Welcome to Life Images by Jill

Welcome to Life Images by Jill.........Stepping into the light and bringing together the images and stories of our world. I am a photographer, writer and multi-media artist.
Focussing mainly on Western Australia and Australia, I am seeking to preserve images and memories of the beautiful world in which we live and the people in it.

Welcome!

Welcome!
PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO GO TO MY RED BUBBLE STORE.

Monday 23 April 2018

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. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
Life in Reflection

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.


If you are a blogger you can link up to Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global right here!



 


20 comments:

  1. I love that thousands of trees have grown from the one pine cone and planted at memorial sites. :-)
    The View from the Top of the Ladder

    ReplyDelete
  2. A Lone Pine no longer. It is wonderful that so many seedling from the original pine have been grown since that time. The photographs that you shared of Norman evoke thoughts of my Grandad Bottomley who was gassed in the trenches during WWI, he survived to be sent home but never recovered and was an invalid for the rest of his life. Thank you for sharing your Anzac Day Remembrance services with us this week at Mosaic Monday.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jill, Thanks for sharing the information about Anzac Day. I love the bright poppies on the wall of names. Thanks for sharing and have a great day. Sylvia D.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am moved by your post and have some of the same feelings about the veterans in our country. How nice that you got the old photos to cherish too. Sweet hugs, Diane

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your post is a great tribute to the fallen, Jill! We never should forget the ones who sacrificed their life for our freedom! Many thanks for sharing Anzac Day with all Seasons! Have a memorable week:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. So wonderful to never forget and always honor those who died for freedom.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The wall with the lines of poppies is striking. So many lives lost and/or changed forever. Here in Canada we remember our war dead on Remembrance Day, November 11, formerly known as Armistice Day. It's a solemn time. We use the words from the poem you quoted from, too, as well as the poem In Flanders Fields, written by John McCrae, a Canadian in WWI. We must remember.
    This post is especially poignant today as there was an attack in Toronto earlier, killing 10 people and wounding many more. The police and first responders were very brave.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful and poignant. Heart wrenching too. We do need to remember.

    ReplyDelete
  9. We took a trip to Kanchanaburi, Bridge over the River Kwai ... when you see the endless graves of the fallen and read the messages on the headstones, it is so moving... many no older than my son. Lest we forget indeed. Beautiful post Jill.
    Wren x

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jill - this is such a moving post, and I have tears blinding me as I write this. Although I do not have a family member that was lost to war, my husband's grandfather was on the beach at Dunkirk for several days until he could get off the beach. He is gone now, but he would never talk about his war experiences. And yet, he was one of the most joyful people I have ever met!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh, my goodness...those four lines always make me cry. My grandfather was in the first World War, and he did come home, but so many didn't. WWII also makes me cry, because my father was with the Canadian Army in Britain during the bombing. He was in the Canadian Army Show, where the musicians and entertainers never stopped despite the bombs. When I cry about either of them, however, the tears are happy tears.
    Bless Australia for having a day to pay tribute to your forces.
    Kay
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you for this moving post, Jill, which brings me tears. Here in Israel the Australian Embassy always makes a solemn ANZAC Day ceremony (followed by a reception) in our several Commonwealth War Cemeteries. Today I blogged about the graves in Beer Sheva. The Aussie soldiers have always been much loved and appreciated here. May their memory be for a blessing.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The memorial is so touching.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lovely post Jill and so relative to the importance of remembering all the lives lost and destroyed by war. I lost a great uncle at Gallipoli in 1915 who was only 19 years old. I remember seeing his memorial plaque at Lone Pine at Gallipoli when I visited in 2012. It was very moving. #TeamLovinLife

    ReplyDelete
  15. So sad all the men and woman who have lost their lives in wars! Greatful though for their service. Norman was a handsome man! Love the wall with the strings of poppies!

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a moving post! The poppy wall photo is beautiful - what a nice way to remember those we've lost since, as you've said, there is no gravesite. Since we don't have Anzac day here in the States, I didn't know when it was. And I was surprised to find that it falls on my daughter's birthday.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful and poignant post. ANZAC day is a special day of remembrance and commemoration and I too wrote about it this week. There are many war memorials in Australian country and regional areas and I have visited a few. I know that those names from WW1 were young men, from the bush or the river or the sea who knew nothing of where they were going but knew why they did.
    Such a waste of many lives and many more changed irrevocably at home.
    Thank you so much. Yes, I visit the War memorial when in Canberra. It is so special.

    ReplyDelete
  18. You always write the most beautiful tributes to those who have, and who are serving their country on ANZAC day. This year I noticed other remembrances on FB and always pause to remember those young (and old) heros who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

    ReplyDelete

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to my blog. Thank you for stopping by and for taking the time to comment. I read and very much appreciate every comment and love hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return.