04-24-2008, 10:45 PM
April 25th is the anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landing at Gallipoli in 1915, a failed attempt by an Imperial British and French force to knock Turkey out of the war and open a shorter route to Russia. This event is often said to be the "birth of the Australian nation". It is a public holiday and our National day of Remembrance for our Armed Forces, equivalent, I guess to Armistice day in the U.K. ( also observed here) or Veterans day in the U.S.
Here, every town and village has its own war memorial, commemorating the huge sacrifices (proportionally) made in other people's wars.....Australia has never fought a war of its own, but only ever as a staunch Ally of Britain or the U.S.A. The Boer War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Malaya,Vietnam, Iraq I and II, Afghanistan, various UN peace keeping missions....every generation of Australians has seen military service in the cause of others ( the only time Australia was threatened was briefly in WW II, by Japan, but the U.S. naval victory at the battle of the Coral Sea ended that).
I recall the Great Marches in the 60's, when tens of thousands of WW I and WW II veterans marched ( a very high proportion of Australian males served as volunteers in WW I ), and despite declining in the 70's and 80's ( Vietnam was an unpopular war), interest now is at an all time high.
I have not long returned from my local town's 'Dawn Service', where veterans and thousands of others assembled, to remember and honour them....
"At the rising and the going down of the sun, we shall remember them.....Lest We Forget!"
Eulogies and speeches are made, old medals proudly displayed ( often by children wearing Great Grandad's medals), and the whole country, it seems, wears Rosemary sprigs ( for remembrance).The 'Last Post' and 'Reveille' are always played and many other traditions observed ( such as 'Two-up'. a gambling game , with bets placed on the fall of two coins....similar to the American 'craps'.) The T.V. stations play messages from our service people currently overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan and Timor and later in the day will televise each City's parade. Thousands go 'on pilgrimage' to Gallipoli itself......all in all, it is a very moving day.
LEST WE FORGET
Here, every town and village has its own war memorial, commemorating the huge sacrifices (proportionally) made in other people's wars.....Australia has never fought a war of its own, but only ever as a staunch Ally of Britain or the U.S.A. The Boer War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Malaya,Vietnam, Iraq I and II, Afghanistan, various UN peace keeping missions....every generation of Australians has seen military service in the cause of others ( the only time Australia was threatened was briefly in WW II, by Japan, but the U.S. naval victory at the battle of the Coral Sea ended that).
I recall the Great Marches in the 60's, when tens of thousands of WW I and WW II veterans marched ( a very high proportion of Australian males served as volunteers in WW I ), and despite declining in the 70's and 80's ( Vietnam was an unpopular war), interest now is at an all time high.
I have not long returned from my local town's 'Dawn Service', where veterans and thousands of others assembled, to remember and honour them....
"At the rising and the going down of the sun, we shall remember them.....Lest We Forget!"
Eulogies and speeches are made, old medals proudly displayed ( often by children wearing Great Grandad's medals), and the whole country, it seems, wears Rosemary sprigs ( for remembrance).The 'Last Post' and 'Reveille' are always played and many other traditions observed ( such as 'Two-up'. a gambling game , with bets placed on the fall of two coins....similar to the American 'craps'.) The T.V. stations play messages from our service people currently overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan and Timor and later in the day will televise each City's parade. Thousands go 'on pilgrimage' to Gallipoli itself......all in all, it is a very moving day.
LEST WE FORGET
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
