ANZAC Day 2017

[radar101]

A moving piece on Radio Lincolnshire (~10:20 am) this morning. Five CWGC graves in a cemetery in Lincoln were WW1 Aussies (1916/17) - Three Australian Flying Corps + 2 army.


They reseached them on the incredible Australian remembrance website, and placed Aussie flags on the graves.


We Will Remember Them.

[huge72]

Little known is that there are 2 ANZAC parades held in the UK. The main one in London the other in Leighterton Gloucestershire. A small village but the site of one of the training airfields for the Australian and New Zealand Flying Corps. There are twenty five graves in the village and for 82 years a service and parade has been held on the Sunday closest to ANZAC Day. This year the RBL, Cadets from 4 ATC Sqns and children from the Primary School paraded in the Sunshine to honour those brave men so far from home.
We do Remember Them

[radar101]

Two of the Lincoln Aussie Flying Corps lads were killed in training accidents. The other was an aircraft fitter who died of Spinal Meningitis.


The whole clip is here:


BBC Radio Lincolnshire - Melvyn in the Morning, Static caravans, ANZAC Day, DNA ancestry, 'You are a long way from home, but you are not forgotten'. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0512c3v)


I don't know if it works outside of the UK.

[langleybaston]

Being a firm friend of Australia, I always fly their flag on ANZAC Day and AUSTRALIA Day ........... but when it comes to cricket or rugger ........... !

[skippedonce]

the site of one of the training airfields for the Australian and New Zealand Flying Corps.

Very pleased to hear of the ceremonies to remember the fallen, but better still to remember them accurately for who they were. The 'Australian Flying Corps' was established in 1912, and with the formation of the RAF, previosuly designated RFC(Australian) sqns (67, 68, 69, 71) became 1-4 Sqns AFC on 1 April 1918. There was no 'New Zealand Flying Corps' (and definitely no 'Australian and New Zealand Flying Corps'); the Kiwis joined the RFC and RNAS, and then transferred to the RAF.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/war-in-the-air/new-zealands-air-war

[Wensleydale]

Not forgetting the 467/463 Sqns RAAF Association services at Waddington...


https://scontent.flhr4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/18155909_1375472029178993_6060761863335820765_o.jpg?oh=15be6 e60e07ad91afebbaa997e3c588a&oe=59888717


https://scontent.flhr4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/18121798_1375472062512323_1087175361554257694_o.jpg?oh=6e021 bbcdb5963d17f57695e2502621b&oe=59776858

[bugged on the right]

Have a good pal in the small village of Sutton Veney in Wiltshire. He and his wife are part of the team who tend a lot of Australian war graves. He asked me if I noticed anything unusual about them. After a very long time I saw what he was getting at. The dates were 1919. Aussies who had survived the horrors of war and who were waiting for repatriation were struck down by influenza.
Lest we forget.

[November4]

Last year I was lucky enough to be able to pay a visit to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Listed on that memorial are 2 men from my home town. They had emigrated to Australia, joined the Army before being killed; 1 in Gallipoli and the other in France. I spoke to one of the ladies on the reception desk to ask which panels they were commemorated on and explained that they were from my home town. She asked the town and when I said it, she said that her Great - relative (grandfather I think) had not only come from the same town but had been the mayor at one stage. His brother was also killed in the First War. She asked me to take back 3 Australian poppies and lay them on the town's memorials to show they were remembered in Australia.

Pte Thomas Brinkworth - Australian Memorial
http://i63.tinypic.com/2v7yxdi.jpg

Pte George Fields - Australian Memorial
http://i63.tinypic.com/vmt95j.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/2vsm6bo.jpg

The Memorial for the lady's relative
http://i65.tinypic.com/b67zug.jpg

[Octane]

Sir Keith Park, commander of 11 group during the BoB was a RFC pilot/ ace in WW1. A Kiwi...

[jonkster]

Thank you.

[seafury45]

Thank you all for your posts here and for remembering our fallen. It is wonderful to see that even after all this time the sacrifices made are still matter.

[MPN11]

Readers may be surprised to know that ANZAC Day was also marked here, on the small island of Jersey, with an 05:30 service at our cenotaph.

"We will remember them"

[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.

[Octane]

Why is it then that the UK government has made it progressively more difficult for young Australians, New Zealanders and presumably Canadians etc to obtain visas to do the traditional working/ holiday experience in the UK as has been the case for many decades? Don't they value the contribution/ sacrifice our forbears made for the mother country us as much as they used to?

I'm a NZer. In my family alone, male relatives going back to the Boer war fought for Queen/ King and country. As a child I remember visiting a Great Uncle several times who fought at Gallipoli, I remember him showing me his bayonet that he claimed was stained with Turkish blood! (I'm sure he was joking with me..?). Later I believe he fought on the Western Front. Other relatives saw action in the Middle East and Greece in WW2. Luckily they all made it back home though my Grandfather was a POW for 3 years.

I have vivid memories of going to summer "POW picnics" in NZ as a child in the late '60s. They were big events, thousands of people... The sacrifice/ contribution to the war effort my tiny country made was enormous. I can't help but think this has been mostly forgotten by the current politicians in the UK who make the rules...

Sorry if I sound a bit disillusioned/ bitter but that's how I feel...:sad:

[Taildragger67]

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.

Nugget90, this Aussie thanks you Brit for joining our commemoration. I do note in many Anzac Day services I've attended, that there are usually several other Commonwealth attendees and often a Turkish representative. So it was in New York City yesterday.

Thank you for serving.

[rjtjrt]

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.

Nugget, beautifully written and your efforts are so appreciated from afar.

[rjtjrt]

A profound thank you to all who posted here, and to all those good folk who attend the services, and who tend the graves and memorials.
It is much appreciated.

And Radar101, the link works fine for me here in Australia. Many thanks for alerting us to it, and to the reporter who did a fine thing.

[onetrack]

Well done and thank you, to the above posters for their articles as regards Anzac Day. It's good to hear that the selfless sacrifice of those ANZAC's lives are not forgotten.
The Great War had a dreadful impact upon Australia, whose population was only around 4.9M at that time.
Nearly 40% of the able-bodied Australian men between 18 and 44 enlisted, and the Australian casualty rate of 64.8% was the highest of all the forces involved.
In nearly every major park in Australia, and even in the tiniest Australian country towns, there are WW1 memorials listing anything from dozens to thousands, of our war dead.
It's a little-known fact, that in both WW1 and WW2, Australian and NZ troops made up only around 10% of the fighting forces - yet they were responsible for around 20% of enemy territory captured, and around 20% of enemy war materiel seized. Our troops punched well above their weight.
Today, we are seeing very few of our remaining WW2 veterans every ANZAC day. Soon, they will be all gone, just like all the WW1 veterans are gone. I trust ANZAC day is still being commemorated in another 100 years, by those who appreciate just what those men and women gave for the peacefulness and freedom we enjoy today in the West, in the U.K. and in most of Europe.

AWM - WW1 enlistments, casualties and general statistics (https://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/enlistment/ww1/)

[Pom Pax]

I have seen a report with a picture of the New Zealand flag being flown on Anzac day outside Feltwell parish church.













i

[OffshoreSLF]

I do hope you guys will forgive me for this wee intrusion.


As you will see from my username, I spent a large part of my life flying as SLF to various offshore locations. About 2 years of that time was spent in Perth, and I was lucky enough to be there for 2 ANZAC days.

To go to Kings Park in the early morning was an honour a privilege for me, and an experience I'll treasure for the rest of my life. To just be there and be part of it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I think about it every year on ANZAC day.

We Will Remember Them.

[MPN11]

Hey, ANZACs, don't go all moist on us. You know we care, even if you can be an irritating bunch at times :)

Hugs, eh?

[SpazSinbad]

Leading the Sydney 2017 March is Fred Lane - the original SINBAD - I purloined his callsign for a time but gave it back when he returned to NAS Nowra in early 1970s. Fred was a Subbie on Sea Furies of 805 in Korean War, then CO of 805 Sea Venoms embarked and the first CO of embarked VF-805 with A4G Skyhawks 1969.

Keen eyes will spot a former No.68 Pilot Course Member in the front row (mit glasses - not bald):

Go Here for the Beer: http://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/588450-raaf-50th-reunion.html

No.68 Pilot Course: http://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/588450-raaf-50th-reunion.html#post9616003

http://www.pprune.org/9616003-post20.html

https://www.faaaa.asn.au/anzac-day-2017-photographs/

https://www.faaaa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/170425-FAA_1-IMG_0486_s.jpg

https://www.faaaa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/170425-FAA_1-IMG_0486_s.jpg

[SpazSinbad]

Sydney Anzac March 2017 on ABC TV with MELBOURNE & RAN FAA contingent starting at one hour 42 minutes 45 seconds from the start. March order rearranged recently. RAN medicos seen a few seconds earlier with one serving aircrew at least. In my day we had a few 'flying doctors' with one on jets and the other on helos. Other capital city marches at second URL: this first URL may require going back a minute or so....

Anzac Day March Sydney : ABC iview (http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/anzac-day-march-sydney/FA1613H001S00#playing)

Scroll down to see other capital city marches 2017.

[reynoldsno1]

Sir Keith Park, commander of 11 group during the BoB was a RFC pilot/ ace in WW1. A Kiwi...
He actually started as an NCO in the NZ Field Artillery, and went ashore at ANZAC cove. He was later commissioned and transferred to the British Army. He was awarded the MC and bar. He joined the RFC as wounds he received made him unfit to ride a horse ....

[langleybaston]

Two footnotes if I may.

Every Armistice/Remembrance Sunday my wife and I wear our lovely silk [?] Australian poppies, purchased on our first of many holidays down under.

T'other is to remark that many [most?] Australian township memorials have complete lists of those who served, with the fatalities distinguished by a small + symbol. This I like, and we would have done well to do the same. As it is, my grandfather's, my father's, and two uncles' service in the wars is uncommemorated anywhere. Yes they survived, but years were stolen from their young lives, and they came home changed men.

[November4]

Two footnotes if I may.

T'other is to remark that many [most?] Australian township memorials have complete lists of those who served, with the fatalities distinguished by a small + symbol. This I like, and we would have done well to do the same. As it is, my grandfather's, my father's, and two uncles' service in the wars is uncommemorated anywhere. Yes they survived, but years were stolen from their young lives, and they came home changed men.

That is the sad fact that those who died are far easier to research than those who survived. About the only complete list of those who served is the Medal Index Cards. But they just list the regiment and medals awarded along with the date into theatre in some case. Other than that, due to the bombing of the Public Records office in the Blitz, the service records of something like 2/3s of those who served were destroyed.

I have found some memorials in village churches do list the names of all those who served from the village or there is a seperate memorial scroll but these seem to be the exceptions.

[ricardian]

A worrying development (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11878350)

[fergineer]

How can a civilised country be allowed to do that.

[TBM-Legend]

How can a civilised country be allowed to do that.

Who says that they're civilised? These people hate us....

[Heathrow Harry]

Not true - for almost 100 years the Turks have been careful to honour ALL the dead

I know many ANZACS who have been there and they have all been unanimous as to the respectful welcome they have had

As ever it's a designing politician desperate to scrape a few more votes

[rjtjrt]

Not true - for almost 100 years the Turks have been careful to honour ALL the dead

I know many ANZACS who have been there and they have all been unanimous as to the respectful welcome they have had

As ever it's a designing politician desperate to scrape a few more votes

I have always been so impressed at the generous and dignified way the Turkish people have treated the ANZAC visitors. Credit where it is due.

[reynoldsno1]

On the other hand:

Williams Sellars, an Australian writer based on Gallipoli peninsula for 15 years, is adamant there is no ill-intent by Turkish state agencies.

"The stone cladding has been removed and will be replaced in the exact same form as the original," he predicted.

The memorials were erected in the 1980s and had been worn over years, he said, with the same wording falling off and stones becoming discoloured.

There was a notification of the restoration project on the Turkish Culture Ministry's website that included photos of work being undertake and there was no indication the words wouldn't be replaced.

A statement released by Turkish authorities on Friday night said work on 15 sites at Gallipoli is under way.

​It said the renovations were being carried out due to to wear on the stone, to the point where some of the wording was falling off and endangering the public.

"With regards to these monuments history is not being destroyed or rewritten and Ataturk's words will not be lost," it read.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said the restoration work was routine maintenance work due to be completed in time for Anzac Day commemorations in 2018. "New Zealand and Turkey have a warm relationship based on our historical links to Gallipoli and we value the cooperation we have with Turkey, including at Anzac Day events."

It seems as though this may be a bit of a knee jerk reaction ...

[Whenurhappy]

And lets remember the 20,000 British and other Imperial Troops who died there, along with 15,000 French personnel - mainly colonials.

As a Kiwi I am enormously proud if the ANZAC contribution to the Dardanelles Adventure, but this Austral nationalism often ignores the contributions and losses incurred by the Allies during the campaign.

[rjtjrt]

And lets remember the 20,000 British and other Imperial Troops who died there, along with 15,000 French personnel - mainly colonials.

As a Kiwi I am enormously proud if the ANZAC contribution to the Dardanelles Adventure, but this Austral nationalism often ignores the contributions and losses incurred by the Allies during the campaign.

Absolutely agree. The Indian and other colonial troops that also served in Gallipoli are almost totally ignored. Same for the French.
To also be fair, not much mention of Indian troops service on Western Front, nor the French.

[megan]

And lets remember the 20,000 British and other Imperial Troops who died thereA photo to go with the expressed sentiment. There were many nationalities, Mexicans, Argentineans .......

[SpazSinbad]

By all means remember all the fallen but... are we referring to ANZAC DAY? "ANZAC is the acronym formed from the initial letters of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. This was the formation in which Australian and New Zealand soldiers in Egypt were grouped before the landing on Gallipoli in April 1915." Some here can start 'another day'?

[TBM-Legend]

As a Kiwi I am enormously proud if the ANZAC contribution to the Dardanelles Adventure, but this Austral nationalism often ignores the contributions and losses incurred by the Allies during the campaign.


Nothing to stop the other involved holding ceremonies. ANZAC Day commemorated the efforts of our boys in the same way that most nations hold their own veterans dayss.

[Whenurhappy]

The problem is - and I have toured the peninsular 4 times and attended 3 annual commemorations there - is that many Australians (and to a lesser extent, Kiwis) are unaware that tens of thousands of comrades from the rest of the Empire and France died during the same landings just down the road from Ari Burnu and up the road at Suvla Bay, 4 months later. It has been a nationalist narrative to portray this disaster as a purely Australian event. But how many of your are aware of the epic naval battle only 2 months earlier that resulted in the landings? Oh, and for those who attend the Lone Pine Memorial, recall that it is a Commonwealth and Ireland memorial, and not just Australian (that led to some issues a couple of years ago when non-Australians were denied access...).

On the more recent matter about the alleged vandalism of the memorial panels around the peninsular, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture have confirmed that they are being refurbished, but in typical Turkish fashion, didn't let anyone know. Immune to the PR gene, they are...

[SpazSinbad]

'TBM-Leg End' has the nod. I'll guess our ANZAC DAY is equivalent to USofA Veterans Day, while Oz has other days for Vietnam Vets - Battle of Long Tan and others. However ANZAC DAY is the big one here. Would youse believe we have Kiwis and Turks - as well as POMS - even CRABS! :} in our Oz Anzac Day MARCH? [NOT Parade] Have not been to one for ages but likely all the others mentioned are in the march also. Was not like that during the Vietnam War years but that is ANOTHER STORY. Have a gander at this:
"...ORDER OF MARCH http://rslnsw.org.au/commemoration/anzac/
The Order of March will be: WWII Navy/WWII Army/ WWII Air Force-Navy/ Army/Air Force-Civilians in support of Australian Troops-Descendants of Australian Veterans-Commonwealth Troops-Allies...."

Australia has a successful multi-cultural society bolstered by all those 10 pound POMs back in the 1960s. Here is a Turkish View of ANZAC DAY:

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/04/24/mixed-emotions-turkish-australians-anzac-day

[Bergerie1]

All too often the sacrifice of so many men from all over the Empire has been forgotten, in particular the Indian contribution.

In WW1, after the initial fighting, troops were urgently needed to reinforce the badly depleted British army. The first to arrive were 4 Indian divisions which landed in Marseille in September and October 1914 and were immediately sent to northern France and Belgium. In fact, in the autumn of 1914, nearly one-third of the British forces on the Western Front were from India.

Despite being unused to trench warfare in the cold wet conditions of northern France and Belgium, they fought valiantly in October at the First Battle of Ypres, and during the winter at Neuve Chapelle and Festubert to the north-east of Bethune. In April/May 1915, they fought alongside the French, British and Canadians in the Second Battle of Ypres after the first gas attack and continued to hold the line north of Lens throughout 1915, fighting again at Neuve Chapelle and Festubert before being transferred to Egypt and Mesopotamia where the conditions suited them better and the supply lines from India were shorter. And two divisions of Indian Cavalry remained on the Western Front until March 1918, fighting in the Battle of the Somme and at Passchendaele.

Overall, around 800,000 Indian troops fought in all theatres of the war, including some 130,000 on the Western Front, of whom 8,557 were killed in action.

[SpazSinbad]

Emigrate to Oz & stop whingeing: CLAP YOUR HANDS & BE HAPPY

http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/punjabi/en/article/2017/04/18/indian-contingent-march-brisbane-anzac-day-parade-first-time

SomeBloodyWhereInOz: http://rslsa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Adelaide-ANZAC-March-Guide-2017.pdf
GROUP 15 - REPRESENTATIVES OF ALLIED NATIONS
Assemble in northern side of North Terrace (east from the underground car park entrance).
Allied Representatives – World War I
Consisting of ex-service personnel of the following nations (or their successor nations), marching as one formed-body:
Belgium; British Indian Empire; Canada; French Empire; Great Britain & Ireland; Italy; Japan; Montenegro; Newfoundland; Portugal; Romania; Russian Empire; Serbia; South Africa, and; United States of America....

...Allied Representatives – World War II
Consisting of ex-service personnel of the following nations (or their successor nations), marching as one formed-body:
Belgium; British Indian Empire; Canada; China; Czechoslovakia; France; Great Britain; Greece Malta; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; South Africa; Soviet Union; United States of America, and; Yugoslavia."

SYDenAY ANZAC MARCH 2017 PARTICIPANTS: http://rslnsw.org.au/uploads/ANZAC%20Day%20Updates%202017/2017%20Public%20Broadsheet%20-%20Colour.pdf

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l261/SpazSinbad/NewNewAllBum/ANZACmarchSydneyREPs2017.gif~original (http://s98.photobucket.com/user/SpazSinbad/media/NewNewAllBum/ANZACmarchSydneyREPs2017.gif.html)