Originally Posted by
Nugget90
ANZAC Day in London 2017
In the mid 1960s I had the great pleasure of spending three years on exchange with No 36 Squadron RAAF, then based at Richmond outside Sydney, flying C130A Hercules aircraft all around the continent of Australia and to many of the surrounding islands with occasional forays into SE Asia. I made many friends and joined some of them two years ago on the 100th Anniversary ANZAC Day march in Sydney after having attended a most memorable Dawn Service beforehand.
In memory of these friendships and having in mind those of my colleagues who, having completed co-pilot tours on the Squadron retrained on Iroquois yet failed to return unscathed from Vietnam, I have for the past several years joined in the ANZAC Day parade in London. Yesterday was no exception, and to my relief (and that of others) the sun shone and the wind dropped such that we didn't have to remain covered up with overcoats (the temperature was between 6 and 9 degrees).
For those who may not have witnessed this event, that follows every 25th of April a Dawn Service held at the Australian and New Zealand war memorials that are located at Wellington Gate (if you haven't seen them, then I suggest you might think of doing so when next you are in the vicinity of Green Park and the Bomber Command memorial), I offer the following brief description.
After forming up in King Charles Street adjacent to Whitehall and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Australians and New Zealanders, those wearing uniforms and those in civilian clothes, able-bodied and those with limited mobility, all mixed in together, we march, preceded by a band supplied by the Brigade of Guards, to a position adjacent to the Cenotaph where a padre taken in turn annually from Australia and New Zealand conducts a brief Service of Commemoration. The last Post is sounded, wreaths are laid, and we sing all three national anthems. Also in attendance yesterday were the two High Commissioners, the (British) Secretaries of State for Defence and for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Chief of the Defence Staff and the three Armed Service Chiefs. A good-sized crowd gathers around the area (tickets are required for security reasons) and the spectators applaud us as we march off. Immediately thereafter most of us make tracks towards Westminster Abbey where the most moving of Services of Commemoration takes place commencing at noon.
The Abbey is always packed, with many young people who are visiting the UK swelling the numbers. Apart from the dignitaries I listed above, a member of the Royal Family also attends, and yesterday it was Prince Andrew, Duke of York. Now for the bits that always cause dust to creep into my eyes: the national flags of the UK, Australia and New Zealand - and Turkey - are marched up the aisle and placed in the Sacrarium; the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkey reads aloud words written by Mustafa Ataturk following the Gallipoli campaign (see below); and young citizens from Australia and New Zealand read aloud the prayers for peace and reconciliation. Once again we sing the national anthems (I'm not too proficient in the Maori text, I must confess, although I do try) before the service ends. This year the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, gave the sermon in which he tied the historical significance of the sacrifices made at Gallipoli with sacrifices made in campaigns that have followed and in which we are engaged today, and the relevance ANZAC Day has to the modern era with that sacrifice made 2000 years ago on which the Christian religion is based.
The words read by the Ambassador were:
Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ...
you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours ...
You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears;
your sons are now lying in our bosom are are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.
There can be no better example of reconciliation.
Here, in the UK, we too value and respect the support and commitment that the peoples of Australia and New Zealand have made for more than 100 years to further the principles that we all share of preserving freedom to decide our own futures, facing down threats and helping the oppressed. And through the medium of the annual ANZAC Day parades we show that we in Britain do care and that this Day has meaning for us, too.