34.079 A very relatable feeling. Oh, absolutely. But 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:36.840 now imagine that exact same clerical shortcut 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:39.799 becoming so universally sacred that it gets strict 00:00:39.799 --> 00:00:42.590 international legal protection. It dictates the 00:00:42.590 --> 00:00:44.909 precise terminology you are allowed to use when 00:00:44.909 --> 00:00:47.369 naming a baked good and fundamentally defines 00:00:47.369 --> 00:00:49.850 the national identity of two countries. It really 00:00:49.850 --> 00:00:52.649 does sound like a premise for a bizarre historical 00:00:52.649 --> 00:00:55.490 fiction novel. It does. But we are looking at 00:00:55.490 --> 00:00:57.750 absolute historical fact here. And what's really 00:00:57.750 --> 00:01:00.689 fascinating here is how a military grouping born 00:01:00.689 --> 00:01:04.989 out of a rather pragmatic desire to avoid bad 00:01:04.989 --> 00:01:08.829 weather evolved into this enduring, almost untouchable 00:01:08.829 --> 00:01:11.540 symbol. I mean, the journey from an administrative 00:01:11.540 --> 00:01:14.140 abbreviation to a legally protected national 00:01:14.140 --> 00:01:17.000 hallmark is a perfect example of how the mechanics 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:19.480 of history are rarely as neat and tidy as the 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:21.840 legends that follow them. Spot on. So our mission 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.420 today is to dig into the actual historical sources 00:01:24.420 --> 00:01:28.280 and unpack the real, incredibly surprising history 00:01:28.280 --> 00:01:31.260 behind ANZ A2C, the Australian and New Zealand 00:01:31.260 --> 00:01:33.879 Army Corps. Most of us are familiar with the 00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:36.260 standard Gallipoli narrative. You know the legends 00:01:36.260 --> 00:01:38.859 surrounding it. Right, but these sources reveal 00:01:38.859 --> 00:01:41.719 a completely different operational reality on 00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:43.980 the ground. We are going to look at the fascinating 00:01:43.980 --> 00:01:46.700 logistical quirks that started it all, the massive 00:01:46.700 --> 00:01:48.840 multinational diversity, the troops who actually 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:51.540 fought under that banner, and those fierce modern 00:01:51.540 --> 00:01:53.780 -day legal battles over the word itself. Okay, 00:01:53.780 --> 00:01:55.680 let's unpack this, because the bad weather angle 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:57.299 you just mentioned is something we really have 00:01:57.299 --> 00:01:59.239 to start with. It's the catalyst for everything. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:03.590 Yeah. The year is 1914. It's November. Thousands 00:02:03.590 --> 00:02:05.609 of Australian and New Zealand troops are sailing 00:02:05.609 --> 00:02:08.569 in a massive convoy. They are fully expecting 00:02:08.569 --> 00:02:10.650 to land in Europe to fight on the Western Front. 00:02:11.330 --> 00:02:13.770 But looking at the records, that plan changes 00:02:13.770 --> 00:02:17.430 abruptly. What exactly caused that sudden diversion? 00:02:17.849 --> 00:02:20.210 To understand that pivot, we have to look at 00:02:20.210 --> 00:02:22.569 the environmental reality in England at that 00:02:22.569 --> 00:02:24.930 specific moment. The British authorities were 00:02:24.930 --> 00:02:27.090 closely observing the Canadian Expeditionary 00:02:27.090 --> 00:02:29.250 Force. Right. They had already arrived. Exactly. 00:02:29.270 --> 00:02:31.789 They were stationed on Salisbury Plain. And Salisbury 00:02:31.789 --> 00:02:34.530 Plain is this large exposed chalk plateau in 00:02:34.530 --> 00:02:37.069 southern England. And the Canadians were suffering 00:02:37.069 --> 00:02:39.669 terribly. Just freezing. Oh, yeah. Dealing with 00:02:39.669 --> 00:02:42.990 severe shortages of proper accommodation. They 00:02:42.990 --> 00:02:45.150 were living in tents right in the middle of a 00:02:45.150 --> 00:02:47.879 freezing, wet, deeply miserable English winter. 00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:50.819 The mud and the cold were just decimating their 00:02:50.819 --> 00:02:52.659 morale and their health before they even saw 00:02:52.659 --> 00:02:55.139 combat. So Horatio Kitchener, the British Secretary 00:02:55.139 --> 00:02:57.219 of State for War, he looks at that situation 00:02:57.219 --> 00:03:00.139 and makes a call. A purely logistical call. He 00:03:00.139 --> 00:03:03.120 did not want to subject the newly arriving Australians 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:06.319 and New Zealanders to that same freezing misery. 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:09.939 So he diverted their entire convoy to Egypt. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:12.759 Wow. The strategy was simply to let them complete 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:15.819 their training in the warm, dry Egyptian climate 00:03:15.819 --> 00:03:18.500 before eventually moving them to the European 00:03:18.500 --> 00:03:21.219 front. So the entire trajectory of these nations' 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.819 military histories shifted just to avoid an English 00:03:24.819 --> 00:03:28.500 winter. Pretty much. That is wild. So once they 00:03:28.500 --> 00:03:30.819 arrive in Egypt, Kitchener appoints Lieutenant 00:03:30.819 --> 00:03:33.639 General William Birdwood to command this newly 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:35.960 combined force. He was an officer of the British 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:38.599 Indian Army. but the initial naming convention 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:40.479 caused quite a bit of friction in the records. 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:42.719 It did. The original proposal was to call them 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:45.460 the Australasian Army Corps. From the perspective 00:03:45.460 --> 00:03:47.599 of the British administrators, why do they think 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:50.020 Australasian was the right fit? Well, in the 00:03:50.020 --> 00:03:52.080 broader British cultural lexicon of the time, 00:03:52.379 --> 00:03:54.840 Australasian was a very common, convenient sporting 00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:57.979 term. Like for tennis and stuff. Right. It was 00:03:57.979 --> 00:04:00.259 frequently used when Australia and New Zealand 00:04:00.259 --> 00:04:03.259 fielded combined teams for international competitions 00:04:03.259 --> 00:04:06.539 like tennis or the Olympics. So it seemed like 00:04:06.539 --> 00:04:09.639 a natural unifying label to the officials sitting 00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:12.439 over in London. But the New Zealand recruits 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:15.289 forcefully rejected it. They absolutely hated 00:04:15.289 --> 00:04:18.709 it. The sources show active, organized complaints 00:04:18.709 --> 00:04:21.750 from the New Zealanders who felt the term Australasian 00:04:21.750 --> 00:04:24.269 completely swallowed up their distinct national 00:04:24.269 --> 00:04:27.170 identity. They were adamant about receiving separate, 00:04:27.449 --> 00:04:29.730 distinct recognition within the title of the 00:04:29.730 --> 00:04:31.629 military formation. You wanted their name on 00:04:31.629 --> 00:04:34.769 the door. Exactly. And because of that sustained 00:04:34.769 --> 00:04:37.370 pushback, the military authorities relented. 00:04:37.709 --> 00:04:40.189 The name was officially cemented as the Australian 00:04:40.189 --> 00:04:43.430 and New Zealand Army Corps. a major victory for 00:04:43.430 --> 00:04:46.329 representation. But looking at the sheer volume 00:04:46.329 --> 00:04:49.009 of logistics required to run an army, that must 00:04:49.009 --> 00:04:51.129 have been a nightmare for the clerks. Oh, a total 00:04:51.129 --> 00:04:53.250 nightmare. I mean, every single requisition form, 00:04:53.629 --> 00:04:56.209 medical record, and payslip suddenly required 00:04:56.209 --> 00:04:58.610 writing out, Australian and New Zealand Army 00:04:58.610 --> 00:05:01.850 Corps. How did the clerks handle that administrative 00:05:01.850 --> 00:05:04.430 burden? They simply didn't. They just refused. 00:05:04.709 --> 00:05:07.759 They took the path of least resistance. The clerks 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.480 in Egypt found writing out that massive title 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:13.379 entirely too cumbersome for the sheer volume 00:05:13.379 --> 00:05:16.100 of daily paperwork they were processing for thousands 00:05:16.100 --> 00:05:19.160 of troops. To save time and ink, they started 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:22.699 abbreviating it using a rubber stamp, or just 00:05:22.699 --> 00:05:26.930 handwriting A and NZ AC. That administrative 00:05:26.930 --> 00:05:29.730 shortcut quickly blurred into the single word 00:05:29.730 --> 00:05:33.629 ANZAC. I love that. The big aha moment of this 00:05:33.629 --> 00:05:36.490 deep dive is realizing that one of the most famous 00:05:36.490 --> 00:05:40.029 military acronyms in history wasn't a PR masterstroke. 00:05:40.069 --> 00:05:42.579 It was literally just clerks trying to get through 00:05:42.579 --> 00:05:44.519 their shift. Just trying to go home on time. 00:05:45.019 --> 00:05:47.000 And we should clarify a timeline detail that 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:49.199 often gets lost here too. While the military 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:51.120 officially adopted it as a code name for the 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:52.959 Corps shortly after those clerks started using 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:55.959 it, the word ANZSE did not enter common everyday 00:05:55.959 --> 00:05:58.639 usage among the troops themselves until well 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:01.100 after the famous landings at Gallipoli. So they 00:06:01.100 --> 00:06:03.579 weren't calling themselves ANZACs on the boats. 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:06.620 No, not at all. It began as an administrative 00:06:06.620 --> 00:06:09.259 convenience. It only acquired its profound emotional 00:06:09.259 --> 00:06:11.439 weight after those soldiers had endured the crucible 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:13.720 of combat together on that peninsula. Here's 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:16.180 where it gets really interesting, because there 00:06:16.180 --> 00:06:19.750 is a massive historical misconception about Who 00:06:19.750 --> 00:06:22.089 actually fought under that banner at Gallipoli? 00:06:22.230 --> 00:06:24.730 A huge misconception. When you hear the word 00:06:24.730 --> 00:06:29.209 ANZAC today, the immediate image is a force exclusively 00:06:29.209 --> 00:06:32.230 made up of Australians and New Zealanders. But 00:06:32.230 --> 00:06:34.850 the source material paints a radically different, 00:06:35.170 --> 00:06:37.910 highly complex picture of the forces on the ground. 00:06:38.110 --> 00:06:40.670 The diversity of the force at Gallipoli is staggering 00:06:40.670 --> 00:06:42.589 when you actually look at the order of battle. 00:06:43.089 --> 00:06:45.209 The name has become completely synonymous with 00:06:45.209 --> 00:06:48.629 two specific nations, but the ANN &CC force was, 00:06:49.029 --> 00:06:52.029 in operational reality, a highly multinational 00:06:52.029 --> 00:06:54.939 body. break that down for us. For instance, British 00:06:54.939 --> 00:06:56.879 officers served in command roles all throughout 00:06:56.879 --> 00:06:59.199 the corps and division staffs. And beyond the 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:00.920 command structure, you had units like the 7th 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:03.420 Brigade of the Indian Mountain Artillery operating 00:07:03.420 --> 00:07:05.800 right alongside them. I also noticed in the records 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:07.860 there is mention of the Zion Mule Corps and the 00:07:07.860 --> 00:07:10.139 Salon Planters Rifle Corps. Yes. What were their 00:07:10.139 --> 00:07:13.220 specific roles within the ANZC structure? The 00:07:13.220 --> 00:07:15.160 Zion Mule Corps is a fascinating piece of this 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:18.550 puzzle. They were a Jewish volunteer unit. primarily 00:07:18.550 --> 00:07:20.709 made up of Russian Jews who had been deported 00:07:20.709 --> 00:07:23.810 from Palestine by the Ottoman Empire. They provided 00:07:23.810 --> 00:07:26.470 essential, highly dangerous logistical support. 00:07:27.069 --> 00:07:29.790 They were leading mules loaded with water, ammunition, 00:07:30.089 --> 00:07:32.990 and supplies up these steep cliffs under heavy 00:07:32.990 --> 00:07:36.079 enemy fire. Incredible. and the Ceylon Planters. 00:07:36.500 --> 00:07:39.060 The Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps was a unit composed 00:07:39.060 --> 00:07:41.819 mostly of British tea and rubber planters living 00:07:41.819 --> 00:07:44.500 in what is now Sri Lanka. They served as the 00:07:44.500 --> 00:07:46.579 general officer commanding's guard and provided 00:07:46.579 --> 00:07:49.000 escort duties. So you have Russian exiles from 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:51.620 Palestine and British planters from Sri Lanka. 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:53.800 And it wasn't just specialized support or guard 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:55.939 units either, right? The infantry battalions 00:07:55.939 --> 00:07:58.040 themselves were heavily mixed. Oh, absolutely. 00:07:58.100 --> 00:08:00.519 We have to factor in the sheer volume of infantry 00:08:00.519 --> 00:08:03.620 from outside Australia and New Zealand. At various 00:08:03.620 --> 00:08:06.529 points during the campaign, the ANZAC forces 00:08:06.529 --> 00:08:08.910 included several battalions from the Royal Naval 00:08:08.910 --> 00:08:11.889 Division, the British 13th Western Division, 00:08:12.310 --> 00:08:14.810 an entire brigade from the British 10th Irish 00:08:14.810 --> 00:08:18.110 Division, and the 29th Indian Brigade. That is 00:08:18.110 --> 00:08:20.910 a massive amount of non -Australian and non -New 00:08:20.910 --> 00:08:22.850 Zealand troops. It is. If we connect this to 00:08:22.850 --> 00:08:25.129 the bigger picture, it fundamentally changes 00:08:25.129 --> 00:08:27.589 how we understand the mechanics of the Gallipoli 00:08:27.589 --> 00:08:30.769 campaign. The popular legend over the last century 00:08:30.769 --> 00:08:33.590 has really streamlined the narrative into a story 00:08:33.590 --> 00:08:36.909 of two emerging colonial nations forging their 00:08:36.909 --> 00:08:39.610 identity. Right, it simplifies it. But the historical 00:08:39.610 --> 00:08:42.809 truth of the operation was a deeply integrated, 00:08:43.409 --> 00:08:45.929 highly collaborative multinational operation 00:08:45.929 --> 00:08:48.830 utilizing the full breadth of the British Empire. 00:08:49.110 --> 00:08:52.549 It makes me think of massive modern international 00:08:52.549 --> 00:08:55.879 joint ventures. How so? Well, you see one primary 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:58.539 brand name on the outside of a massive architectural 00:08:58.539 --> 00:09:00.580 project, right? And it feels like it belongs 00:09:00.580 --> 00:09:02.600 to one specific entity. But when you look at 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:04.559 the blueprints, you realize it was constructed 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:07.460 by a wildly diverse, interconnected global workforce. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:11.700 The ANZAC name effectively overshadowed the reality 00:09:11.700 --> 00:09:14.100 of the diverse personnel carrying out the operation. 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:16.320 That's a great analogy. Let's track the evolution 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:19.190 of this force after that campaign. Following 00:09:19.190 --> 00:09:22.129 the evacuation of Gallipoli in December 1915, 00:09:22.509 --> 00:09:25.269 the forces withdraw to Egypt and undergo a massive 00:09:25.269 --> 00:09:28.250 reorganization. The sources show the New Zealanders 00:09:28.250 --> 00:09:30.730 finally get their own distinct New Zealand division. 00:09:30.950 --> 00:09:32.909 Which they had wanted from the start. Exactly. 00:09:33.009 --> 00:09:35.669 And the Australian forces expand, forming the 00:09:35.669 --> 00:09:38.289 INZ AC Corps, which heads to the trenches of 00:09:38.289 --> 00:09:40.990 France with General Birdwood, and the second 00:09:40.990 --> 00:09:43.730 ANZ AC Corps under Lieutenant General Alexander 00:09:43.730 --> 00:09:46.429 Godley. But they weren't just fighting in the 00:09:46.429 --> 00:09:49.100 mud of the Western Front. I'm seeing references 00:09:49.100 --> 00:09:51.759 to camels and wireless squadrons in completely 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:54.720 different theaters of war. Yeah, the reorganization 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:57.100 spun off some highly specialized units that are 00:09:57.100 --> 00:09:59.799 so often overlooked. A prime example is the Imperial 00:09:59.799 --> 00:10:02.600 Camel Corps, formed in early 1916. Literally 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:05.100 writing camels. Literally writing camels. Within 00:10:05.100 --> 00:10:08.370 this corps, you had the fourth ANZAC battalion. 00:10:08.789 --> 00:10:10.769 The structural breakdown was quite specific too. 00:10:11.129 --> 00:10:13.070 The first and third battalions were Australian, 00:10:13.549 --> 00:10:16.250 the second was British, and they fought on camelback, 00:10:16.330 --> 00:10:18.990 navigating the harsh, arid conditions of the 00:10:18.990 --> 00:10:21.690 deserts across Egypt and Palestine. Furthermore, 00:10:22.029 --> 00:10:24.850 you had units like the first ANZ -SC Wireless 00:10:24.850 --> 00:10:27.570 Signal Squadron, which was a highly technical 00:10:27.570 --> 00:10:29.850 communications unit deployed all the way over 00:10:29.850 --> 00:10:33.330 in Mesopotamia throughout 1916 and 1917. The 00:10:33.330 --> 00:10:35.950 geographic spread is just incredible. Yeah. Now 00:10:35.950 --> 00:10:37.629 let's jump forward in the timeline to the Second 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:39.850 World War, because the original ANZ -SC Corps 00:10:39.850 --> 00:10:42.769 was disbanded after World War I. But in the spring 00:10:42.769 --> 00:10:46.590 of 1941 during Operation Luster, the name officially 00:10:46.590 --> 00:10:50.039 returns. How did that resurgence happen? Operation 00:10:50.039 --> 00:10:53.019 Lester involved moving allied forces to reinforce 00:10:53.019 --> 00:10:56.120 Greece against an impending Axis invasion. The 00:10:56.120 --> 00:10:58.399 Australian I Corps headquarters, under the command 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:00.919 of Lieutenant General Thomas Blamey, was deployed 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:03.480 to the Greek mainland. Okay. Because Blamey's 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:05.360 corps controlled not just Australian troops, 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:08.059 but also the New Zealand Second Division, alongside 00:11:08.059 --> 00:11:10.580 various Greek and British formations, the historical 00:11:10.580 --> 00:11:12.559 weight of the combined force was recognized. 00:11:12.940 --> 00:11:16.539 So on April 12th, 1941, it was officially renamed 00:11:16.539 --> 00:11:20.460 the AN Zesic Corps. of the name happens under 00:11:20.460 --> 00:11:23.259 incredibly desperate circumstances. The Battle 00:11:23.259 --> 00:11:25.879 of Greece was brutal and over in a matter of 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:28.460 weeks. The headquarters is forced to evacuate 00:11:28.460 --> 00:11:30.960 the mainland by late April, and that official 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:34.620 ANZAC Corps title is dropped again almost immediately. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:37.659 It was very short -lived. But the story of the 00:11:37.659 --> 00:11:40.159 soldiers during that subsequent retreat is astonishing. 00:11:40.980 --> 00:11:43.200 Many of these troops were sent to the Greek island 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:46.360 of Crete. to reinforce the garrison there. What 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:48.360 were the conditions on the ground during the 00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:50.879 Battle of Crete? The conditions were chaotic 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:55.460 and deeply harrowing. On May 20th, 1941, the 00:11:55.460 --> 00:11:58.019 German forces launched a massive airborne and 00:11:58.019 --> 00:12:01.539 amphibious invasion of Crete. The Anzacii, British 00:12:01.539 --> 00:12:04.259 and Greek forces fought fiercely for 10 days, 00:12:04.419 --> 00:12:07.080 but the sheer scale of the aerial assault overwhelmed 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:09.299 the defenders. They just couldn't hold it. No. 00:12:09.779 --> 00:12:11.960 When the island inevitably fell, the surviving 00:12:11.960 --> 00:12:13.860 troops were forced into a desperate withdrawal. 00:12:14.139 --> 00:12:16.659 They had to traverse the incredibly rugged, mountainous 00:12:16.659 --> 00:12:19.159 terrain of Crete, heading south to toward a small 00:12:19.159 --> 00:12:22.299 coastal town called Sfakia, all while under constant 00:12:22.299 --> 00:12:25.019 threat from Stuka dive bombers. Their only hope 00:12:25.019 --> 00:12:27.740 was evacuation by the Royal Navy under the cover 00:12:27.740 --> 00:12:29.820 of darkness. And for the thousands of troops 00:12:29.820 --> 00:12:32.419 who didn't make it onto those ships, they faced 00:12:32.419 --> 00:12:36.000 an agonizing choice. Surrender or head into the 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:39.460 wilderness. The sources detail how many hid in 00:12:39.460 --> 00:12:41.899 the harsh mountain caves for months. They did. 00:12:42.019 --> 00:12:44.259 They relied entirely on the local Cretan population, 00:12:44.779 --> 00:12:47.200 who risk execution by German patrols to provide 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:50.000 these stranded soldiers with food, shelter, and 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:52.750 guidance. The survival networks that formed are 00:12:52.750 --> 00:12:55.409 a true testament to human endurance. And even 00:12:55.409 --> 00:12:58.350 more remarkable is the fate of some of the ANZAC 00:12:58.350 --> 00:13:01.230 troops who were captured on Crete or in mainland 00:13:01.230 --> 00:13:03.990 Greece. They were loaded onto transport trains 00:13:03.990 --> 00:13:06.649 bound for Axis prisoner of war camps in central 00:13:06.649 --> 00:13:08.740 Europe. Right. While moving through the complex 00:13:08.740 --> 00:13:11.460 geography of the Balkans, specifically Yugoslavia, 00:13:11.960 --> 00:13:14.259 several of these Australian and New Zealand soldiers 00:13:14.259 --> 00:13:16.820 managed to break out of the trains. They escaped 00:13:16.820 --> 00:13:19.700 right into the dense Yugoslav wilderness. The 00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:22.980 idea of breaking out of a moving POW train deep 00:13:22.980 --> 00:13:25.879 in enemy territory is cinematic enough on its 00:13:25.879 --> 00:13:28.820 own. But who did they encounter once they were 00:13:28.820 --> 00:13:31.100 out there in the wilderness? They found themselves 00:13:31.100 --> 00:13:34.720 right in the middle of a deeply fractured, multilayered 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:38.629 guerrilla war. These escaped Aeans Azaeus linked 00:13:38.629 --> 00:13:41.610 up with local resistance movements. Some found 00:13:41.610 --> 00:13:43.809 refuge with the Chetniks, who were a Yugoslav 00:13:43.809 --> 00:13:46.730 royalist and Serbian nationalist movement. Others 00:13:46.730 --> 00:13:49.450 integrated with the Yugoslav partisans, the communist 00:13:49.450 --> 00:13:52.409 -led resistance. These soldiers, far from home, 00:13:52.629 --> 00:13:55.070 learned to survive in the freezing Balkan mountains 00:13:55.070 --> 00:13:58.169 and, in many documented cases, actively fought 00:13:58.169 --> 00:14:00.850 alongside these local resistance groups against 00:14:00.850 --> 00:14:02.889 Axis occupation forces until they could either 00:14:02.889 --> 00:14:05.929 be repatriated or, tragically, were re - captured. 00:14:06.110 --> 00:14:08.649 Just visualizing that journey from enlisting 00:14:08.649 --> 00:14:11.629 in Sydney or Auckland, fighting in Greece, escaping 00:14:11.629 --> 00:14:13.950 a train in the Balkans, and then fighting a guerrilla 00:14:13.950 --> 00:14:15.889 war in the mountains of Yugoslavia alongside 00:14:15.889 --> 00:14:19.049 local partisans, it highlights a level of global 00:14:19.049 --> 00:14:22.409 entanglement that this simple acronym ANZAC barely 00:14:22.409 --> 00:14:24.669 captures. It really is staggering when you trace 00:14:24.669 --> 00:14:27.070 the actual footsteps of these individuals. And 00:14:27.070 --> 00:14:29.549 that spirit of joint integration continued long 00:14:29.549 --> 00:14:32.909 after the World Wars ended. Moving into the Vietnam 00:14:32.909 --> 00:14:35.700 War era, The sources outline a structure called 00:14:35.700 --> 00:14:40.440 the four ARRNZ and ENZEB battalion. How did that 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:42.899 integration function on a practical level? It 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:45.620 was a deeply interwoven command structure. Instead 00:14:45.620 --> 00:14:47.899 of fighting as separate allied forces in the 00:14:47.899 --> 00:14:50.299 same theater, New Zealand rifle companies were 00:14:50.299 --> 00:14:53.019 integrated directly into Royal Australian regiments. 00:14:53.259 --> 00:14:54.980 So they weren't just allied forces operating 00:14:54.980 --> 00:14:57.679 nearby? No, this wasn't just a high -level administrative 00:14:57.679 --> 00:14:59.759 pairing. These troops were living, training, 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:02.019 and fighting side -by -side on the ground, sharing 00:15:02.019 --> 00:15:04.799 the exact same daily operational realities. This 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:07.740 model of integration kept the ANZAC legacy a 00:15:07.740 --> 00:15:10.120 functional military reality. We even saw this 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:12.710 continue into the 21st century with the of the 00:15:12.710 --> 00:15:15.370 combined ANZASE battle group to Timor -Leste 00:15:15.370 --> 00:15:18.529 during Operation Astute in 2006. The operational 00:15:18.529 --> 00:15:21.129 military use of the word clearly never stopped 00:15:21.129 --> 00:15:24.029 adapting. But as the military utility evolved, 00:15:24.570 --> 00:15:27.669 so did its cultural footprint. The sources track 00:15:27.669 --> 00:15:31.409 a massive shift. ANZC started as a unit designation, 00:15:31.970 --> 00:15:33.909 then became a shorthand for the soldiers themselves, 00:15:34.330 --> 00:15:36.409 then a physical place on the map with ANZAC Cove, 00:15:36.850 --> 00:15:39.009 and finally transitioned into a highly protected, 00:15:39.190 --> 00:15:41.590 almost sacred national symbol. And whenever something 00:15:41.590 --> 00:15:44.370 gains that level of cultural power, exploitation 00:15:44.370 --> 00:15:46.850 usually follows. Exactly. I was reading through 00:15:46.850 --> 00:15:48.750 the stack of documents and found this bizarre 00:15:48.750 --> 00:15:52.110 event from 1916 involving a real estate development 00:15:52.110 --> 00:15:55.279 called New ANZAC on Sea. How did developers attempt 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:57.879 to monetize a military acronym while the war 00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:00.539 was still actively being fought? It is a striking 00:16:00.539 --> 00:16:04.179 example of war profiteering. In 1916, a property 00:16:04.179 --> 00:16:06.259 development company in the United Kingdom sought 00:16:06.259 --> 00:16:09.100 to exploit the immense patriotic fervor and emotional 00:16:09.100 --> 00:16:11.759 weight surrounding the Gallipoli campaign. They 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:14.100 launched a massive promotional campaign for a 00:16:14.100 --> 00:16:16.379 new coastal housing development, holding a highly 00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:18.960 publicized naming competition. Oh boy. The winning 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:21.480 name selected by the developers was, predictably, 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:24.720 New Anzac on Sea. But the name was just the hook. 00:16:25.299 --> 00:16:27.340 The actual mechanics of the real estate offering 00:16:27.340 --> 00:16:30.379 were entirely fraudulent. Precisely. They ran 00:16:30.379 --> 00:16:33.299 this competition in the newspapers and then essentially 00:16:33.299 --> 00:16:35.539 notified nearly everyone who entered that they 00:16:35.539 --> 00:16:38.429 had achieved the status of runner -up. How convenient. 00:16:38.769 --> 00:16:41.309 Right. The prize for being a runner up was the 00:16:41.309 --> 00:16:43.809 exclusive opportunity to purchase plots of land 00:16:43.809 --> 00:16:46.549 in New Anzac -on -Sea at a supposedly discounted 00:16:46.549 --> 00:16:49.690 rate. The severe catch, which the buyers only 00:16:49.690 --> 00:16:52.210 realized later, was that the plots of land being 00:16:52.210 --> 00:16:55.269 sold were impossibly small. They were tiny fractions 00:16:55.269 --> 00:16:57.750 of acres, completely unsuitable for building 00:16:57.750 --> 00:17:00.610 a house or living on. Wow. It was a blatant scam 00:17:00.610 --> 00:17:03.529 designed to extract money from a grieving patriotic 00:17:03.529 --> 00:17:06.250 public. When the reality of the scam was exposed, 00:17:06.369 --> 00:17:08.470 the public backed backlash was immense and the 00:17:08.470 --> 00:17:10.549 development was hastily renamed to Peace Haven 00:17:10.549 --> 00:17:13.690 to avoid further outrage. That specific kind 00:17:13.690 --> 00:17:16.430 of exploitation is exactly what triggered the 00:17:16.430 --> 00:17:19.410 initial legal crackdown. The Australian and New 00:17:19.410 --> 00:17:21.089 Zealand governments were watching this happen 00:17:21.089 --> 00:17:23.529 and began heavily lobbying the United Kingdom 00:17:23.529 --> 00:17:26.829 to step in. The result was a piece of UK legislation 00:17:26.829 --> 00:17:29.930 passed in 1916 that strictly prohibited the use 00:17:29.930 --> 00:17:33.789 of the word ANZAC in any trade or business without 00:17:33.789 --> 00:17:36.630 explicit direct government approval. And this 00:17:36.630 --> 00:17:39.049 wasn't a warning. It was an immediate cancellation 00:17:39.049 --> 00:17:41.569 of existing businesses. Right. The law instantly 00:17:41.569 --> 00:17:45.089 wiped out roughly 29 registered trademarks. Companies 00:17:45.089 --> 00:17:47.529 trying to sell Anzac soap or launch the Anzac 00:17:47.529 --> 00:17:50.130 Motor Company were completely shut down overnight. 00:17:50.430 --> 00:17:53.529 That 1916 legislation laid the foundational precedent 00:17:53.529 --> 00:17:55.890 for the astonishing level of intellectual property 00:17:55.890 --> 00:17:58.940 protection the word enjoys today. This has moved 00:17:58.940 --> 00:18:01.440 far beyond a local trademark dispute between 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:04.859 two nations. In 2003, Australia and New Zealand 00:18:04.859 --> 00:18:07.500 took the extraordinary step of applying to register 00:18:07.500 --> 00:18:10.099 the word under the Paris Convention for the protection 00:18:10.099 --> 00:18:12.279 of industrial property. For those of us who aren't 00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:14.579 international patent lawyers, what does the Paris 00:18:14.579 --> 00:18:17.200 Convention actually do in practice? The Paris 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:19.839 Convention is one of the foundational international 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:22.319 treaties dealing with the protection of intellectual 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:25.680 property globally. By having ANZAC registered 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:28.759 as an official sign, hallmark or emblem under 00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:31.259 this convention. The word is currently granted 00:18:31.259 --> 00:18:34.799 legal protection in over 180 signatory countries 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:38.059 around the world. 180 countries? Yes, it mandates 00:18:38.059 --> 00:18:41.099 that those 180 nations are legally required by 00:18:41.099 --> 00:18:43.380 treaty to refuse the commercial registration 00:18:43.380 --> 00:18:46.000 of the word under their own domestic trademark 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.140 laws. A bureaucratic shortcut invented by clerks 00:18:49.140 --> 00:18:51.660 in Egypt is now protected by an international 00:18:51.660 --> 00:18:54.700 treaty across 180 countries. It really puts it 00:18:54.700 --> 00:18:57.339 into perspective. Which brings us to the domestic 00:18:57.339 --> 00:18:59.720 rules in Australia today, which are incredibly 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:02.619 rigid. You cannot legally use the word for trade. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:04.920 You can't use it to name a business. You can't 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:07.019 use it in entertainment. You can't even legally 00:19:07.019 --> 00:19:09.740 paint it on the side of your personal boat. But 00:19:09.740 --> 00:19:12.900 buried in this strict legal code is one very 00:19:12.900 --> 00:19:15.890 specific, very famous culinary exception. The 00:19:15.890 --> 00:19:18.049 exception is granted by the Minister for Veterans 00:19:18.049 --> 00:19:20.450 Affairs and it strictly pertains to the sale 00:19:20.450 --> 00:19:23.049 of Anzac biscuits. However, this permission is 00:19:23.049 --> 00:19:26.170 heavily conditional. The baked good being sold 00:19:26.170 --> 00:19:28.269 must fundamentally adhere to the traditional 00:19:28.269 --> 00:19:31.849 recipe. No deviations allowed. None. This recipe 00:19:31.849 --> 00:19:34.950 is historically significant. It uses a specific 00:19:34.950 --> 00:19:38.690 ratio of oats, flour, sugar, and golden syrup 00:19:38.690 --> 00:19:41.190 ingredients specifically chosen during the First 00:19:41.190 --> 00:19:43.369 World War because they wouldn't spoil on the 00:19:43.369 --> 00:19:45.569 long, unrefrigerated sea voyages to the front 00:19:45.569 --> 00:19:48.430 lines. The recipe mandate is strict, but the 00:19:48.430 --> 00:19:50.980 terminology mandate is even stricter. According 00:19:50.980 --> 00:19:53.519 to the regulations, the product must only ever 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:56.740 be referred to as an Anzac biscuit, or occasionally 00:19:56.740 --> 00:19:59.799 an Anzac slice. It is a strict violation of the 00:19:59.799 --> 00:20:02.180 guidelines to ever market them as an Anzac cookie. 00:20:02.339 --> 00:20:05.160 I mean, there is a real gravity to seeing baked 00:20:05.160 --> 00:20:07.259 good terminology enforced at the federal government 00:20:07.259 --> 00:20:10.059 level. Why is the government so deeply concerned 00:20:10.059 --> 00:20:12.099 with whether someone uses the word cookie? While 00:20:12.099 --> 00:20:14.819 it might sound trivial on the surface, the distinction 00:20:14.819 --> 00:20:17.259 is rooted in a deep -seated desire to protect 00:20:17.259 --> 00:20:20.849 the solemnity of the word's origin. Biscuit is 00:20:20.849 --> 00:20:22.890 the traditional vernacular of the soldiers who 00:20:22.890 --> 00:20:26.269 fought and died. Cookie represents modern commercial, 00:20:26.269 --> 00:20:29.609 often imported slang. By strictly policing the 00:20:29.609 --> 00:20:31.690 language down to the packaging level, the government 00:20:31.690 --> 00:20:34.430 is attempting to ensure that modern commercialization 00:20:34.430 --> 00:20:37.430 and cultural drift don't dilute or disrespect 00:20:37.430 --> 00:20:39.869 the historical sacrifice that those five letters 00:20:39.869 --> 00:20:43.500 represent. So what does this all mean? We started 00:20:43.500 --> 00:20:45.299 this deep dive looking at a group of soldiers 00:20:45.299 --> 00:20:47.640 who were simply diverted to Egypt to avoid a 00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:51.000 miserable muddy English winter on Salisbury Plain. 00:20:51.150 --> 00:20:53.990 That one logistical detour led to an exhausted 00:20:53.990 --> 00:20:56.309 administrative clerk inventing a hastily stamped 00:20:56.309 --> 00:20:59.089 acronym. From there, we traced that word as it 00:20:59.089 --> 00:21:01.089 stretched across the globe from multinational 00:21:01.089 --> 00:21:03.569 forces managing supply mules under fire to men 00:21:03.569 --> 00:21:06.170 riding camels through Palestine to troops escaping 00:21:06.170 --> 00:21:08.230 POW trains to fight a guerrilla war alongside 00:21:08.230 --> 00:21:11.369 Yugoslav partisans. And finally, we saw it transform 00:21:11.369 --> 00:21:13.549 into a fiercely protected piece of international 00:21:13.549 --> 00:21:16.490 intellectual property that legally dictates exactly 00:21:16.490 --> 00:21:18.759 what you can call your afternoon snack. The broader 00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:20.799 takeaway for you listening is the realization 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:23.599 that language and history are highly active, 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:26.140 living things. They are constantly in dialogue, 00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:28.700 shaping one another. Now, whenever you hear the 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:31.819 word ANZAC mentioned in a documentary, or you 00:21:31.819 --> 00:21:34.140 see a tin of traditional Anzac biscuits on a 00:21:34.140 --> 00:21:36.839 store shelf, you understand the absolute labyrinth 00:21:36.839 --> 00:21:39.339 of military bureaucracy, the hidden multinational 00:21:39.339 --> 00:21:42.079 cooperation, and the century of intense legal 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:44.279 wrangling that stands behind it. It is never 00:21:44.279 --> 00:21:47.279 just a simple acronym. It is a massive complex 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:49.940 legacy. And that leaves us with the final lingering 00:21:49.940 --> 00:21:52.380 thought for you to ponder long after we wrap 00:21:52.380 --> 00:21:55.299 up this discussion today. When a government so 00:21:55.299 --> 00:21:57.160 strictly regulates a piece of language, locking 00:21:57.160 --> 00:21:59.539 it down with international treaties across 180 00:21:59.539 --> 00:22:01.940 countries, and literally forbidding the word 00:22:01.940 --> 00:22:04.619 cookie from sitting next to it, does that rigid 00:22:04.619 --> 00:22:07.019 regulation successfully preserve the sacred memory 00:22:07.019 --> 00:22:10.299 of the soldiers? Or does it artificially freeze 00:22:10.299 --> 00:22:12.720 the word in time, preventing it from evolving 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:14.740 naturally within the very culture that created 00:22:14.740 --> 00:22:17.410 it in the first place? It's an incredibly fine 00:22:17.410 --> 00:22:20.170 line between preservation and control. Thank 00:22:20.170 --> 00:22:21.890 you so much for joining us on this deep dive 00:22:21.890 --> 00:22:24.170 into the sources today. We hope unpacking this 00:22:24.170 --> 00:22:26.049 stack of history gives you a totally new perspective 00:22:26.049 --> 00:22:28.309 on the legends we think we know. Keep asking 00:22:28.309 --> 00:22:30.609 questions and always stay curious. Catch you 00:22:30.609 --> 00:22:30.950 next time.