ANZAC Day 2017
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ANZAC Day 2017
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.
They reseached them on the incredible Australian remembrance website, and placed Aussie flags on the graves.
We Will Remember Them.
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
We do Remember Them
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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'.
I don't know if it works outside of the UK.
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'.
I don't know if it works outside of the UK.
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 ........... !
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The Kiwi - a flighhtless bird :)
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/war-in...alands-air-war
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.
Lest we forget.
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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
Pte George Fields - Australian Memorial
The Memorial for the lady's relative
Pte Thomas Brinkworth - Australian Memorial
Pte George Fields - Australian Memorial
The Memorial for the lady's relative
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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"
"We will remember them"
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.
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.
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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...
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...
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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.
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.
Thank you for serving.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
Last edited by rjtjrt; 27th Apr 2017 at 06:18. Reason: More
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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
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
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Aberdeenshire
Age: 76
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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.
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.