By ANTON MENNING, Times Contributing Writer April 26 2006
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| (Times photo/Anton Menning) ANZAC Day participants stand in front of ceremonial wreaths laid in honor of those who gave their lives in the Gallipoli invasion. |
The mournful sound of bagpipes and a gray sky greeted those who gathered
alone or in small groups. A damp chill forced its way through clothes like a
creeping fog. Military and civilian personnel stood in silence, honoring
sacrifices made 91 years ago on a distant shore.
The words of Lt. Col. Marcus Fielding, Australian exchange Instructor at the U.
S. Army Command and General Staff College, rang true in the still morning air.
"Great events are distinguished by the quality of the human endeavor they call
upon, by the examples they create for ordinary men and women and by the legends
they inspire. So it is with ANZAC Day," Fielding said.
Approximately 60 people gathered at dawn on Tuesday for a commemoration of ANZAC
(Australian New Zealand Army Corps) Day at Fort Leavenworth’s National Military
Cemetery.
The ceremony is a tradition at the fort. Across many time zones and in many
lands, Australians and New Zealanders gather every year at dawn to pay their
respects to the wartime sacrifices of their countrymen.
Ninety-one years ago, in April 1915, ANZAC forces stormed ashore at the
Dardanelles to invade Gallipoli, a peninsula situated between the Aegean Sea and
the Sea of Marmara that was the gateway to the Black Sea.
The invasion, designed to alleviate pressure on the Western Front and open the
Black Sea to Allied navies by seizing the Turkish Straits and Constantinople,
was conceived by Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the British Admiralty.
His intent was to open a third front that would keep Allied soldiers from
"chewing barbed-wire" on the Western Front, while knocking Turkey out of the
war.
When World War I broke out in 1914, Australia had attained commonwealth status
within the British Empire only 14 years previously, and New Zealand only seven.
Their troops, the all-volunteer ANZACS, were eager to display their fighting
qualities to the world and earn recognition among the allied combatants.
Their landings at Gallipoli, the first major amphibious assault in modern
military history, encountered fierce Turkish resistance. Despite initial and
subsequent ANZAC heroics, their bold gambit soon assumed the guise of the same
Western Front-style trench warfare that Churchill was so eager to avoid.
Allied troops at Gallipoli suffered more than 200,000 casualties in eight
months, while the Turks lost more than a quarter million. More than 7,000
Australians and 2,400 New Zealanders died in the campaign.
"These small white headstones around us this morning represent their eyes
watching over their legacy and our inheritance," Fielding said.
ANZAC Day remains important to Turkish history as well.
Mustafa Kemal, commander of Turkish defenses, later known as Ataturk or Father
of the Turks, demonstrated outstanding leadership abilities in countering the
invasion. He subsequently transformed Turkey into a modern secular republic,
serving as its first president from 1923 until his death in 1938. He dedicated
the first ANZAC memorial in 1934.
Lt. Col. Adim Arslan, Turkish Liaison Officer to the Combined Arms Center,
quoted from Kemal’s 1934 memorial dedication speech on Tuesday during the
ceremony.
"You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away 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," Arslan said.
Although ANZAC Day commemorates those who fell during the Gallipoli campaign, it
has come to symbolize much more. The closest thing to ANZAC Day in American
culture is Memorial Day. In this spirit, Lt. Col. Fielding addressed American
attendees.
"Know that just as we have stood beside you in all wars in the past century we
stand beside you now with both our hearts and minds," he said.
After the commentary by Fielding and Arslan, Chaplain Owen provided a requiem
and closing prayer.
Australian Major Tony Archer, a student at the School of Advanced Military
Studies, recited excerpts from "In Flanders Fields," a poem by J. M. McCrae, a
Canadian officer during World War I.
Lt. Col. Scott Clingan, Australian Liaison officer to CAC, read "Ode to the
Fallen," a poem by Laurence Binyon with members of the audience repeating select
lines.
"They shall grow not old
As we who are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun,
And in the morning.
We will remember them."
Binyon’s verses also marked the laying of the Inauguration Stone for the
Australian War Memorial in 1929.
Following the poetry recitations, Fielding invited guests to lay wreaths in
honor of the fallen. Laurel and rosemary are elements of traditional ANZAC
wreaths, with laurel symbolizing honor since Roman times and rosemary,
remembrance.
At the conclusion of the ceremony all guests were invited to participate in a
gunfire breakfast— coffee with an optional tot of rum.
www.leavenworthtimes.com
CANAKKALE - Some 10,000 people, a third of them Turkish, commemorated the 91st anniversary of the start of the land campaign on the Gallipoli Peninsula in a series of solemn services on Tuesday.
At the Dawn Service held at the ceremonial
site close to where the first boatloads of Australians landed just before
sunrise on April 25, 1915, marking the beginning of the eight month campaign
on the peninsula, was followed by services at the Australian memorial at Lone
Pine, the Turkish 57th Regiment Memorial and the New Zealand national monument
at Chunuk Bair.
Speaking at the Dawn Service, Australian Governor General Major General
Michael Jeffery said that the campaign had seen the development his country’s
own national ethos based on the wonderful qualities of courage, endurance and
mateship shown by the Australian soldiers.
The campaign also brought about the rebirth of Turkeys own national pride and
sense of identity, he said.
“Today, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, at this most moving of places,
we are summoned to recall the battle sacrifices of Australian farmers and
clerks, teachers and labourers (who fought), and to commemorate outstanding
courage and strength of character in the face of incredible and sustained
adversity,” Maj-Gen Jeffery said.
“But in losing the campaign, they won us a greater prize - an enduring sense
of national identity. “Let us never forget.”
A letter written by, Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey and who as
Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kemal played a leading role in the defeat of the
allies in the campaign, was also read to the crowd in both Turkish in English.
The letter, which was read by the then Turkish Interior minister at the ANZAC
Day Dawn Service in 1934, in part reads: “Those heroes who shed their blood
and lost their lives, you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country,
rest in peace.”
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A hard, proud slog
ANZAC Day became Melbourne's own Long March yesterday
after a record 38,000 attended the dawn stand-to.
Many stayed to cheer and shout their encouragement and thanks as about 14,000
men and women of the armed forces marched from Federation Square to the Shrine.
The day was capped off when more than 91,000 fans at the MCG heard the Last Post before Collingwood won a battle royal against Essendon in brilliant autumn sunshine.
RSL leaders vowed to cut an hour off the procession next year by organising the ranks better.
The march became a 4 1/2-hour marathon for some veterans who set off at 9am. "Age shall not weary them -- but the hills do," said march marshal Lt-Col Paul Riley. The changing focus of Anzac Day became apparent when thousands of children and teenagers swelled the crowd at the dawn service. Many were rugged up in jackets and beanies, others draped in the Australian flag or wearing service medals on their chests. It was the first Anzac Day without a surviving World War I combatant, but the Anzac spirit was still alive.
The crowd, five deep in places, cheered on the Diggers and their descendants led by Governor David de Kretser, Premier Steve Bracks, police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon and Lord Mayor John So. Former Victorian RSL president Bruce Ruxton was down from Queensland. "It's good to see the boys," he said.
The slow march was not the only hitch, with some descendants defying an RSL ban on carrying photos of veterans. Kerrie Brown carried a photo of her grandfather Robert Malcolm, who served in the Middle East and Borneo. "I have always marched with him, but he is critically ill in hospital at the moment," Ms Brown said. Next to her, Kristen Hutchinson carried a photo of her grandfather Noel Phillips. "I'm here to honour his memory," she said.
Many relatives also defied the dress code by wearing Essendon and Collingwood jumpers. Lt-Col Riley said many of the veterans' associations failed to enforce the rules. "But it is their march. The marshals provide assistance but they control their own groups," he said.
Anzac Day services at Gallipoli and round the nation also attracted big crowds. About 9000 Australians were joined by about 500 Turks for the dawn stand-to at Gallipoli. The friendship grew from an admiration for a foe who had fought hard but clean, Governor-General Michael Jeffery said.
In Canberra, a record 27,000 people -- more than 8 per cent of the population -- turned out for the dawn service. Prime Minister John Howard announced that the Australian War Memorial and Anzac Pde would be placed on the national heritage list. Other capital cities saw big crowds. In Sydney, they played two-up on the street at The Rocks after 20,000 marched through the city. Perhaps the most poignant service was in the tiny east Gippsland town of Briagolong, where 500 turned out to pay a special tribute to Pte Jake Kovco, who died in Iraq last week. His widow, Shelley, and two young children placed a card that said: "Jake, you are our hero."
In Baghdad, Aussie troops and commanders gathered on top of a building to mark Anzac Day and recall their fallen comrade. In Melbourne, up to 100 Aboriginal protesters held an Anzac service at Kings Domain for indigenous soldiers. About 30 police and security guards looked on as the Aborigines staged a corroboree and maintained a vigil over their "sacred fire" at the site. Victorian RSL president Maj-Gen David McLachlan said Anzac Day in Melbourne was an outstanding success, but steps must be taken to clear the city on time. "Lots of other groups are just straggling along in threes, where we try to get people to march eight abreast. We'll have a debrief on all this and I promise you the march will be shorter next year."
The grants scheme is part of the State Government's push to ensure the observance of Anzac Day is continued and enhanced in the lead-up to the centenary of the Gallipoli landings in 2015.
Wednesday, 26 April 2006 (AWST) abc.net.au
The Albany branch of the RSL says the popularity of the city's Anzac Day commemorations is continuing to grow.
Despite the risk of inclement weather, a crowd of about 2,000 people gathered for the traditional dawn service on Mount Clarence, with similar numbers watching the Anzac parade and service on the city's foreshore.
RSL Albany branch president Digger Cleak says after nationwide publicity last year for the 90th anniversary of the Anzac landings in Gallipoli, this year's services attracted people from across Australia and around the world.
"We had Canadians, we had Americans, we had New Zealanders and people from the eastern states [were] here," he said.
"They came here just to be part of this dawn service so we must be doing something right over here and this is a very special place."
Meanwhile, the Albany RSL has received a $10,000 grant to install lighting on the path leading up to the Desert Mounted Corps memorial on Mount Clarence.
Albany is one of 55 groups, including RSL clubs, schools and local governments, to receive funding for small Anzac Day projects.
The grants scheme is part of the State Government's push to ensure the observance of Anzac Day is continued and enhanced in the lead-up to the centenary of the Gallipoli landings in 2015.
Meanwhile, the Bunbury Anzac Park has been added to the state register of heritage places.
The park on Stirling and Parkfield streets has been the focus of Anzac Day and other commemorations since the war memorial's unveiling in 1924.
Couple reflects spirit of the Anzacs
Friday, 28 April 2006
http://bega.yourguide.com.au
THE prestigious Spirit of Anzac Award was presented to Moira and Jim Collins at
the Anzac Day luncheon at the Bega RSL Club.
The award was for their outstanding service to the Bega Valley over the last six decades in the areas of social justice, disability services, education and community services.
Mr Frank Hunt, outgoing secretary of the Bega RSL Sub-Branch, said Jim and Moira Collins were unanimously selected from the group of names put forward for the 2006 Spirit of Anzac award.
He said they had unswerving commitment to the district through their work with Tulgeen, Bega Valley dairy farmers, the Bega District Hospital, the Bega Valley Advocates for Timor-Leste and community organisations.
Mrs Collins said she was very conscious of the importance of Anzac Day as her father was an Anzac, who took part in the first landing on Gallipoli.
He was a stretcher-bearer and survived not only Gallipoli but the Western Front.
One of her uncles had died at Gallipoli and another on the Western Front.
Mr Collins said that through his visits to Timor-Leste (East Timor) for the Bega Valley Advocates he had found that anyone who was an Australian was popular and this reputation came from the friendliness and the helpfulness of the Austalian forces who had been stationed there after independence was granted.
Ron Mullaney, president of the Bega RSL Sub-Branch, speaking at the luncheon, said this year's commemorations had attracted the best crowds for years at both the Dawn Service and the main march.
"Although some of our numbers are getting thin on the ground I think we have demonstrated here in Bega that Anzac Day is still alive and well," he said.
Mr Mullaney welcomed the Army's 5th Combat Regiment and the naval contingent from HMAS Harman.
He thanked the masters of ceremonies, Barry Chambers and Robert Blacker; Bill Flood for his organisation of the vintage cars; the local police for their assistance at the dawn and main service; Walter Sauer and his staff at the RSL Club; the Bega District Band; Deb Stanton and her staff for the wonderful meal; the ladies of the RSL Ladies Auxiliary, Sue and Marie, and the Bega and District Nursing Home auxiliary for the wreaths.
Our man in Gallipoli
Thursday, 27 April 2006
http://kangarooisland.yourguide.com.au
This year's ANZAC day has been a bit special for Allen and Helen Walkley of
Kingscote. Their son Chris, is now an Able Seaman in the Australian Federation
Guard and was actually at ANZAC Cove itself along with 14 mates, as part of this
year's official Australian contingent.
Able Seaman Walkley, 24, lived on Kangaroo Island before being accepted into the Navy five years ago.
Able Seaman Walkley's father Allen said it was a very special thing for Chris to be doing.
"We've very pleased that Chris is doing this special thing and we hope he will derive a lot of benefit from it. Anzac Day, of course, is a very special and emotional time," Mr Walkley said.
Able Seaman Walkley joined the Navy in 2002 and, after basic training at HMAS
CERBERUS near Melbourne, he has already had postings in Sydney and Perth.
But he volunteered for the Australian Federation Guard, and was lucky enough to
be accepted.
Able Seaman Walkley takes up the story. "Now I am a member of the precision drill team, so we welcome visiting dignitaries and take part in State shows and meetings at convention centres, and we've also been part of a ceremony aboard the USS Ronald Reagan - which is a huge aircraft carrier.
"Gallipoli has been my first overseas trip with the Guard and there was a one in ten chance of being chosen - with those odds I was keeping it in the back of my mind and trying not to think about it! Then we also flew here via Vienna, which was amazing to see."
"I think the Dawn Service at ANZAC Cove is pretty special, and even more if you are in uniform," said Chris.
While Able Seaman Walkley and his mates were in Gallipoli to commemorate the anniversary of the ANZAC dawn landings 91 years ago, almost 2000 other Australians in uniform were on duty round the world - from the campaign against terrorism in Afghanistan and the reconstruction of post-Saddam Iraq, or peace-monitoring in Egypt's Sinai peninsula or the Solomon Islands, to patrolling far out at sea or in surveillance.
Our shire salutes those who served
By Jessica Marszalek
Thursday, 27 April 2006
http://redland.yourguide.com.au
IT was hard to tell who felt the most honoured at the Anzac Day Parade at
Cleveland on Tuesday - World War II soldier Harry May, or the hundreds who
packed the streets to say thankyou.
As the oldest member of Redlands RSL at 95, Harry led the parade along Middle and Passage streets in his wheelchair pushed by Redland RSL president Brad Gray.
"I do feel very honoured," Harry said.
"I think it's very important that (Anzac Day) gets carried out as it has for so many years. I hope it goes on and on and on."
He wasn't the only one who felt that way as the crowd clapped, cheered and broke out in chants of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi!" as the convoy of Diggers moved past.
The march ended at a service at the Cleveland cenotaph in which crowds were
told of the evils of war which took lives and mentally scarred those who escaped
it.
Speakers also acknowledged that Gallipoli formed an integral part of Australia's
national identity.
"The quality of mateship was forged on battlefields like Gallipoli," Father Frank O'Dea told the crowds.
"Other countries glorify victories and are silent about defeat... (but) we rightly honour the country's determination and tenacity... We need to keep alive the qualities of the Anzacs," he said.
At services throughout the day many veterans could not speak of the loss they'd experienced; others wore emotion on their faces, several shedding a tear as they were asked to remember their comrades.
"I think of my mates that got killed," said Frank Langley, 89, a Rat of Tobruk.
"When you see them dying beside you, I can tell you it's pretty terrible."
Out of 30 men in Frank's platoon, three survived when a shell was dropped in the midst of them during World War II.
Frank's many medals include the Polish Cross, earned as part of a group of Australian soldiers who volunteered to fight for Polish armed forces after the Polish ranks had been severely diminished.
Korean War veteran Allan Talbot said his experiences were too terrible to talk about, especially to his grandchildren who attended the Anzac Day service at Redland Bay each year.
"You never talk to anyone about your experiences. You only hope they never see anything like that again," he said.
As crowds continue to swell each year at local Anzac Day events, Redlands RSL President Brad Gray said it was "the duty of all of us that those who lost their lives in service should not have done so in vain".
This is the overdue attention Grierson gives to the courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice of the 39th Infantry Battalion.
But as much as the film celebrates, in an understated way, how these largely untrained "chocolate" or militia soldiers did not melt in battle, there is a danger as well. The film, unintentionally, may lead more people to visit Kokoda and put further pressure on what is becoming a degraded area.
According to ABC television's Asia Pacific Focus earlier this month, 2500 Kokoda pilgrims walked the track last year. It is rightly viewed as an endurance test. And as the program pointed out, it has become a magnet like Gallipoli. It is used by AFL clubs as a preseason training exercise and year round for adventure seekers.
While many who walk the track have a family association with the 39th Battalion or the 2/14th Battalion who relieved them at Isurava, there is a risk that Kokoda will become a site of personal training.
Already just 7km outside Brisbane, a steep walking track, used by those preparing to tackle Kokoda has been named the Kokoda Track. This has been given approval by the Queensland RSL and Legacy as it is viewed as a living memorial.
Good thing? Maybe. At issue is the preservation of the sacredness of Kokoda. Something former prime minister Paul Keating affirmed when he kissed the Kokoda ground in 1992, 50 years after the battle that effectively saved Australia from Japanese invasion.
The challenge facing Kokoda today is the balancing of respect for history and commercial interests.
Tourism along the original Kokoda Track is providing a much-needed fillip to the native communities who live nearby. Each walker who sets out on the track, regardless of their motivation for doing so, pays a fee of $80. This is intended for the support of villages and facilities along the track.
Still as the Asia Pacific Focus report pointed out, "40 per cent of this is eaten up in administration". Already, because of the popularisation of Kokoda, inadequate infrastructure and litter are becoming a matter of concern to tour operators and villagers.
It would be unfair to suggest that the new film will directly cause a further deleterious tourism impact on the Kokoda Track. Grierson sticks to the script of what went on in the four-day battle for Isurava exceedingly well, even to the point of not overlooking the brutality of the Japanese soldiers.
The film may promote a debate among old Diggers over the veracity of history and how their legacy has been represented. It may also inadvertently prompt more people to visit.
Kokoda and the 39th Battalion have a revered status in Australian military history. These "ragged bloody heroes" as military historian Peter Brune – also history consultant on the film – has called them, were the miasmas in my ex-serviceman father's memory all his life.
He did not fight along the Kokoda Track, but when he spoke of the "39ers", he did so with a sense of awe. Many were dysentery-riven 18-year-olds who, outnumbered 10 to one, held up the Japanese advance.
On this basis alone, Grierson's film should be screened as widely as Peter Weir's Gallipoli is in schools. Besides Kokoda being a story of extraordinary heroism, it also points to something more. This is essentially the Anzac spirit.
At Gallipoli, many backpacker pilgrims get in touch with their Australianness. A similar experience may lie along the Kokoda Track.
But where Gallipoli in recent times has suffered from drunkenness, music and piles of rubbish, Kokoda is unlikely to experience a similar influx on one commemorative day. This is because there isn't a single defining day in the battle and the terrain is inhospitable.
Brune in his book: We Band of Brothers: A Biography of Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Honner (the disappointingly unnamed colonel who addresses the remnants of the 39th Battalion in the film) put the meaning of Kokoda this way:
"In simple terms, the saga of the 39th Australian Infantry Battalion's Kokoda campaigning is a classic illustration of what egalitarian Australia has always rejoiced in – the seemingly impossible triumph of the underdog against all conceivable odds."
The legend of Kokoda will be assisted by Grierson's take on what remains as perhaps Australia's greatest battle. Honner drew parallels with Agincourt and Henry V. It is hard not to agree with him.
Maybe David Irvine, Australian High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, came closest to the enduring importance of Kokoda in Australia's national consciousness when he said: "Gallipoli made Australia, Kokoda saved Australia."
Christopher Bantick is a Melbourne writer
April 28, 2004 www.kuwaittimes.net
ANZAC COVE: Thousands of people sang hymns and prayed for
peace yesterday at the site of former battlefields to commemorate the 91st
anniversary of the devastating World War I Battle of Gallipoli. Some 10,000
people, mostly backpackers from Australia and New Zealand, attended the annual
Anzac Day dawn service on the Gallipoli peninsula in northwestern Turkey, to
remember the forces of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, under British
command, who fought a bloody nine-month battle against Turkish forces. Some
wrapped in sleeping bags to keep warm, others wore their countries' flags like
cloaks. They sang hymns and joined in Royal New Zealand Airforce Chaplain Ross
Falconer's prayers for peace. Turkish Environment Minister Osman Pepe,
Australia's Governor-General Michael Jeffery and New Zealand's speaker of
parliament, Margaret Wilson, took part in the ceremonies.
It was at Anzac Cove, that troops from Australia and New Zealand first landed at
dawn on April 25, 1915, in an attempt to take control of the Bosporus and
Dardanelles and capture Istanbul, 290 kilometres to the east. Gallipoli is a
key event in the histories of Australia, New Zealand and Turkey, helping to
build their national identities. This year, the commemoration of the battle was
spread over two days. On Monday, the warring sides held a joint service to
remember all of the dead, with dignitaries laying wreaths at a Turkish memorial
erected near the battlefields. The joint memorial was followed by separate
services at the British and French burial grounds. "Our coming together each
year on April 25th on these fields is an indication that we have drawn the
necessary lessons from the bloody battle that has shown us the dark side of war
and that we have sewn the value of peace," Pepe said during Monday's ceremony.
Separate ceremonies were to be held at the Australian and New Zealand cemeteries
yesterday.
Nearly 1 million soldiers fought in Gallipoli's trenches. The Allies recorded
55,000 killed in fighting, while 10,000 were reported missing and 21,000 died of
disease. Turkish casualties were estimated at 250,000. Poor coordination between
the Allies' naval and ground forces gave the Turks time to reinforce their
positions. The British-led force ran into stiff resistance and eventually was
evacuated from the peninsula in January 1916. This year, organisers set up
stands at Anzac Cove to accommodate thousands of visitors. War documentaries
were shown on a large open air screen late Monday. Unlike previous years, the
use of alcohol on the battlefield was banned to prevent unruly behaviour. Some
20,000 visitors attended last year's ceremony the 90th anniversary but there was
a significant drop this year, partly due to a bird flu outbreak in Turkey and
because many Australians will be travelling to Germany to watch their team
compete in the soccer World Cup instead. -AP
28 April 2006 www.stuff.co.nz
We're here because we're here, because we're here, because we're here...
This tongue-in-cheek anthem to utter futility was sung with gusto all along the Western Front during World War I. The tune – an adaptation of Auld Lang Syne – was entirely appropriate. Between a third and half of the men who sang it at the "sharp end" of that pointless conflict never returned to celebrate the 50 New Year's Eves that were their due.
Sadly, we do not sing We're Here at dawn services on Anzac Day. Its lugubrious nihilism would sit uncomfortably alongside the youthful heroism with which the day is still infused. The 18,000 dead of World War I must be shielded from the muck and stink of the killing fields to which they were consigned.
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For more than 90 years, we have bathed their memories in the radiant colours of idealism and self-sacrifice: singing hymns to the "love that never falters, the love that stands the test/That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best".
But how many of us realise, as we sing the stirring verses of I Vow To Thee My Country, that the God who claimed our dearest and our best was not the Christian Yahweh but Moloch, the insatiable pagan deity into whose fiery bowels the ancient Carthaginians were forced to consign their own children?
To sing We're Here would be to acknowledge that between 1914 and 1918, 20 per cent of our military age population – some 58,000 young men – were needlessly and pointlessly maimed and slaughtered. More importantly, it would be to identify the commission of a vast and unforgivable crime by the imperial and dominion governments of the day.
But that is something which the New Zealand state – and the New Zealand people – will not do. Even after the passage of nine decades, the huge exercise in national denial that is Anzac Day continues.
It is young New Zealanders I feel most sorry for. Every Anzac Day they throng to the cenotaphs and memorials, yearning for some sort of mystical communion with the boys who "shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old", and never quite finding it.
When questioned by breathless young reporters, they speak about the soldiers who "fought for peace", and "died so we could be free". Freedom? Peace? The invasion of Turkey was intended to open the sea lanes to the Russian Empire. Nearly 3000 young Kiwis died at Gallipoli for the tsar of Russia, a ruthless autocrat whose Cossacks, just nine years earlier, had massacred hundreds of his own subjects on "Bloody Sunday".
In modern terms, it would be like asking 3000 young New Zealanders to die for the Chinese politicians who ordered the troops into Tiananmen Square.
Not that the men who volunteered in 1914 objected to invading Turkey. Many of them had acquired a taste for action less than a year earlier when they mounted up and rode into Auckland and Wellington to crush the general strike of 1913. To read the contents of these "special" policemen's newspaper, The Camp Gazette, is to discover the mindset that would later become familiar to the world as fascism.
Oh yes, those boys on the slopes of Gallipoli fought for their king and their country all right, but for "our" freedom? I think not.
Of course the working-class lads whose heads were split open by "Massey's Cossacks" in 1913 later died in considerably greater numbers than did the Anzacs of 1915; the 50,000 killed and wounded of the New Zealand Division didn't suffer in the mud of Flanders for peace and freedom.
They suffered because, as conscripts, they were given little choice.
Bill Massey, New Zealand's ferociously conservative prime minister, introduced conscription in 1916. This bigoted Ulsterman fervently believed that the British were descended from the Israelites and ordained by God to rule the world.
The Labour Party was born out of the struggle to make his hideous sacrifice of a whole generation mean something.
We're here because we're here, because we're here, the Diggers sang. If we are to celebrate anything on Anzac Day, let it be the grim gallows humour of the men who, in the face of political criminality, unspeakable horror and an overwhelming sense of the utter futility of their conduct, could still manage to go "over the top" with a song on their lips.
They will not grow old. But it is long past time that those of us who are left grew up.
Anzac tradition lives on
By Aleisha Orr
April 28 2006
kalgoorlie.yourguide.com.au
KALGOORLIE-BOULDER proudly remembered all those that served and are currently
serving Australia in peace-keeping operations during Monday's Anzac Day
services.
Mayor Ron Yuryevich referred to Anzac Day as one of Australia's most important national days on the calendar.
"Anzac Day is about reflecting on the true Aussie spirit of having a go and helping a mate – even in bad circumstances," Mayor Yuryevich said.
Dawn services attracted big crowds of all ages and took place at both the Boulder and Kalgoorlie memorials.
Many other Anzac events took place throughout the city, at schools, the hospital, town hall, parks and war memorials.
The marches in both Burt and Hannan Streets were popular as people lined the
roads to honour returned and fallen servicemen and women, waving the national
flag with pride and gratitude.
Leading both marches were members of the New Zealand pipes and Drums followed by
the Eastern Goldfields Highland Pipe Band.
Other groups were also represented in the marches including Returned and Services League members, police and ambulance services, scouts and girl guides, cadets and officers from each of the services.
Mayor Yuryevich said he was glad to see the number of people attending Anzac services around Kalgoorlie-Boulder continued to increase each year, in particular the young people who would continue the Anzac legend into the future.
Quoting a former American President at a service at the town hall the Mayor said, "war may be a necessary evil, but however necessary, it is always evil".
The reality of war was brought home in the shaky voices and tears of those brave enough to speak about their first-hand experiences.
But although there was a feeling of sadness, the Anzac values of mateship, courage, equality and self sacrifice were shining through.
Mountains moved in Anzac tribute
By Shane Desiatnik
27 April 2006
bluemountains.yourguide.com.au
It was a moving and beautiful sight to behold in the soft golden light of dawn.
More than 250 locals standing tall and proud surrounding the newly restored war memorial in Wentworth Falls on Anzac Day.
Similar heartwarming scenes unfolded at war memorials and main streets from Penrith to Mt Victoria yesterday.
The young, the elderly and everyone in between sharing a moment together to remember those who paid the ultimate price for our country.
In Wentworth Falls, local primary school captains Arabella Say and Harrison Doyle read the prologue to the service, with this line summing up the mood.
"Let us take strength in the knowledge and hope that our sons and daughters will never forget the example set by their forefathers."
The courage and mateship shown by the Anzacs in Gallipolli - and the tragic human cost of that disastrous 8-month campaign - was remembered.
As was the Anzac spirit and sacrifice of Australian troops who fought in World War Two, Korea, Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam.
Reverend Canon Alan Langdon A.M made special mention of the the young, untrained Diggers from the 39th battalion who held out against the Japanese in Kododa.
"These boys and the AIF troops who returned from the Middle East in support inflicted the first land defeat on the Japanese.
"The symbolic meaning of the Anzac spirit from Gallipoli was carried through in Kokoda and continues to this day."
Anzac spirit honoured
Thursday, 27 April 2006
cobar.yourguide.com.au
April 25 is one of the most important days in the history of Australia, hence it
should have a special place in the life of everyone, mayor Cr Muhlethaler told
Cobar's assembled war veterans, townspeople and visitors during yesterday's
Anzac ceremony in Drummond Park.
"We are not only remembering the Anzacs, we are also remembering the many who served in all wars and conflicts and sacrificed their lives, their health, their well-being and person future for us," the mayor said in his Anzac address.
"It is fair to say that most of us living in Australia, whether we were born here or adopted this country after being born and raised overseas, show, feel and express gratitude for their sacrifice."
Cr Muhlethaler also urged his listeners to think of the Australians serving in current military operations around the world.
"We should spare a thought for those men and women serving in our country's defence forces today," he said.
"Let us hope the spirit of Anzac will be passed on from them to our children and later to their children."
For those who served and their families, Anzac Day is both a time of sorrow and pride and yesterday Cobar responded generously to honour their spirit, courage and sacrifice.
From the moving dawn ceremony at the town's War Memorial Hostel to the ritual street march followed by the wreath laying Cenotaph ceremony in Drummond Park, Anzac Day 2006 continued a tradition begun during the dark times of World War I when the first Gallipoli veterans returned to Australia.
On a warm but overcast morning, more than 800 residents turned out as lone piper Neil Urquhart, drummer Gregory Jones and a flag party led Cobar's returned men and women, Army Cadet Unit 221, contingents of students from all three schools, Girl Guides, emergency service personnel and Pony Club members on their march through Marshall, Barton and Bloomfield Streets to the Cenotaph.
(The parade twice passed through a flow of water in Linsley Street following an earlier burst water main.)
Master of Ceremonies and Cadet Major Chris Boucher led the memorial service in Drummond Park with visiting bugler Gregory Jones sounding the haunting notes of "Last Post" and "Reveille".
Members of Cobar's smartly turned out 221 Cadet Unit performed guard and flag raising duties at the Cenotaph while returned service men and women, mayor Muhlethaler, emergency service representatives, Girl Guides and school children attending the laying of wreaths to honour the fallen.
Special guest speaker, Warrant Officer Jock Evans, Headquarters Brigade NSW AAC, called on the gathering to honour the memory of those gallant men and women who sacrificed their lives in service to their country.
"The term Anzac today has transcended the physical meaning to become an inspiration which embodies the qualities of courage, discipline, sacrifice, self reliance and in Australian terms, mateship and a fair-go," Warrant Officer Evans said.
"The fundamental purpose of commemorating Anzac Day has been and should continue to be, to pay homage to our veterans and all who gave their lives.
"Those we honour have left Australia a tradition of courage, selflessness and a fine reputation to follow for the future.
"We will remember them."
Children keep ANZAC spirit alive
Pamela Frost
Wednesday, 26 April 2006
wellington.yourguide.com.au
Yesterday marked the national day of remembrance for those who fought at
Gallipoli and was the one day of the year the local community gathers together
to form a strong bond.
The morning began with the dawn service where Ex-Servicemen and Women assembled at the RSL before the morning service at the Cenotaph.
Hundreds flocked to the Cenotaph for the 10:50 service following the march from Market Square.
Representatives from the local schools, RSL, Town Band, Ambulance, Police, State Emergency Service (SES) and Ex-Servicemen and Women joined in the procession to Cameron Park's Cenotaph.
Many attended to honour their relatives who fought in the war, which included
the town's children who proudly marched with their school.
Assistant Principal for St Mary's Central School, Chris Stevens believes that
allowing children to march in the procession is an important part of the ANZAC
Day service.
"As time goes on we move further and further away from the World Wars," he said.
"The children keep the memory alive for the people who fought for Australia."
He also said having children participate in the service brings the community together as a whole, and allows the children to recognise what ANZAC Day is all about.
"It's an important part of the community for children to be a part of.
"We look at the future in light of our past and history."
Local resident Mary Crean said she believes ANZAC Day is important to the community.
"It gives ANZACs the respect they deserve. It's great to see young and old people still remembering."
The day service began with two minutes silence which was followed by hymns and addresses from community members such as Mayor Anne Jones and guest speaker Sergeant Belinda Finnie from the RAAF, who both enforced how important ANZAC Day is to the town and the country.
"We're here today to honour those brave men and women who were involved in Gallipoli as well as all those service men and women who have fought since then," Cr Jones said.
Mayor Jones opened her address with a history of World War I and the effect it had on Australia.
She referred to the ANZACs as the 'soul of Australia' and said the men who fought for our country died like heroes.
"They'll live in our hearts until the end of time."
Guest speaker Belinda Finnie said she was pleased with how many children turned up for the service and commented how great it was for them to come and commemorate ANZAC Day.
She also explained how ANZAC Day is a chance to reflect on the past and emphasised what it means to the country.
"The feelings Australia have for April 25 is truly a tradition.
"It's rather a spirit and a time to reflect on the past and present generations of Australia.
"The spirit of ANZAC Day will live on because it is a reflection of the very heart of the nation.
"It's a special day to reflect and remember.
"Lest we forget."
Diary of a WW1 Digger :: ABC South East NSW
Edward Gregg Cochrane
Reporter: Katie Smith Thursday, 27 April 2006 www.abc.net.auOn Saturday the 8th of August 1915, 20 year old Edward Gregg Cochrane of Bega on the Far South Coast of NSW, left Australia to fight in the First World War.
A journalist with the Bega Standard, he sent home regular reports and kept a detailed diary of his days at war until his death by shell fire near the Butte of Walencourt in France on the 25th of February 1917. He was aged just 22.
The diary, which contains a fascinating account of life in the trenches, was sent home on his death and has since disappeared but fortunately copies were made by his family. In 1992, his great niece, Sandra Florence, a member of the Bega Valley Historical Society had them written up for a folder that also contains his war records.
The full version can be viewed at the Bega Valley Pioneer Museum. Here are some extracts that detail his days at Gallipoli from his arrival on Monday October the 11th 1915 to his departure on the 9th of December of the same year.
Monday 11th Oct. We boarded the Sarnia after several days inaction on the "Me-no-money" ready and anxious for our work at the Dardanelles. We disembarked that night and were interested listeners to the exchange of shots which was taking place. We landed without accident and after about three miles march through gaps and gullies came to our new resting place. We were at a loss at first to place the whipsound cracking noise we heard around us. It was not at all like the sound of our rifles as we had heard them at the rifle range. We soon learnt that it came from the Turkish bullets. Monash Gully.
Tuesday 12th Oct. Placed on water carrying. Found a dug-out and enlarged it. We were now placed in different platoons in the Battalion. I found a mate in the opposite dug-out to me - Private J. R. Solway, who supplied me with smoking mixture etc. During the week we were placed as a gang along the road to make a sap to carry off storm waters. Corporal Stark, one of the reinforcements was hit by a sniper's bullet in the shoulder while on the work.
Saturday 16th Oct. At 4a.m. we had a bit of a demonstration. From the signals of a rocket we opened fire and for a while the air grew electrical with sound. It was only for a while and soon died down, much to my disappointment.
Saturday 23rd. The days pass without much incident. I have grown used to the whip-sound crack of the Turkish bullets, the shriek of the high explosive high up in the air, the distant booming of our big guns and the occasional explosion of a Turkish bomb. We have been exposed to Turkish snipers while on the road work, but three of our snipers (one using a telescope and the others rifles) keep busy and do not give them much opportunity to snipe us. We have war news posted up regularly and we also hear different rumours in which I place no faith. Our aeroplanes have been busy, doing some scouting from above and are constantly being fired on from the Turkish positions, but somehow they escape well. So far our tucker on the peninsula has been good.
Thursday 4th Nov. Moved into the firing line, taking up position at Courtney's Post and being initiated into the mysteries of the use of periscope and periscope rifle. Most of the work consists of doing night shifts (2 hours on and 4 hours off duty) observing and firing through loop-holes. The first line of Turkish trench lay at its furthest point from us only about 40 yards.
Thursday 25th Nov. An air of mystery surrounds us. Rumour has it that we will be off the Peninsula very shortly, reorganising in Egypt for new fields, perhaps against the Bulgarians. Kitchner has just left Anzac. We have had orders not to fire on the Turks from our post unless they advance in numbers. We wonder what movement this foreshadows. There is talk of evacuation and still another rumour of being relieved by Canadians.
Sunday 28th Nov. We had our first fall of snow this winter in Gallipoli. This morning when we awoke it was a pretty but not very welcome sight, on account of the slush and having to sleep on the open-air ledges while in the firing line.
Thursday 9th Dec. 1915. We have once more got tucker after a fortnights long hours and hard very short rations. Water was nearly off, so been cut down considerably. During the day a
representative days meals would be; breakfast, one small piece of bacon and tea; dinner, a few spoonfuls of rice; tea, a little tea; also 4 biscuits and 1 tin of bully between two and not enough water to quench our thirst. This was owing to the heavy rain blocking the facilities for drawing water. However inquiry was made into the conditions and as a result a couple of new cooks were put on and with a return of good weather we are on better food than previously. Rissoles now make an occasional appearance with tea, the rice for dinner is plentiful and well cooked, our jam issue has been cut down to a daily allowance of l lb tin between 8 instead of 3 and replaced by cheese. And of course now a subscription is being talked of for the new sergeant-cook. On Monday I was on mining fatigue, carrying sand bags (backbreaking work) and during one of the smoke-ohs, who, though actually qualified as an officer lost his stripes on coming here, Frank Brocklehurst and I had an interesting talk on military life, the incompetency of some officers (especially in not making suitable provisions for the men) and the fine fighting strength of the Australians---said the Australians are the finest fighters in the world, handicapped by many of their officers and that they (men) enlisted out of patriotism. We agreed. It is a ridiculous business that deprives a
man of the qualifications of men of his rank, while the original battalion has a batch of corporals of very poor qualifications taken all-round). It is another example of the unfairness of the military regime.
Sunday 19th Dec. The first party to leave us went last night and we expect to leave tonight. The following is one of the messages "One of the Kangaroos" left behind for our enemy the Turk: "Dear Abdul, Just a farewell note as I am leaving your sacred territory. I must express my admiration for you in the clean mode of fighting you have employed against us and can assure you a better enemy we cannot wish to fight. My desire is that this note should be read by one of your officers that it may bring back to his mind the fact that England has always been Turkey's best ally. Hope you will find everything in this dug-out to make you comfortable; a bottle of wine will be found in the corner, am sorry that it is empty. Well good-bye Abdul old sport. May you live long and die happy. From "One of the Kangaroos"
Monday 20th Dec. Our final evacuation came off splendidly for Anzac last night, only one casualty on our side. Our party marched down from Steel's Post straight down on to the pier, straight on to the lighter, awaiting in readiness and were transhipped on H.M.S. Mars used for time being as a transport. Coffee was given during the night and bread was issued. We did not expect such generous treatment. We arrived safely at Lemnos and marched to our camping ground and rested. Another party left at 12 pm the same night as we, and the rearguard, left later. They however left their packs behind.
World War II veteran speaks to
students
Will Lehner was a sailor stationed
aboard the USS Ward at Pearl Harbor
Cathy Peterson
THE-BEE
Thursday, April 27th, 2006
09:50:14 AM
Every day in the United States,
5,000 World War II veterans die
Submitted photos
World War II veteran Will Lehner (center), who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, spoke to Phillips School District eight-grade students on April 7. He is pictured with district teachers Jude Desotelle (left) and Randy Kunsch. |
"Every day in the United States, 5,000 World War II veterans die," stated Phillips Middle School teacher Randy Kunsch. "You are the last generation who will hear first-hand about the events of World War II from the courageous men of the Greatest Generation."
With these remarks, Kunsch introduced Will Lehner, a sailor who was on active duty in Pearl Harbor when it was attacked on Dec.7, 1941. Now living in Stevens Point, the World War II spoke to Phillips School District eighth-graders and their teachers during an April 7 assembly in the Phillips High School auditorium.
Born and raised in St. Paul, Minn., Lehner was just 17 years old when he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in December, 1938. Following several cruises on the Great Lakes, he was activated with his reserve group and sent to San Diego in January 1941 to put a World War I destroyer, the USS Ward, back in commission.
"The ship had been in storage for 20 years, so it took us almost two months before we went on a shake-down cruise to see if it could be re-commissioned," Lehner said. "Then we headed for Hawaii and were assigned to inshore and offshore patrol duty. The next nine months were spent around the Hawaiian Islands, with training the fleet and visiting the other islands."
