I don’t often mention the NZ connection.
For those not in the know, ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
So I’ll make a late mea culpa here, with a post from Kiwi blog The BFD.
Salute to our brothers and sisters in arms across the Tasman.
Lest We Forget.
The mind is an unexplored country. 
I was going to post this on Paco’s site but I thought I may have posted too much Anzac Day stuff there. Kiwi readers might find it interesting.
I was also at the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.
Access to the peninsular was allocated by ballot to those with relatives that served in the campaign, you paid your own way and had to book with a tour company to get through the very secure lockdown area.
Anyway we found ourselves way up the front of ceremony area, squeezed into a very small space with thousands of others for about 20 hours.
We got talking to some very tough Maori men who turned out to be either current or ex SAS that were off duty and on the tour. Good blokes.
As I said we were right up on the front fence and were close enough to talk to Tony Abbott and John Key.
All of a sudden one of the SAS blokes starts calling out to one of the Turkish soldiers who were in full battle rattle, not ceremonial at all.
Jimmy, Jimmy is that you?
So this bloke comes over in a Turkish army uniform and armed with Turkish weapons He says yeah it’s me and I’m on the job. Turns out he was guarding the New Zealand VIPs and the only way the Turks would let them carry weapons was if they were in Turkish uniforms. I don’t know what type of rifle it was but the off duty blokes reckoned that if the shit hit the fan his best bet was to drop the magazine and use it as a club.
It was a very moving experience but I was exhausted as we were corralled for about 20 hours. I loved the Turkish people and the country is incredibly beautiful. I would love to go back when things aren’t as stressful.
Cheers Mick
By: haverm56 on April 29, 2024
at 2:46 PM
Thanks for the story, Mick. 20 hours penned up with thousands of others sounds like a foretaste of hell, but seems it was worth it.
By: Gregoryno6 on April 29, 2024
at 5:48 PM
Mick, I salute your patriotism – and endurance!
Were Maoris employed extensively in SAS-type work? Puts me in mind of a friend of mine – a full-blooded Cherokee – who had been a Navy SEAL in his younger days. He told me that Native American military recruits were almost automatically routed to special forces outfits. Maybe the brass was too heavily influenced by westerns and figured they were all as good as Apaches at guerilla warfare, I don’t know.
By: Paco on April 30, 2024
at 10:42 PM
I’m not sure Paco. They were in a group of three couples, all three and their wives were really nice. The men wore lots of their own medals on the left side so I presume they had been to Afghanistan or Iraq. Two were full Maori and the other mixed race.
I don’t know much about NZ SAS, but I presume they are drawn from the general ranks and tested. Most fail.
All I can say is having played rugby with and against Maori, they are tough and aggressive. I imagine that is a good start for selection.
Cheers
Mick
By: haverm56 on May 1, 2024
at 12:26 PM