Original formation and the Gallipoli disaster Plans for the formation began in November 1914 while the first contingent of Australian and New Zealand troops were still in convoy bound for, as they thought, Europe. However, following the experiences of the
Canadian Expeditionary Force encamped on
Salisbury Plain, where there was a shortage of accommodation and equipment, it was decided not to subject the Australians and New Zealanders to the English winter, and so they were diverted to Egypt for training before moving on to the
Western Front in France. The British
Secretary of State for War,
Horatio Kitchener, appointed Lieutenant General
William Birdwood, an officer of the
British Indian Army, to the command of the corps and he furnished most of the corps staff from the Indian Army as well. Birdwood arrived in
Cairo on 21 December 1914 to assume command of the corps. outside
Shepheard's Hotel,
Cairo, Egypt, March 1915. It was originally intended to name the corps the Australasian Army Corps, this title being used in the unit diary in line with the common practice of the time which often saw New Zealanders and Australians compete together as
Australasia in sporting events. However, complaints from New Zealand recruits led to adoption of the name Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The administration clerks found the title too cumbersome so quickly adopted the abbreviation A. & N.Z.A.C. or simply ANZAC. The 2nd and 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigades were assigned as corps level troops, belonging to neither division. several battalions from the
Royal Naval Division, the
British 13th (Western) Division, one brigade of the
British 10th (Irish) Division and the
29th Indian Brigade.
Later formations World War I Following the evacuation of the
Gallipoli peninsula, in December 1915, the Australian and New Zealand units reassembled in Egypt. The New Zealand contingent expanded to form their own
division; the
New Zealand Division. The
First Australian Imperial Force underwent a major reorganisation resulting in the formation of two new divisions; the
4th and
5th divisions. (The
Australian 3rd Division was forming in Australia and would be sent directly to England and then to France.) These divisions were reformed into two corps:
I ANZAC Corps and
II ANZAC Corps. I ANZAC Corps, under the command of General Birdwood, departed for France in early 1916. II ANZAC Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General
Alexander Godley, followed soon after. Then in March 1916, the
ANZAC Mounted Division with three Australian and one New Zealand brigade, was formed for service in Egypt and Palestine. to the ANZAC Mounted Division, and to the Anzac Mounted Division by the Australian, and the New Zealand official history. Also serving alongside the ANZAC Mounted Division in the
Egyptian Expeditionary Force was the ANZAC
Provost Police Corps, the 1st (ANZAC), 3rd (ANZAC), There was also the
1st (ANZAC) Wireless Signal Squadron, which served with the British expeditionary force in
Mesopotamia in 1916–1917. In early 1916, the Australian and, to a lesser extent, New Zealand governments sought the creation of an
Australian and New Zealand Army, which would have included the New Zealand Division and all of the Australian infantry divisions, but this did not occur.
World War II {{multiple image During World War II, the Australian
I Corps HQ moved to
Greece in March 1941 (
Operation Lustre). As the corps also controlled the
New Zealand 2nd Division (along with Greek and British formations), it was officially renamed ANZAC Corps on 12 April, under
Lieutenant General Blamey. The
Battle of Greece was over in weeks and the corps HQ evacuated mainland Greece on 23–24 April, with the name
ANZAC Corps no longer being used. Some troops evacuated to
Alexandria, but the majority were sent to the Greek island of
Crete to reinforce its garrison against an expected
German invasion from air and sea. Australians and New Zealanders were respectively deployed around the cities of
Rethymno and
Chania in western Crete with a smaller Australian force being positioned in
Heraklion. The invasion began the morning of 20 May and, after the fierce
Battle of Crete, which lasted ten days, Crete fell to the Germans. Most of the defenders of Chania withdrew across the island to the south coast and were evacuated by the
Royal Navy from
Sfakia. Many others evaded capture for several months, hiding in the mountains with generous assistance from the local Cretan population. Others who were captured and transported to Axis POW camps in mainland Europe were able to escape en route via
Yugoslavia. Those who escaped found refuge with
Chetniks and
Yugoslav Partisans until they were either repatriated or recaptured by Axis forces.
Other conflicts Anzac Memorial Centre,
Israel During the
Vietnam War, two companies from the
Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment were integrated into
Royal Australian Regiment battalions. These integrated battalions had the suffix (ANZAC) added to their name (for example, 4 RAR became the 4RAR/NZ (ANZAC) Battalion). The
ANZAC Battle Group was the official designation of Australian and New Zealand units deployed to
Timor Leste as part of
Operation Astute. The battle group was established in September 2006. == ANZAC as an acronym ==