Pakistani soldiers remembered

Soldiers fought along with ANZAC forces at Gallipoli

ISLAMABAD: The services of 7th Indian Mountain Artillery Brigade were remembered at the Australian High Commission on the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) Day,on Monday.

The Brigade, which included soldiers from what is now Pakistan, was attached to the ANZAC forces in the 1915 Gallipoli campaign.

A contingent of former Pakistani servicemen, for the first time, also marched in the ANZAC Day parade in Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and the North South West regional city of Armidale.

Australian High Commissioner Margaret Adamson said that the service and sacrifice of Pakistani soldiers who fought shoulder to shoulder with ANZAC soldiers at Gallipoli was a testament to the enduring friendship between Australia and Pakistan.

ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand to commemorate all those who had served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations.  In April 1915,  the ANZAC forces with the 7 Mountain Artillery Brigade had landed at Gallipoli  in Turkey.

The Brigade had comprised 26 Jacob’s Battery Artillery, the 21st Kohat Mountain Battery Artillery, part of today’s Frontier Force, and the 89 Punjab Regiment, which is the Baloch Regiment today. The Brigade sustained more than 400 casualties in the first 10 days of fighting alongside the ANZACs.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th,  2016.