Values-Based Education at the ANZAC Memorial Centre
The story of the ANZAC soldiers’ enlistment and the journey they undertook raises a wide range of values-based issues that remain highly relevant to our lives and to the lives of young people today. During the tour, these themes will be explored alongside the historical processes and through personal stories.
Among the subjects discussed will be loyalty to one’s homeland, comradeship, self-sacrifice, creativity and its importance, as well as additional moral and ethical questions. At the conclusion of the tour, participants will take part in a facilitated discussion circle focusing on the values raised during the visit and their relevance to the lives of students today.
Historical Education at the ANZAC Memorial Centre
A visit to the Centre promotes meaningful learning about historical processes, the events of the First World War and their consequences. Although the First World War is studied as part of the history curriculum in junior high school, it is connected to many broader historical developments and subjects, including the early waves of Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel, the Balfour Declaration, geography, the drawing of borders and more.
These themes will be addressed during the tour, enabling students to leave with knowledge and insights that can later be developed and explored in a variety of directions.
A Day Following in the Footsteps of the ANZACs in Be’er Sheva
We offer an experiential tour of Be’er Sheva focusing on the ANZACs and the First World War. During the tour, we will visit sites connected with the preparations and deployment leading up to the ANZAC mounted charge on Be’er Sheva, and discover the Ottoman town as it appeared when it was captured by the ANZAC horsemen.
Be’er Sheva is a city with a rich and diverse history, and in recent years its urban landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation. The tour will therefore address both the history of Be’er Sheva and the changes the city is experiencing today. By prior arrangement, additional sites and points of interest may also be incorporated into the itinerary.
Be’er Sheva River Park Lookout
From one of Israel’s largest urban parks, we will view the historic Ottoman railway bridge and the Be’er Sheva River. We will explore why the mounted charge on Be’er Sheva took place during the final hour of daylight and discover why the attack very nearly did not take place at all.
“Twenty-Metre Street” (KKL Street) in the Old City
We will encounter Ottoman Be’er Sheva and learn the story of the city’s establishment and its institutions: when the first Jewish residents arrived in Be’er Sheva, how they made their living, and which public buildings existed in the city during the war.
Allenby Garden
We will tell the story of General Edmund Allenby: how his appointment to command transformed the course of the campaign, the change in military thinking he introduced, the nickname given to him by his soldiers, and the surprising connection between Allenby and the Prophet.
Tour Along the ANZAC Trail
We offer groups an experiential tour along the ANZAC Trail, retracing the route of the “Great Flanking Manoeuvre” undertaken by the ANZAC forces. During the tour, we will stop at key locations along the route, recount the story of the manoeuvre, and experience the landscapes of the Negev together with its fascinating history.
ANZAC Memorial at Be’eri
The observation tower at the top of the memorial overlooks the historic battlefields. The foundation stone was laid in April 1967 to mark the 50th anniversary of the battles, and the memorial was established through the support of friends of KKL-JNF in Australia.
Its design is shaped like the letter A, the first letter in the name ANZAC, while its outline evokes the front profile of a horse, a reminder of the Australian and New Zealand mounted troops who played a decisive role in the campaign.
Tel Gamma (Tel Jemmeh)
Tel Gamma rises above the southern bank of the Besor River, one of the largest river systems in the Negev and the drainage basin with the largest catchment area in Israel. In this area, the river is known in Arabic as Wadi Ghazzeh, the name by which it was known to the ANZAC horsemen.
During the battles for Gaza, the British established their line of positions along one bank of the river, while the Ottoman forces entrenched themselves opposite them on the northern bank. The ancient route to the port of Gaza also passed through this area.
The site is identified with the Canaanite city of Yurza (also known as Arza or Arzahu). During the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, it served as an Assyrian administrative centre, while in the Hellenistic period it functioned as a centre for storing grain from the Besor region.
Here we will recount the two attempts by the British forces and the ANZAC troops to capture Gaza, examine why the first attempt failed despite their tactical advantage, and discover which technological innovation appeared during the second battle.
Eshkol Park
The springs of the Besor River rise here and were used by the British to establish an important water supply base. They constructed a dam across the river and stored more than two million litres of water behind it. They also laid a light railway southward towards their military positions, and sections of the original embankment can still be seen today.
We will also discover where a remarkable mosaic once stood, a mosaic that is today displayed as a central exhibit at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, and learn how it made its way to Australia during the war.
Golda Park (Bir Asluj)
A large Ottoman military camp was located here beside a convenient source of water suitable for pumping. We will explore why the Ottoman forces abandoned the site, who planted the eucalyptus grove, and how the lake that exists here today was formed almost by accident.
Tel Be’er Sheva
Fierce fighting took place here on the dramatic day of 31 October 1917. From the lookout point, we will understand why General Chauvel insisted on delaying the order for the mounted charge until the hill had been captured, and we will recount the events of the day that ultimately led to the fateful order for the horsemen to charge Be’er Sheva.
The ANZAC Memorial Centre in Be’er Sheva
We will conclude the tour with a visit to the experiential ANZAC Memorial Centre, which was inaugurated to mark the centenary of the Battle of Be’er Sheva.
Visit to the ANZAC Memorial Centre
The highlight of the visit will be the Centre itself, where visitors will experience, in an engaging and immersive way, the dilemmas and daily lives of the ANZAC horsemen, from their enlistment in Australia through to the charge on Be’er Sheva.
The Commonwealth War Cemetery
We will tour the important and meticulously maintained Commonwealth War Cemetery, designed in the style of a European garden.
During the visit, we will tell the stories of several of the war’s notable figures, see the memorial dedicated to British airmen and discover who erected it, visit the grave of the only Jewish soldier buried here, and learn about the highest award for gallantry in the British armed forces.
We will also investigate whether recipients of this decoration are buried in the cemetery and discover the connection between the labour battalions and the cemetery.
