25 April - Anzac Day - we will remember them - 2014

25th April - is Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand - and this Anzac day is the 99th anniversary of the landing in Gallipoli.

"ANZAC Day goes beyond the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli in 1915. It is the day we remember all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. The spirit of ANZAC, with its human qualities of courage, mateship, and sacrifice, continues to have meaning and relevance for our sense of national identity".

 To read more please for to the Australian War Memorial web site - click here - www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/

This image is from the Shrine of Rememberance in Melbourne....
 

 All across Australia and New Zealand in cities and towns, overseas where servicemen are still serving, where Australians and New Zealanders gather, at memorials in France, and on the shores of Gallipoli  where thousands go every Anzac Day to honour and remember, even at the Australian base in Antarctica, there are Dawn Services, parades and ceremonies to remember those that gave the supreme sacrifice.

 To keep reading and see more pics, please click on "read more" .....

This image below is from today's Dawn Service at the War Memorial in Bunbury, Western Australia.  As the last strains of the "Last Post" rings out in the still morning air, and heads are bowed for the minute's silence, a lump wells in my throat and tears come to my eyes as I think of those young men and women on distant shores. 

Every year the crowd seems to get bigger. With conflicts around the world today, perhaps this simple ceremony has just as much relevance as it did at the first Anzac Day dawn service.

Please click here to learn more about the origins of the Dawn Service - Our-history/Traditions/Dawn-Service

 There are many grand war memorials around Australia, and indeed around the world. Below is the Eternal Flame and the War Memorial in Perth, Western Australia.

But somehow I think the lonely war memorials in towns that have faded away are more poignant. This one in the image below is at Coorabie in South Australia. I wondered if anyone lays wreaths in remembrance of these young men. 

My father told me today that he remembers his mother putting together comfort packs during WW2 that people in Australia sent via the Red Cross to troops serving overseas and also to prisoners of war. Food stuffs such as fruit cakes, Anzac biscuits, tins of fruit, knitted socks and balaclavers, and other items were put into the tin - as much as could be pushed into a 4 pound tin. The tin was then sealed and stitched into calico on which could be written a message. Dad said that sometimes the fruit cake, which was laced with brandy, was sometimes hollowed out and a small bottle of brandy put inside. 

I haven't made Anzac biscuits for years - it is an Australian favourite - I might need to make some I think! 
If you want to know more about the Anzac biscuit - please click here - Anzac biscuits
 

 In January 2012 we visited our national capital, Canberra. The images below are from the Australian War Memorial. It is also a museum which is an amazing place to visit - and I encourage all Australian's to visit at least once in their life time - and allow at least one whole day to see it. The museum takes you through all the various conflicts up to the present day that Australians have been involved in - and gives you an insight into what our "diggers" went through and the thousands and thousands of lives that have been lost.

The dome at the end houses the "tomb of the unknown soldier", and on either side under the arches are the names of those that lost their lives in WW1 and WW2. 
 You can place a poppy next to the name of your loved one. 

We found the name of my great-uncle Norman Albert Clayden who lost his life in Gallipoli on 2 May 1915 (aged 19), and
my husbands uncle, Richard Ramsden who died as a prisoner of war on 29 October 1943 in Burma (aged 23).

As they are both buried overseas, Norman at Lone Pine in Gallipoli and Richard at Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery in Myanmar (Burma), it was wonderful to be able to place a poppy next to their names at the Canberra War Memorial.

When I look at Richard's photo I see a young man smiling back at me, proud, fun loving, an Aussie bloke.

And I think about these two young men and the circumstances under which they died so far from home, buried on foreign soil, and how it must have affected their mother's and father's and families. 

The statue below is a copy of one originally forming part of a memorial which was erected at Port Said, Egypt, and unveiled on 23 November 1932, to remember members of the Australian Light Horse, New Zealand Mounted Rifles, the Imperial Camel Corps, and the Australian Flying Corps, who lost their lives in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria 1916-1918.  The statue was irreparably damaged during the Suez crisis in 1956.  The remnants were brought to Australia and two bronze replicas were made, the first, which you can see below, was erected in Albany, Western Australia in 1964, and the second is at the War Memorial in Canberra.

I have been to the memorial in Albany many times - and I have always been in awe of the image that the statue portrays of the two servicemen and their horses. Albany was the place from where Australian troops left on their way to fight in World War 1. For many thousands it was the last time they were to be on Australian soil. 

On display in Canberra is one of the bronze horse heads, the last remaining fragment from the original Charles Web Gilbert's Desert Mounted Corps memorial at Port Said, and now forming a memorial  to "Animals in War". For those who have seen the wonderful movie "War Horse", it is heart warming that a memorial has been erected in their memory.

In May 2014 I was approached by the Westphalian Horse Museum in Germany via email with a request to use two of my images (including this one above) in a book they were producing for their Horse and War exhibition 25 June 2014-26 October 2014.
Here is what they said:
 
 The Westphalian Horse Museum in Germany is currently working on its new temporary exhibition “Horse and War”, which will open in June 2014  and will end in October 2014. With the main focus on World Wars I and II the exhibition will visualize how horses and other animals have to “function” under extreme circumstances in war times. The exhibition will be realized with the support of our cooperation partner, the Military Museum Dresden, Germany. 

 One section of our exhibition deals with horses as heroes in war. There we like to show some memorials, for example the Animals in War memorial in Canberra. On your homepage you have a photo of this memorial

 Below here you can see the cover of the book - 

Following the Dawn Service in Bunbury in 2012 we were blessed with this beautiful sunrise - blood red, it was a timely reminder of all that we have to be thankful and grateful for.....

My sincere thanks to Flickr contact Stewart Glasson who took the time to research and send me links from The War Graves Photographic Project which has lead us to more information about Norman and Richard - including an actual photo of Richard's grave site, and information about the Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery in Myanmar and background information and history about the war years and the people who are buried there.
We sincerely thank you. 
Please click on the link here if you want to do research of your own - War Graves Photographic Project

Thanks for stopping by. Do you go to the Anzac Day Dawn Service or Parade?
Does Anzac Day have a special meaning to you? Have you made Anzac biscuits?

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to Mosaic Monday, Travel Photos Monday, Our World Tuesday, Wednesday Around the World, Travel Photo Thursday, What's It Wednesday, and Oh the Places I've Been. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

Mosaic Monday
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