Editorial: Spare thought for their lads too

This Anzac Day, remember the fallen from all countries, not just Australia and New Zealand.

Ten years ago I was privileged to visit Gallipoli with a group of young Kiwis and Australians.

When we arrived in Istanbul, the locals were incredibly warm towards us. I struggled to understand it. While the Great War was many years earlier, we had invaded their country. Our actions had put their homes, livelihoods and families at risk.

It wasn't until we arrived at Anzac Cove that it started to make sense. As you enter, there is a memorial wall, with part of a speech by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1934, Turkey's first president and a former army officer.

The wall reads: "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 faraway 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."

It was, and still is, a humbling reminder of the power of forgiveness in the face of great grief.

The Turks, too, lost thousands of brothers, sons, husbands and fathers. They lost nearly twice as many men over eight months of battle as the Allies did.

And yet, through the immense mana of their leader, reminding us all that lost loved ones are still lost, regardless of which side you're on, they've forgiven the Anzacs for the atrocities of war.

The inimitable bond New Zealand formed with Australia in World War I is the one we most often remember and honour.

But when our men landed at the base of that sheer cliff-face on April 25, 1915, they also formed a bond with their opponents. A bond that has lasted a hundred years and will last many hundreds more.

Anzac Day is a time to remember all those who have fallen, not just our own. Their loss is as much ours as ours is theirs.