Anzac day

[surrounded by idiots]

I attended the dawn service today. Very moving. Thousands out at dawn all over the country. Public holiday.

Me too, as an Englishman (though still a foreigner) it was very moving, the silence during the service other than the waking birds singing, is quite something.

 

[Rory Bluelow]

Spent Anzac Day with family in Australia in 2019. Incredible tributes to their soldiers starting at dawn. Parades later in the day followed a huge piss up, people playing “two’s-up” everybody very respectful. We also visited Canberra and what struck me was their superb statues and public art all celebrated the brave ordinary soldiers not Generals sat on horses ! Great Aussie attitude. My Grandad’s brother emigrated there in 1910 and ended up at Gallipoli in the Australian Light Horse. He was wounded but survived.
My other Grandad and my wife’s Grandad were both at Gallipoli, both wounded and both evacuated to Salonica then Malta to recover. They ended up fighting in Palestine. Two Gorton lads in the South Lancashires Regiment.
Respect to the Anzac’s and all the brave lads at Gallipoli.

 

[Damocles]

We, Britain, nearly wiped Australia off the map.
Our 2 wars decimated the population so much, by the mid 60's the country was on its knees.

We, the British, did nothing of the sort. Australia was a federated country by then and had considerable enthusiasm for the wars and indeed were pushing for it politically before the British even declared war. And neither the First or Second World War were "our wars", they were a response to geopolitical events that affected the entire world and were fought across the entire world.
Many Australian historians consider Gallipoli and the ANZAC participation in the First World War as absolutely key to establishing an Australian national identity separate to that of the British and the "We're All Australians Now" poem that school's recite was written about Gallipoli.

 

[Eccles Blue]

I remember when I was in Perth being taken to see the Honour Avenues trees in Kings Park, it was so moving. Plus the State War Memorial in Perth where there was a feature similar to the whispering gallery in St Paul's Cathedral.

Home - Honour Avenues

The website of the Honour Avenues Group, who manage Honour Avenues and Centenary Plaques in Kings Park, Western Australia on behalf of the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority. Kings Park's Honour Avenues are dedicated to thousands of servicepersonnel who died during war service. The Centenary...

www.honouravenueskingspark.com.au

Kings Park, Western Australia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I was also told about the Anzac Avenue Memorial Trees, heritage memorial in Sunshine Coast region, Queensland. This was not just a memorial to the troops but a chance for rehabilitation. To check that my memory was not mis serving me I looked it up on Google and quite frankly got a bit emotional with the reading.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_Avenue_Memorial_Trees

The friends I was visiting on the Gold Coast were going to take me to the area but unfortunately, as I was only there for three days, there wasn't time.

 

[blumoonrisen]

My great uncle died in Gallipoli age 17, Lancs fusiliers. There's a plaque with his name on over there. He made it through the beach landing but died a few months later. I've been unable to find any more details.

 

[Inter Me Nan]

Went to see Gallipoli: The Scale of our War exhibition at Te Pa in Wellington two weeks ago, amazing & terrifying in equal measure.

 

[Eccles Blue]

My great uncle died in Gallipoli age 17, Lancs fusiliers. There's a plaque with his name on over there. He made it through the beach landing but died a few months later. I've been unable to find any more details.

Have you tried the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website? I typed in my Grandfather's name and date of death (1917) and found the memorial where his name is registered. :-)

 

[blumoonrisen]

Have you tried the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website? I typed in my Grandfather's name and date of death (1917) and found the memorial where his name is registered. :-)

I've found the memorial, I'd just be interested to know what happened between the beach landing and the August when he died.

 

[bluemanchester]

We, Britain, nearly wiped Australia off the map.
Our 2 wars decimated the population so much, by the mid 60's the country was on its knees.
The £10 pom allowed the country to rebuild.
The point I am trying to make is we, the British should always remember what the Anzacs gave up and sacrificed for a war thousands of miles from home.
The Royal Service Legion Club near my sons still stand as the last post is played at 6pm EVERY DAY.

One place I always wanted to go to was Ypres to see and hear the "Last Post"which is played every evening at "Menin Gate" and last year I managed it. I was there for the ceremony, it was packed and moving. I was at the front of the barriers side on to the young soldiers who stood completely at ease for almost an hour, I was impressed. It was a moving and solemn ceremony. Poison gas was first used near Ypres and for that alone the guilty must never be forgotten for the untold suffering they caused by a silent and invisible killer.
Anyway, my respects to the ANZAC soldiers who lost their lives and the many who were injured and stayed alive to see the same thing happen over and over again.

 

[Eccles Blue]

I've found the memorial, I'd just be interested to know what happened between the beach landing and the August when he died.
View attachment 115889

Have you tried the Lancashire Fusiliers Museum in Bury. I've never been but I've heard that it has a lot of artefacts and there might be medical reports or even someone's diary that mentions him? I know how difficult it can be as a lot of the WW1 records in the War office were destroyed by fire in the second world war.

Also I was given a report of my grandfather's death (although it made me cry as he was 'blown to bits') from the Manchester and Salford Local History forum. There was a guy on there (although I'm going back before Lockdown now) who seemed to have a lot of information.

Home | The Fusilier Museum, Lancashire

The Fusilier Museum is home to the collections of the XX Lancashire Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Together they record over 300 years of history and heritage.

www.fusiliermuseum.com