6.096 minSeason 1 • Episode 5
LatestLed by General John Monash, they became a crack fighting corps of the British Army. While making up only five per cent of the Allied forces, the Anzacs played a crucial role in winning the “war to end all wars”. Their efforts were instrumental in Allied victories in numerous key battles, including Messines, Hamel, Amiens, Mont St Quentin and the Hindenberg Line.
Anzacs was a 1985 5-part Australian miniseries set in World War I. The series follows the lives of a group of young Australian men who enlist in the 8th Battalion of the First Australian Imperial Force in 1914, fighting first at Gallipoli in 1915, and then on the Western Front for the remainder of the war.
Acting
Jon Blake's doomed larrikin heart — his career peak before tragedy.
Production
Turkey and France recreated with obsessive 1980s Australian detail.
Writing
Black humor between barrages — soldiers joking while drowning in mud.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jon Blake, who played Flanagan, suffered catastrophic brain injuries in a 1986 car crash just after filming — this became his final major role.
Screenwriter P.J. Hammond deliberately included anti-British command sentiment that sparked diplomatic complaints — the ANZAC legend as cultural weapon.
AU
