St John's Cathedral, Brisbane and the Anzac Legend

He regarded enlistment in the services by eligible Queenslanders as a necessary, even religious, duty to defend the liberties and freedoms of the British Empire against the aggression of the Imperial German Army and its allies (see section 3). In 1916 this tenacious priest was made secretary of Queensland’s ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee (ADCC)—the first of its kind in Australia. For the rest of his life Garland worked to ensure that the anniversary of the dawn landings at Anzac Cove became a central focus of the Australian community and a national rallying point. Then Acting Queensland Premier William Gillies described Garland as the life and soul of the Committee. His motto was ‘nothing is too good for our soldiers’ and the ADCC’s annual sale of blue, silk Anzac badges helped fund the creation of Brisbane war memorials, pay for the maintenance of soldiers’ graves, and support the welfare of returned servicemen in Queensland (until the Commonwealth Government and returned servicemen’s organisations stepped into this role). Of lasting significance, Canon Garland established the model for a non- denominational citizens’ service on Anzac Day each year that could be attended by the whole of the community and that would honour both New Zealand and Australian soldiers. He is also credited with initiating the Anzac Day march, the returned soldiers’ luncheon and—perhaps the most poignant moment of Anzac Day—the minute’s silence. Garland also worked to ensure that the history of the Anzacs at Gallipoli, and of Australians at war more generally, were taught and remembered throughout state schools. In the later stages of the First World War Garland served as a chaplain to Australian soldiers fighting in the Middle East. Behind the frontlines he founded eight recreational clubs for soldiers with the aim of diverting them from the temptations of local brothels and, it was hoped, simultaneously curb the incidence of venereal disease. He was the first priest to celebrate the Holy Communion (the Eucharist) in the Anglican chapel of the Holy Sepulchre following the expulsion of the Turkish Army from Jerusalem. On his return to Brisbane from the war, Garland was instrumental in the creation of Brisbane’s first ‘national’ warmemorials—the Stone of Remembrance and the Cross of Sacrifice at Toowong Cemetery.

Canon Garland (seated at centre of picture) with fellow Army recruiters in Queensland, c 1915.

State Library of Queensland

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