Australia has just observed Anzac Day which falls on April 25th each year. This hymn depicts the somber optimism of the time.
This hymn is in the Australian supplement to the Book of Common Praise 1947. The tune is Gallipoli by Dr A. E. Floyd and the words by Charles E. W. Bean the Commonwealth War Historian, 1915. Words and music attached. Floyd was born in Aston, Birmingham in 1877 and after education and work in the UK came to Australia to take up the position of organist and Choir Director at St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne. He was there for over 30 years and wrote a number of anthems, hymns and voluntaries. As well as being a music critic for the Argus, he presented Music Lovers Hour on ABC radio for 24 years. He dies in Melbourne in 1974.
https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac-tradition/
Quote from the above source. ‘The Australian and New Zealand forces landed on Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated from the peninsula, with both sides having suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. More than 8,000 Australian soldiers had died in the campaign. Gallipoli had a profound impact on Australians at home, and 25 April soon became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who died in the war.’