And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda Quiz

Answer: Rover

"And the Band Played 'Waltzing Matilda'" was written and recorded in 1972 by Scottish-born singer Eric Bogle, who emigrated to Australia in 1969. The song chronicles the disastrous efforts of the ANZAC (Australia-New Zealand Army Corps) forces, along with troops from Great Britain and Newfoundland, to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula from the Ottoman Empire in the early stages of World War I. Bogle would later write "The Green Fields of France (No Man's Land)" about the Scottish experience during that conflict; United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair has called the latter effort his favorite anti-war poem.

Answer: 1915

Great Britain entered World War I on August 4, 1914, declaring war on Germany for invading neutral Belgium. The Ottoman Empire entered the war on the German side on October 29 that same year, attacking its former possessions in British-aligned Russia. As Australia and New Zealand were still dominions of the British Empire in 1915, they both entered the war on the Allied side.

Answer: Gallipoli

Gallipoli Peninsula juts from Turkish Thrace, the small European part of Turkey, to almost touch the larger portion of the country, known as Asia Minor. The narrow waterway between Gallipoli and Asia Minor, The Dardanelles, forms a natural defense from the west for the Turkish capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul). Along with the Bosporus to the East, these easily defended straits have historically made the city a very hard place for invaders to attack; the Turks themselves, in their days as a dominant world power, took centuries to wrest the city from the increasingly weak Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages.

Answer: Lambs

Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty at the outset of World War I, conceived of an amphibious invasion at Gallipoli as a means of diverting Turkish strength away from the Eastern front (providing some relief for the beleaguered Russian allies) and paving a way into Constantinople.

However, by the time the invasion began in earnest (after several months of Allied bombardment), Russia had already neutralized Turkey on the Eastern front, and as the most valuable of Ottoman possessions (the Suez canal, Jerusalem, and the nascent oil fields of the Middle East) were easily won by direct conquest, the value of Constantinople was debatable.

As Stephen Weir has written, "it is not clear to this day that there was the least strategic value to the war effort in getting through the Dardanelles."

Answer: Turk

The land invasion began on April 25, 1915. As Bogle's song states, the Dardanelles campaign went down as a horrible, bloody failure. No progress was made toward a successful invasion. The ANZAC portion of the invading force, originally envisioned as just an occupying garrison after Gallipoli had fallen, had received only cursory training in Greece for arduous battle, and one fifth of the New Zealand troops died on the first day.

The debacle cost Churchill his position in government, and he would serve out the war in the trenches as a Lieutenant Colonel, then in a logistical position as Minister of Munitions.

Answer: Stopped

The theme of shared loss here is echoed by the words on the monument at Anzac Cove today:

"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives...
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore, rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies, and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side,here in this country of ours.
You, the mothers,who sent their sons from far away countries...
Wipe away your tears.
Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well."

The author of these lines, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, was a colonel on the Turkish side during the Gallipoli campaign. Based largely on his reputation for extreme courage, he would lead a revolution against the Ottoman dynasty, resulting in today's civil state of Turkey. He remains the dominant hero in modern Turkish culture.

Answer: Weeks

Not counting the bombardment of the months prior, the Battle of Gallipoli raged from the original Allied landing on April 25, 1915 to the final evacuation on December 20 of that year. Ironically, the use of subterfuge during the evacuation would lead to some of the most marked Allied "gains" of the campaign, as Turkish patrols were either ambushed by hiding troops or killed by booby traps. Of course, since the peninsula was being relinquished, it is difficult to tell what was gained by these killings, whether the cause was just or not.

Answer: dead

One of the most memorably heartrending things about World War I was the multitude of soldiers who returned home with devastating disabilities. This is memorably depicted in the Dalton Trumbo novel "Johnny Got His Gun" about a young man who loses his arms, legs, and ability to speak.

In the story's conclusion, he asks to be placed in a traveling freak show as an example to public of war's horror.

Answer: Bush

The term "Waltzing Matilda" literally refers to the journeyman phase in the career of an artisan, where the emerging skilled laborer takes jobs from town to town, learning more tricks of the trade as he goes; this usually lasts for about three years. "Matilda" herself is the bedroll that carries the journeyman's belongings.

The term has a double meaning here, since the song "Waltzing Matilda" is also Australia's most widely known folk song. Written in 1895 by Banjo Paterson, "Waltzing Matilda" is the tale of a vagabond "swagman" who rustles a stray sheep and is pursued by authorities. Loaded with expressive terms from the Australian vernacular, this beloved song was, briefly, the country's national song, and it is still used informally as an anthem on some occasions. It's use in the context above is ironic, since the former journeyman returning from the war will never be able to travel with such freedom or practice a strenuous craft again. (Usually, the last stanza of "Waltzing Matilda" is sung at the end of "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" as well.)

Answer: Suvla

Ironically, the ANZACs never landed at Suvla Bay. The force that did land there was entirely British, and there was nothing like the carnage at Anzac cove associated with this lightly-opposed engagement. Bogle has claimed poetic license for this transposition.

Answer: Pity

"And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" has been recorded by scores of artists, including Irish giants The Dubliners, folk legend Joan Baez, and Member of the Order of Australia John Williamson. One of the most poignant versions was recorded by Celtic-Punk band The Pogues, who provide a respectful but powerful interpretation on their 1985 breakout album - whose title is inappropriate for mention here.

Answer: Stared

Roughly 44,000 Allied troops perished during the Gallipoli campaign. Of these, over 8,000 were Australian and nearly 3,000 were from New Zealand. Ironically, though the battle would go down as a defensive triumph for the Turks (or at least an expensive disaster for the Allies), the Ottoman forces lost over 86,000 lives - nearly twice the Allied dead! As Ataturk wrote, "they lie side by side, here in this country of ours." (This after his famous exhortation during the battle itself: "I don't order you to attack, I order you to die.

In the time it takes us to die, other troops and commanders can come and take our places.")

Answer: Glory

ANZAC Day is celebrated every April 25 in Australia and New Zealand. It begins with memorial services around 4:30am ("half-dawn", a favored time for attack because of limited visibility, and thus the hour when troops must be at peak readiness) and is marked with often bawdy rituals (the "gunfire breakfast" of rum and coffee, the one-day legalization of the wagering game of "two-up", and after midday, to quote a great Australian contributor to Quizzyland, "the great Australian tradition of greeting close friends by questioning their parents' marital status at the time of their birth"). Of course, the centerpieces of ANZAC Day commemorations are the solemn parades, often featuring descendents of the original ANZACs wearing their forebears' medals on the right side of their shirts, opposite the traditional soldier's convention. Though the "official" National Day in Australia is celebrated on January 26, ANZAC Day is held in higher esteem by many Australians, and many national historians point to World War I - and the Battle of Gallipoli in particular - as the beginning point of Australian national feeling. Similarly, ANZAC Day is commemorated as a day of unity in New Zealand - though that country has seen more politicization of the event than has Australia. For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_day

Answer: For

A staple of ANZAC Day services is the recitation of "Ode of Remembrance" by Laurence Binyon:

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall not grow 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.

This is usually concluded with the line "Lest we forget" (the official phrase of the day), which is repeated by those in attendance.

Answer: Disappear

In this, Bogle appears to have been off the mark. Although the last World War I ANZAC passed away in 2002, this day of memory has increased in popularity in recent years rather than diminishing. The ANZACs have been replaced by their descendants, and these are joined by veterans of World War II, the Vietnam Conflict, East Timor, and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. On a more festive note, ANZAC day is traditionally marked by a big game between Australian Rules Football rivals the Collingwood Magpies and Essendon Bombers; in 2006, 91,234 attended the game, which sees the outstanding player awarded the ANZAC medal.

In addition to commemorations at home, many travel to Gallipoli itself for their memorials. In 2004, despite threats of imminent terrorist attack, over 15,000 Australians honored the troops at Gallipoli on April 25.