ANZAC Day ...

[A Mum]

I thought it'd be nice to give ANZAC day it's own thread (seperate from the poll one)

A place where you can write your respects, thoughts, experiences, services attended, are you attending this year etc, etc.

[A Mum]

When my husband coached the local Junior Colts team,
He used to gather them all together for ANZAC day dawn service.
They would all wear their club gear - attend the service,
and then jog to the footy oval for a light training session and bacon and eggs on the BBQ,

Most parents attended as well.
Was great - and the boys got a lot out of it.
Not only learning about the meaning of ANZAC day,
but also about respect and sacrifice.
The older people in the community loved the fact they were there.
Respect gained all round.

Saddest thing is there is always someone (old) who collapses and ambulances called.
They are very, very old yet they feel so strongly that they still get out of bed at,
some early hour of the morning, usually in the freezing cold or pouring rain,
Just to be at these services.

It's amazing - and makes you think-
If they can do this then surely we all can.

But for all these very elderly people who will be attending dawn services again this year - I hope the weather holds out for them.

Nothing 'gets to you' like the playing of the bugle.
Lest we forget.

[Booney]

I have my meternal Grand-Fathers diary from when he served in Borneo and his time in training in Townsville. I usually spend some time on ANZAC Day reading some of his entries. My older brother has his full size medals and when I was born he had a miniature set struck for me. My kids look at them from time to time and altough they have seen his diary they are yet to read it much as I dont think they would appreciate it just yet.

Like many returned service men my memories are of him as a grumpy old bugger who had some fierce fire in his eyes, but I also remember him teaching me as a young lad how to play 8 Ball on the full size billiard tables at the War Veternas Home up at Mrytle Bank and the amazing touch he showed ( despite a stoke rendering his left side almost useless ) in our carpet bowl games. I to this day still wear a hand woven leather belt he made at the Vet's home in his last year or two. The craftsmanship is extraordinary for a bloke who only had the full use of one hand. My lad now wears it from time to time and with my waist line it ownt be loong before I cant wear it and it will be his.

He never grew tired of telling me how his White Morris with Black roof was the perfect car for a Port Adelaide supporter and it was his pride and joy.

He was a member at the Seaton RSL and now that I live nearby I pop in there for a beer from time to time and see his name on the wall. Richard Oliver Webb.

RIP Pop.

[Choccies]

I have my grandfathers medals and will be wearing them with pride when I coach on Sunday, not just for him but for every other person who served this great country.

Thank you all.

[Q.]

My Grandfather was the hardest and smartest man I know. He signed up for the war because he wanted to go on an adventure to see the world!

He died just after last Xmas, while I was overseas, so I never got to say goodbye. At least his anti-establishment views will live on in one person and I'll be happy if I can be half the person he was.

Best memory of him was when I was a kid, he'd have a trundle and a hit with me out in the backyard. Not bad for a bloke who was in his seventies at the time.

RIP Grandad

[Felch]

My grandfather served in WW2 also, 2/43rd battalion, mainly in Borneo. He passed away over 10 years ago now, and he was never big on the whole RSL thing or attending anything official on ANZAC day. He did have plenty of stories about his war experiences, that he used to tell often. He would spend ANZAC day watching the march on TV from home - he said his reason was that he didnt believe in all the hoo-haa, but i think it was because it brought back a lot of memories, that he would probably rather forget. Some of my best memories of him are spending those ANZAC days at my grandparents house, watching the march with him.
I attend a dawn service every year down at Semaphore, and always think about my Grandpa on ANZAC day and what he experienced. I also realise how much i miss him, and how i wish my daughters could have heard some of his stories and spent time with him. He would have loved them so much.
My eldest daughter is just getting old enough to comprehend ANZAC day and what its about, daughter #2 is not far behind.
This Sunday morning i will be down at the Semaphore service with my 2 eldest daughters (daughter #3 is still too little atm), remembering the sacrifices that were made by people like my Grandfather, but also enjoying spending the time with my girls.

[JK]

Such a different breed to most today, are the diggers ... I doubt we would find anywhere near as much selflessness in todays society.

For those who were fortunate enough to return, those still serving our great country and sadly those who weren't able to make it home - Your sacrifice has been incredible (even that word doesnt do it justice), and as my old man always instilled in me a thankful pride from my earliest years, so too will I with my children.

We will always give thanks to the lifestyle that YOU have made possible for us and we will most certainly never forget.

Lest We Forget.

[Big Phil]

Lest we forget

[Sojourner]

The best suggestion I can give to you is to make the time to go and have a look in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and give yourself a whole day at least to be able to take it all in.

In one section of the memorial there is a garden with the eternal flame that burns surrounded by all the names of all those that paid the ultimate sacrifice in the war, at the end of that garden is a glass basilica type structure with a large steeple on top, around the walls an artist has painted the Spirit of Anzac in a spiral going towards the heavens, it makes your skin crawl just to look at this artwork around the glass. Everyone should see if if they can!

Jesus Christ once said "Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends" and this is a popular verse used in various war memorials and the one in the Parklands here. Seeing the war memorial gives you some real understanding of what is actually meant by that statement and its not about killing or having hate towards another country I might add.

[Ronnie]

Such a different breed to most today, are the diggers ... I doubt we would find anywhere near as much selflessness in todays society.

For those who were fortunate enough to return, those still serving our great country and sadly those who weren't able to make it home - Your sacrifice has been incredible (even that word doesnt do it justice), and as my old man always instilled in me a thankful pride from my earliest years, so too will I with my children.

We will always give thanks to the lifestyle that YOU have made possible for us and we will most certainly never forget.

Lest We Forget.

Excellent post. They know the true meaning of sacrifice and selflessness, to an extent we can only try and understand.
A couple of my relatives who served you wouldn't know they did, to the extent one didn't even march.
They were the exact opposite of the attention seeking and self absorbed people who fill reality TV shows for example in 2010.
Humble, generous, and decent men. Ordinary sure, but extraordinary in deed.

[Cambridge Clarrie]

Anzac Day is the most important day of the year for me.

Years ago, growing up as a kid I'd watch the coverage on channel 7, hoping to see Grandpa as he marched. Didn't mean a hell of a lot to me and my Dad never really made any extra effort to educate me on what it was all about and our family's involvement.

It was only when I got to about 16 that I started asking Grandpa questions. I'd known he'd been in a bomber in WW2 but that was about it...

Once I started asking questions, I found that he had experienced a particularly traumatic event.

He flew as a turret gunner in a Halifax bomber as part of 102 squadron (RAF). He'd flown numerous night raids over Germany's Industrial cities bombing factories, railways, etc. He also took part in D-Day by bombing the Normandy Coast in the hours prior to the landing.


One night returning from a raid, he was shot down. They were attacked from below by a German fighter and at first the Captain told his crew to hold tight as he thought they’d be ok. The next thing he remembered was being blown out of the aircraft and his parachute opening.

He floated in the English Channel for about four hours until he was picked up by a destroyer.

His entire crew had died including Sturt premiership footballer Rex Lathlean.

He recently wrote a letter to the son of his aircraft’s captain which I had the opportunity to read. He said that barely a night goes by when he does not think about that terrible event. He’s just turned 86. By my calculations, that’s about 23,000 nights.

I often think how I would have coped faced with having experienced a similar event.

Not at all well I reckon.

Despite all he’s been through, Grandpa reckons he didn’t suffer half as badly as his Father and Father in Law who were both stretcher bearers for the full duration of the war, serving on Gallipoli and the Western Front.

I’ve recently begun researching my Great Grandfathers. Not a lot is on the records for Grandma’s dad, but there’s a fair bit for Grandpa’s.

They both joined up pretty much straight away and were shipped over to Egypt. From there they both served on Gallipoli but were not there as part of the landing.

After the evacuation, the moved on to the Western Front.

As I said, I don’t really know the details of my Grandma’s Dad’s service, but I do know a fair bit about Grandpa’s Dad.

He was in the 4th Field Ambulance which after Gallipoli formed part of the Fourth Division which moved to the Western Front in June 1916. He saw action in places like The Somme, Pozieres, Bullecourt, Villers Bretonneux and Passchendaele (aka 3rd Battle of Ypres). It was at 3rd Ypres at the Battle of Polygon Wood that he won a Military Medal for Bravery on the Field.

Apparently life in the trenches was everything we’ve heard it to be - and then about a hundred times worse. Living in mud alongside rats, mice and corpses would have been a living hell. Dealing with things like gas attacks, disease and the endless bombardment of shells for months on end, to me, is simply unimaginable. Apparently for his whole life after the war, he'd have to go down to the back of the yard and spend 5-10 minutes coughing in the morning as a result of the gas attacks he experienced. I think it’s these aspects that is why Grandpa thinks he suffered less than his Dad. At least as a member of a Bomber Crew, he got to sleep in a bed with clean sheets each night.

So it’s for people like my Grand Father and Great Grand Fathers that I ensure I make it to a Dawn Service and pay my respects for the sacrifices they and so many of their mates made – some the ultimate sacrifice.

This Sunday will most likely be the last service I attend with Grandpa, as he’s unlikely to make it another 12 months and as such will be extra special for me.

I’ll be making the 25th April a very important day in the lives of my two kids and will ensure they’re very aware of why it’s such a sacred day.



My Great Grandfather 2nd from the right at Hotchkiss Gully on Gallipoli.

[Dirko]

Some great stories lads.

My Great Uncle Jimmy went down on the HMAS Sydney, his sister (Great Auntie Grace) went down on the Centaur. My Pa fought in Papua, and told me many stories of him shooting Japs etc.

My Opa was in the Dutch Resistance Army, and used to emerge at night time, and take out Nazi's.

Only recently has the Dutch Government recognised their efforts in taking the Germans out, and has awarded them medals (which my Dad will claim).

Good story about my Pa. A few years after before he passed away, he'd just retired, and my Dad had to do a Road Trip, from Adelaide - Melbourne - Canberra - Sydney - Brisbane and return. Dad asked Pa to go along, which he did.

Anyhow the trip was going well, and Pa used to get 3/4 cut every night and smoke a pack of cigarettes and be a general lunatic with out Grandma in his ear. One night whilst at the RSL (Balmain IIRC), he was well on his way to being drunk, when they did the 2100 minute of silence.

The lights went off, and in the split second before the bugle started playing, a drunk voice has yelled out "Hey which stupid **** has turned off the ******* lights"

And yep, he was a member of the RSL and knew the protocols ! Onya Pa !!

Lest We Forget.

[Gingernuts]

Great post Cambridge.

[Choccies]

My grandfather was injured when an army truck rolled over on top of him and he spent about 18 months in hospital recovering. When he had recovered he become an entertainer for the troops at war and in his later years after his spell as host of 'Community Sing' on 5KA he wrote a book about it his experiences. He was a comedian who used to write limericks and sing songs on his banjo and his small part in entertaining the troops makes me proud of him...

[A Mum]

These stories are great/sad/emotional and uncomprehendable all in one.
It's great that grandfathers shared these stories - it seems mostly with the boys in the family?

I struggle with the thought of how young some of these men/boys were when they went to war

For some reason - although growing up we knew ANZAC day to be very important -
our family never spoke about anything to do with the wars at all and my grandparents 'involvement'

Of course there are photos of them in uniform - I wonder now why I never asked them any questions?
Did we just know it was not to be talked about

Reading these storeis I now wonder what my grandparents also went through and how they managed to live normal lives afterwards.

And now - of course - it's too late to ask them

[Brodlach]

Fantastic thread with some outstanding contibutions

[Psyber]

Growing up, I had little involvement with Anzac Day beyond cousins from the country dropping in, slightly inebriated, late in the afternoons.
My father had asthma, and also worked in an essential service during the war years, and I was a month too old to be offered a free trip to Vietnam myself.
However, my mother had worked in munitions manufacture during WWII, and, after she died in 2007, I kept finding bullets scattered among her things - I assumed it was homework...
I do remember other relatives with souvenirs - one cousin had hand grenades on a mantelpiece, and there was the guy with an classic English "Tommy Gun" he kept in his garage - the ammo was under his tank stand..

[cennals05]

I struggle with the thought of how young some of these men/boys were when they went to war

A picture I took last ANZAC day of the grave of one of the youngest Australians to die on the Western Front.

[Wedgie]

Great thread, thanks for people sharing their experiences/history.

I got to march in an Anzac Day march as they were short in bands and I was in a band, it was a very moving moment. Remember it much better than any of the 5 Christmas Pageants I marched in.

[godoubleblues]

excellent thread and yeh, thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences

I have marched in the last 8 ANZAC Day marches here in Adelaide in uniform as a serving soldier (regs and reserve) and it sure is a moving occasion. We normally step off in Hindmarsh Sq and once you step off with the army band playing you feel a few feet taller and much prouder. Head down Pulteney St then left onto North Tce, the crowds get bigger for each step you take and then once you turn right onto King William Rd, there is no better feeling, with the very appreciative crowds now about 10 deep and to march down King William St to pay tribute to our fallen sure is very inspiring.

Having a sabbatical this year, not marching and will attend the local dawn service. No real reason, just want to do something different.

As for dawn services, if you get the opportunity and you are in Canberra at the time, go to the dawn service at the War Memorial. Very moving (and bloody cold ). Managed to get to one when I was living in Canberra in the late 90's, bloody thousands of people as well.

Would love to get to Gallipoli for an ANZAC Day, but just not sure if it will ever happen. Although I am considering Hellfire Pass in Thailand next year with a few mates.

Lest We Forget