ANZAC Day - 25th April

[Windsock]

Thanks DB, it's never too late to raise a glass.

And Mojito, thanks for the links, it's great to hear that a Kiwi digger now stands with an Aussie one. We might give each other a bit of ribbing sometimes but I can't think of another two nations more closely linked or which underneath it all share such "mateship"

The relationship is really a bit like siblings Tim, always at each other but always linked.

Not the same with the Scandinavian Countires?

 

[Dr Doran]

I must dig out my Pogues albums tonight - if I can find the right one, I'll put on "And the band played Waltzing Matilda."

Many drunken listenings have almost made me cry.

 

[Smithy]

The relationship is really a bit like siblings Tim, always at each other but always linked.

Not the same with the Scandinavian Countires?

No I don't think so Andrew.

You've spent time up this way so you know how there's a connection between the Scandinavian countries but it's not the same as with NZ and Australia.

Maybe it's because we had our national identities realised from the Old Country through the horror of WWI, maybe it's because really at the end of the day we are closer to each other than we are to other nations in the world in terms of history and culture. We share a common part of the world and national experience, and whenever you are in a foreign place, the Kiwis and Aussies always seem to stick together.

Siblings pretty much sums it up, that's actually the best way I've heard it put.

But we'll still thrash you in the cricket one of these days!

 

[Windsock]

No I don't think so Andrew.

You've spent time up this way so you know how there's a connection between the Scandinavian countries but it's not the same as with NZ and Australia.


But we'll still thrash you in the cricket one of these days!

Yeah, I know what you mean. I recall though that when I was there (particularly in the North) I always felt there may be something in the fact that the Nordics are, just as we are, located at the opposite ends of the Planet- on the edge so to speak.

WRT Cricket, I have no doubts that personally you could thrash me any day.

 

[splatt]

So here is a tip for ANZAC Day 2009...

I was looking after the local historical society museum on ANZAC Day and i was in a bit of a dilema with what you are meant to do with the Australian flag on such a day of national importance...I figured it was probably a day when it should be at half mast.

After following the protocol of raising the flag to the top of the mast and then lowering it to the half way position i went inside to open up a few more doors when i heard this mumbling outside.

As I wander outside I am told in no uncertain terms by an elderly digger, that since its after midday the flag should now be at the top of the mast. He than wanders of mumbling back to the pub and his mates.

You learn something new everyday :eusa_doh:

 

[Smithy]

That's useful to know Splatt.

I flew the NZ flag here in Norway on ANZAC Day and it caused a lot of interest.

 

[Miss Sis]

I did not forget ANZAC day but am a little late to acknowledge it in here.

Been in Ypres in Belgium recently. Second time I've been and the ceremony nightly at the Menin Gate is amazingly moving.

I laid a rememberance cross at Tyne Cot Cemetary to the fallen New Zealanders who have no known grave, including those of my Great Grandfather's regiment, The NZ Machine Gunners Corps. It was a very small regiment, only in existance during the Great War and WW2. I think it is the saddest place I have ever been in my life and I leave in floods of tears every time.

To think that my Great Grandfather probably knew those men meant it is even more vivid in my mind the sacifice they made.

Rest in Peace, you are not forgotten.

 

[Smithy]

Laying the remembrance cross was a wonderful thing to do Miss Sis. Well done.

They are emotional and humbling places.

 

[WinoJunko]

Just thought I'd give this thread a bump and say Happy ANZAC Day

May we never forget

 

[Doc Smith]

In a life filled with honors, one that my father especially appreciated was being invited (as a USAF full Colonel who'd served in Australia, New Guinea, and the Phillipines during WWII) to lead an ANZAC Day parade. I grew up hearing tales of the ruggedness, courage, and self-deprecating humor characteristic of the Diggers, and deeply appreciate the respect they paid to an old ally.

The voyage there and back was the last overseas trip he made, and one that he remembered fondly to his dying day. Absent friends....

 

[Mojito]

Thanks for reviving this thread today.

Miss Sis, I missed your message earlier. I'm intrigued to learn your great grandfather was in the NZ machine gunners. My grandfather, Ted, began the war with the 6th Reinforcements 2nd Battalion NSW Infantry (and went straight into Lone Pine as a Gallipoli reinforcement, where he was promptly wounded), but in 1918 transferred to the 1st Australian Machine Gun Batallion.

Here he is at the training camps in Egypt before embarkation for Gallipoli, second from left in back row. We do not know - but have often wondered - how many of the men in this photograph survived Lone Pine, let alone the war.

 

[cookie]

Just watching the Lone Pine remembrance and thinking of my grandfather (First AIF) who was shot and wounded there at age 45. Repatriated back to the UK and no more WWI for him. Then when the Dawn Service telecast started they has some original footage of the landing craft landing the troops from the ships and I was able to show my 16 year old son where his British great grandfather was coxswain in the RN on the landing barges and got strafed by the Turks but survived.

Happy Anzac Day to all from Down Under.

 

[mclmm]

I attended the Dawn Service in Martin Place in Sydney yesterday morning. This was my first in Sydney. Last year I was part of an impromptu group of 3 who held a Dawn Service at the former USAAF / RAAF airbase at Iron Range on Cape York Peninsula.

This year's ANZAC Day has left me humbled and in awe. After witnessing the sight of almost 30,000 people filling Martin Place from end to end for the Dawn Service, I was fortunate enough to have received a rare invitation to attend the Z Special Unit Association Dinner. The reason for my invite was so I could present all members of the Z Special Unit Association with a complimentary "Z Special" Gold edition of the Fraser Commando School footage. The film is their story and I have been told by several Z Veterans that the DVD will be passed down through the generations. Not many veterans have access to such a stark reminder of their wartime service. I would like to pass on my appreciation to all members of the Fedora Lounge who purchased a copy of the public version of the DVD. Your support paid for the Z Special Edition and you have helped make some old Warriors very happy.

Hearing their stories first hand as well as tales of missions that went wrong, was an eye opener. It was a day I shall remember all of my years and one that I shall tell my children about. The hard men of the Services Reconnaissance Department are old and frail now and fewer in number each year, but their minds are sharp and their legend shall live on. It has become my job to remind people.

Lest We Forget