The decision to form an Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was made in November 1914, while the volunteers were still embarked on the long voyage from their homelands to Egypt. The formation was originally to be named 'The Australasian Army Corps' but protests from the New Zealand government led to the rather more cumbersome but more egalitarian longer version being adopted instead.
This was too much for the clerks and administrators to write, and so A.N.Z.A.C was born. Officially adopted as the codename for the corps while in Egypt, the term was not adopted by the soldiers themselves (who stuck to the AIF or NZIF) until after the Gallipoli landings. Major General William Birdwood, an Indian born British army officer, was placed in command of the new formation. Nicknamed 'Birdie' by his troops - a nickname he apparently tolerated - he was generally well regarded by them, despite the many military errors that lay ahead - not all of them Birdwood's fault, to be fair.
