25th April - Anzac Day - when we remember them

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."

These words are said every Anzac Day across Australia and New Zealand, and wherever Australians and New Zealanders gather for services on 25 April. 
(The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) )

The words come from the poem For the Fallen, written by the English poet and writer Robert Laurence Binyon in mid September 1914, a few weeks after the outbreak of the First World War. It was published in London in The Times on 21 September 1914 and a couple of months later in the "Winnowing Fan; Poems of the Great War" in 1914. 



Below is the fourth stanza of Binyon's poem, which we now know as The Ode. It has been used at commemoration services in Australia since 1921 and is also sung as a hymm.

"They shall grow not old, as we that 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."

Every year it seems the crowds at Anzac Day Dawn Services and marches increase as people remember those who went to war and paid the ultimate sacrifice, and those that returned home broken in body and mind.  Not only at the Australian War Memorial in our capital city Canberra, but at smaller ceremonies and memorials throughout Australia. 

And at the same time remembering those that have served overseas or are still serving overseas in more recent conflicts.  And who return home to their families as different people to those that left. When will we ever learn the futility of war and the loss that it brings. There surely must be a better way.

Below you can see one of two remembrance walls at the Australian War Memorial where are recorded on bronze panels the names of 102,000 Australians who have died in conflicts. On one of these two walls you can find the name of your family member and place a poppy beside their name, as we did when we visited. This is the closest we can come to their burial place, so it was a moving experience to be able to do this.

A couple of years ago I set out to find a photo of my father's uncle, my great-uncle, Norman Albert Clayden, who was killed at the age of 19 in the first few days of the Gallipoli campaign in 1915. I am very happy to say that recently I was able to make contact with a distant relative who had two photos of Norman which she sent to me. 

I see Norman looking so proud in these images, and I wonder what were the dreams and aspirations this young man had for his life.  Instead his name is on the Lone Pine Cemetery memorial at Gallipoli with many thousands of others. I do not know if he has a known burial site. The Lone Pine memorial names more than 4,900 Australian and New Zealand servicemen who died at Gallipoli.

My sister and her husband visited Gallipoli several years ago and found Norman's name on the memorial.

  I volunteer one morning a week at our local primary school library. There are many excellent picture books for children about Anzac Day and conflicts where Australian's have served. I found one last week titled "Lone Pine". Written by Susie Brown and Margaret Warner and illustrated by Sebastian Graffaglione, it tells the story of the Gallipoli lone pine, and how a pine cone from the tree was sent home to Australia by Benjamin Smith, an Australian soldier, and how it came to arrive in Canberra. Since then thousands of new trees cultivated from the seeds of trees cultivated from this one pine cone are now planted in memorial gardens and schools all over Australia.  In 1990 a group of Anzac veterans returned to Gallipoli to plant two of these trees.

As I stand with my head bowed and tears on my cheeks in the early morning light at the Anzac Day Dawn service I think of Norman who's life was taken from him at Gallipoli and my husband's uncle, Richard Ramsden, who died in a prisoner of war camp in 1943 in Burma in World War 2 and lies in the Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery in Myanmar. 

I wrote more about these two young men here - Anzac Day 2017
And more about Anzac memorial's here - Anzac Day - we will remember them

For more about Australian Anzac Day traditions, please click here - Anzac Day Traditions
More about the Lone Pine at the Australian War Memorial - Australian War Memorial

Thank you for stopping by today. Do you have someone you remember on Anzac Day?

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

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