The ANZAC Day Thread

[steveoc]

April 25 - Anzac Day. I thought Id get in early.

Feel free to post anything ANZAC related in here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kki1kpFCBh0

Cheers guys.

[steveoc]

Classic song :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urtiyp-G6jY

[steveoc]

There is no ANZAC day without a bit of Chisel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb5h6z4NCqA

[Neuro]

In 1934 Atatürk learned that a ship carrying relatives of fallen Allied soldiers had docked near Gallipoli, and the passengers were mourning at the site. He telegrammed them this message:

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 in this country of ours... You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.

My land is less than 10 miles away from Gallipoli and the sites of the Troyan war. It is an important place for the control of trade between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea...

[Olmstein]

Had to look it up.


Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all those who died and served in military operations for their countries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_Day

[Glass]

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.


prayers of thanks to all of them.

[Gypsybiker45]

Strikingly odd, Firstly let me commend and thank all the ANZACS for their service, and I am proud to call them freinds and allies, but Im noticing the absence of remarks like "Stupid patriotards" or "Gullible idiots" letc. like when US servicemen are mentioned, even though they fight in the same wars....Hmmmm :oo-->

[steveoc]

Im hearing you Gypsybiker. It is an odd difference.

Anzac Day, we tend to consider it a respectful time for both allies and foes alike - common men who answer the call and face off against each other in the meat grinder as their respective politicians demand. We celebrate the bravery of the common soldier on each side of the battle, whilst openly questioning the sanity of why we both were there in the first place.

Whilst we do fly the flag on the day, the official speeches given tend to have a very anti-establishment undertone. It is strikingly odd.

It is not unusual to find people marching in the parade who fought against us in the same wars, and they are welcomed as brothers in arms.

And then we all go and get enormously drunk together ;)


The birth of our national military tradition begins at Gallipoli, and that story - we are told - is that our boys were sent in to an impossible situation to draw fire away from the British under who's command we were. We were there to pay a blood-tax for a situation not of our own making, and our boys stood up and took it like men.

Maybe because of that tradition, we tend to consider most of our wars in the same light - we are often there to put in an honourable presence for our mates, whether we think the cause valid or not. The only real exception to that is the Kokoda campaign as the Japanese started to hit Australia.

I cant explain why Anzac Day doesn't draw "stupid patroitards" type remarks ... maybe its because we manage to carefully say "thank you" to the men who served whilst saying "fuck you" to the governments who sent them there in the same breath ?

[steveoc]

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.


prayers of thanks to all of them.



Hiya Glass, long time no see !!

Good to see you on this forum, nice first post.