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The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that was formed in Egypt in 1915 and operated during the Battle of Gallipoli. The corps was disbanded in 1916 following the evacuation of Gallipoli. The corps is best remembered today as the source of the acronym ANZAC which has since become a term, "Anzac", for a person from Australia or New Zealand.

Plans for the formation of the corps 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, 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 FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents..

The British Secretary of State for WarThe position of Secretary of State for War commonly called War Secretary a British cabinet-level position, first applied to Henry Dundas (appointed in 1794). In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-, Horatio Kitchener, appointed General William Birdwood, an officer of the British Indian ArmyThe Indian Army in the time of the British Raj (1857 1947) See Indian Army for the post-partition army of the Republic of India. Administrative Name The Indian Army is the name for the Indian Armed forces of that country; the meaning of that name changed, to the command of the corps and he furnished most of the corps staff from the Indian Army as well. Birdwood arrived in CairoCairo ( Arabic: ; romanized: al-Qāhirah is the capital city of Egypt and has an estimated metropolitan area population of 15 million. It is the largest city in both Africa and the Middle East and is currently the thirteenth most populous city in the on 21 December 1914 to assume command of the corps.

It was originally intended to name the corps the "Australasian Army Corps" -- this title actually being used in the unit diary -- but understandable protests from New Zealand led to the name "Australian and New Zealand Army Corps" being adopted. The administration clerks found the title to cumbersome so quickly adopted the abbreviation "A. & N.Z.A.C." or simply "ANZAC". Shortly afterwards it was officially adopted as the codename for the corps but it did not enter common usage amongst the troops until after the Gallipoli landings.

At the outset the corps comprised only one complete division, the Australian 1st DivisionThe Australian 1st Division was formed to fight in World War One as part of the 1st AIF in August 1914. It made the first landing at Anzac Cove as part of the Battle of Gallipoli. In 1916 the division was sent to France where it served on the Western Fron. In addition there was the New Zealand Infantry Brigade and two mounted brigades; the Australian 1st Light Horse Brigade and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade .

Another convoy transporting an Australian infantry brigade (the 4th) and two light horse brigades, arrived shortly afterwards. Initially the brigades were arranged by combining the two extra infantry brigades into the "New Zealand Division" and the mounted brigades into the "Mounted Division" but this was deemed unsatisfactory. Instead the New Zealand and Australian Division was formed with the two infantry brigades plus two mounted brigades (1st LH and NZMR). The remaining light horse brigades became corps troops. These two divisions would remain the core of ANZAC for the duration of its existence.

Despite being synonymous with Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC was quite a multi-national body. In addition to the many British officers in the corps and division staffs, ANZAC contained at various times:

• the 7th Brigade of the Indian Mountain Artillery (corps artillery)
• the Ceylon Planters' Rifle Corps (150 men, corps troops)
• the Zion Mule Corps (transport)
• two half-brigades (4 battalions) of the Royal Naval Division
• the British 13th (Western) Division
• one brigade of the British 10th (Irish) Division
• the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade