The ANZAC Legacy

Thanks Sir Kev and Darkie
Such a small population has given so much and in doing so has decimated its gene pool.
I often think of where we would be now if this had not have happened ?
Thanks again
Stan

Thanks for posting that Kev - Lest we Forget!

Sir Kev & Darkie
Thank you for your story and poem ,my Grand Father and his two brothers fought in France unfortunately his two brothers were lost to us all over there I was also a Veteran of Vietnam so thank you for your poem and Australian History
Terry

Thanks mate. And people say that I am stupid, getting annoyed at how we ourselves allow our Aussie heritage to be destroyed a little bit at a time by "the get go", do the "math", Have a "cookie" and so on.

On some trips we have just enjoyed sitting in the pub and simply listening to the place. Not the conversations. Just the "banter". Not worried about the latest fad or what type of "fluffy dog", haicut or latte they have at home. The Aussie that Masefield wrote about is still here people. But he is getting harder to find. Especially in the cities.

And for the Vietnam war read up on the Vietnam Battle of Long Tan where 108 ANZACS fought and won against a Viet Cong (North Vietnamese) force estimated between 1,500 and 2,500. Link: Battle of Long Tan. God that makes my skin crawl.

Thanks Kev for the reminder.

Phil

The S.S "Avila Star" was crewed by my then 19 year old, Grandfather nearly 12 months prior to it being sunk in WW2
The Ships Captain John Fisher was aboard when it was sunk in Jul 1942, He had signed off as the Ships Captain on my Grandfathers Passport on the 06 Jul 1941. I have recently found my Grandfathers ID Card for when the SS "Avila" docked in New York.

SS "Avila Star"


On the 18 Feb 1943 aged 21, my Grandfather boarded the SS "Mataroa" which set sail from Avonmouth on May 15, 1943.
She left the Bristol Channel and went up the Irish Sea to Greenock, to join up with the convoy, which included Caernarvon Castle.
During the voyage, a German Fokke Wulf Condor flew over and tried to bomb the aircraft carrier in the convoy, and there were encounters with a U-Boat, and the destroyers dropped depth charges quite regularly.
Because the convoy couldn't go through the Suez Canal, because of the fighting in North Africa, they sailed down the coast of Africa, and around the Cape to Buenos Aires

History of the SS "Mataroa"

" they were remarkable in that their uniform was based upon sense, not upon nonsense."

I am sure we were wearing those same uniforms in Vietnam! That was nonsense. The lousy government of the day (and subsequent days) did not heed the calls that our kit was not suited to the environment. At least the men and women in Afghanistan were suitable and appropriately kitted out.

In Vietnam we were often reminded that our equipment was supplied by the lowest bidder.

Appreciated the post,the quotes and the poem. Nice work, lads.

OBJ

Australian war historian C.E.W. Bean attributes the acronym ANZAC to a Lieutenant A.T. White, one of General Birdwood’s ‘English clerks’.
The first official sanction for its use was at Birdwood’s request to denote where the Corps had established a bridgehead on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

However, there is little argument that ANZAC was first used as a simple code in Egypt.

A later historical work, Gallipoli, by the English historian Robert Rhodes James states:Two Australian Sergeants, Little and Millington had cut a rubber stamp with the initials ‘A & NZAC’ for the purpose of registering papers at the Corps headquarters, situated in Shepheard’s Hotel, Cairo. When a code name was requested for the Corps, a British officer, a Lt. White, suggested ANZAC. Little later claimed that he made the original suggestion to White.
It was in general use by January 1915.Whatever its origin, the acronym ANZAC became famous with the landing of the Corps on the Gallipoli Peninsula at the Dardanelles, on 25 April 1915. It has since become synonymous with the determination and spirit of our armed forces.

The significance of the day, and the acronym, in Australia’s heritage is probably best stated by Dr. Bean in the following excerpt from his official war history:It was not merely that 7600 Australians and nearly 2500 New Zealanders had been killed or mortally wounded there, and 24,000 more (19,000 Australians and 5,000 New Zealanders) had been wounded, while fewer than 100 were prisoners. But the standards set by the first companies at the first call - by the stretcher-bearers, the medical officers, the staff, the company leaders, the privates, the defaulters on the water barges, the Light Horse at The Nek - this was already part of the tradition not only of ANZAC but of the Australian and New Zealand peoples.

By dawn on 20 December, ANZAC had faded into a dim blue line lost amid other hills on the horizon as the ships took their human freight to Imbros, Lemnos and Egypt. But ANZAC stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship and endurance that will never own defeat.The acronym survived Gallipoli. I and II ANZAC Corps fought in France and the ANZAC Mounted Division fought in Palestine.

The decision to separate the Australian and New Zealand components of the ANZAC Corps was taken on 14 November 1917 when it was announced that the Corps would cease to exist from January 1918. An Australian Corps was then created to absorb the Australian divisions.There was a brief period during World War 2 when ANZAC was resurrected. On 12 April 1941 in Greece, General Blamey declared I Australian Corps to be the ANZAC Corps, much to the delight of its Australian and New Zealand formations.

ANZAC was again a reality during the Vietnam conflict where, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, an ANZAC battalion served in Phuoc Tuy Province. These battalions were created by absorbing two companies and supporting elements from The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment into a battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment (RAR). Our 2nd, 4th and 6th Battalions held the distinction of being titled, for example, 2RAR/NZ (ANZAC) Battalion.

John Simpson Kirkpatrick had jumped ship while in Australia. When war broke out he thought a deserter might not be accepted into the army so he dropped his surname and enlisted into the Australian army as John Simpson. Simpson and his donkey rescued over 300 men. They accomplished this under almost constant fire. On the 19 May, 1915 Simpson was killed. Because Simpson was recommended under the wrong category of heroism he has never received a Victoria Cross despite subsequent efforts to obtain one from him.

At the going down of the sun...

I crouched in a shallow trench on that hell of exposed beaches...
steeply rising foothills bare of cover...
a landscape pockmarked with war’s inevitable litter...
piles of stores...
equipment...
ammunition...
and the weird contortions of death sculptured in Australian flesh...
I saw the going down of the sun on that first ANZAC Day... ...
the chaotic maelstrom of Australia’s blooding.
I fought in the frozen mud of the Somme...
in a blazing destroyer exploding on the North Sea...
I fought on the perimeter at Tobruk...
crashed in the flaming wreckage of a fighter in New Guinea...
lived with the damned in the place cursed with the name Changi.
I was your mate...
the kid across the street...
the med. student at graduation...
the mechanic in the corner garage...
the baker who brought you bread...
the gardener who cut your lawn...
the clerk who sent your phone bill.
I was an Army private...
a Naval commander...
an Air Force bombardier.
no man knows me...
no name marks my tomb, for I am every Australian serviceman...
I am the Unknown Soldier.
I died for a cause I held just in the service of my land...
that you and yours may say in freedom...
I am proud to be an Australian

One statue that got the emotions running for us was at the HMAS Sydney memorial at Geraldton, WA. The statue is of a woman standing against the wind and staring hopefully/tearfully across the ocean.

If you let your thoughts go beyond HMAS Sydney you can just imagine all the heartache, sorrow and emotional wounds that those who were left behind went through. They may have been safe and sound in Australia but they were wounded" as well. It blew my mind thinking of my own family when our menfolk "went away to war". The ANZACS at home!!

I better stop now!

Phil

Nothing to say that comes close to the foregoing ......

Lest we forget.

On 25 April 1915 Australian troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in what is now called Anzac Cove. They rushed from the beach up to Plugge's Plateau and into Australian military history, suffering many casualties on the way. Then, just after midday, troops from New Zealand landed at Gallipoli, and together the Australians and New Zealanders created the Anzac legend. The events on this first day set the course of the whole battle, and led to the evacuation of the Anzac troops in December 1915

Lest we forget the racism too of Bean and Murdoch. Read their appalling comments about Monash, by general acclaim one of the best if not the best field commanders of that war. Thankfully one of the freedoms preserved in the wars was freedom from racial vilification.

Margaret and I spent several days exploring the Gallipoli Peninsula in June last year.
Every Australian should do this, if they get the opportunity.

The relationship that Turks have with Australians as a result of that conflict 100 years ago is simply extraordinary.
This quotation from Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (The 'Father" of modern Turkey in 1934) seemed to be a sentiment expressed and practiced to this day.

Quote:
“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives…..
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Jonnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours….. you, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now in our bosom and are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.”

We have rarely felt more welcome anywhere, than we did in Turkey.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

What really is the message and lesson of Anzac Day? Yes the men were brave and we honour that. But we should also pay attention for what they fought.
Whatever else, they weren't defending us or defending freedom. We were invading a country of little villages and they fought nobly to defend themselves. We were conned into an act of war where we should never have been for a military/imperialistic purpose that was none too noble. This wasn't the fault of the men, but the message is lost in the legend making. And it is the real message of ANZAC. We should look very very carefully at the motives of governments who are quick to send off our youngest, bravest and best and who continue to bathe in the reflected glory of the sacrifices of our young men.
Some times, war can be justified. But if ever there was a war of sheer stupidity, WW1 is it. The newspapers whipped up the emotions and away we went. ANZAC Day should be a time not just to remember those men, but also to ponder on the causes of that war and how we sent those young men off on our behalf.

If you get a chance, to listen to Cpl Ben Roberts Smith VC at the Canberra Dawn Service. He pretty well sums up what ANZAC Day is all about.

WBS

THE ANZAC ON THE WALL

I wandered thru a country town, 'cos I had some time to spare,
And went into an antique shop to see what was in there.
Old Bikes and pumps and kero lamps, but hidden by it all,
A photo of a soldier boy – an Anzac on the Wall.


'The Anzac have a name?' I asked. The old man answered 'No'.
The ones who could have told me mate, have passed on long ago.
The old man kept on talking and, according to his tale,
The photo was unwanted junk bought from a clearance sale.

'I asked around', the old man said, 'but no-one knows his face,
He's been on that wall twenty years... Deserves a better place.
For some-one must have loved him, so it seems a shame somehow.'
I nodded in agreement and then said, 'I'll take him now.'

My nameless digger's photo, well it was a sorry sight
A cracked glass pane and a broken frame - I had to make it right
To prise the photo from its frame I took care just in case,
Cause only sticky paper held the cardboard back in place.

I peeled away the faded screed and much to my surprise,
Two letters and a telegram appeared before my eyes
The first reveals my Anzac's name, and regiment of course
John Mathew Francis Stuart - of Australia's own Light Horse.

This letter written from the front... My interest now was keen
This note was dated August seventh 1917
'Dear Mum, I'm at Khalasa Springs not far from the Red Sea
They say it's in the Bible - looks like a Billabong to me.

'My Kathy wrote I'm in her prayers... she's still my bride to be
I just can't wait to see you both, you're all the world to me.
And Mum you'll soon meet Bluey, last month they shipped him out
I told him to call on you when he's up and about.'

'That bluey is a larrikin, and we all thought it funny
He lobbed a Turkish hand grenade into the CO's dunny.
I told you how he dragged me wounded, in from no man's land
He stopped the bleeding, closed the wound, with only his bare hand.'

'Then he copped it at the front from some stray shrapnel blast
It was my turn to drag him in and I thought he wouldn't last.
He woke up in hospital, and nearly lost his mind
Cause out there on the battlefield he'd left one leg behind.'

'He's been in a bad way Mum, he knows he'll ride no more
Like me he loves a horse's back, he was a champ before.
So Please Mum can you take him in, he's been like my own brother
Raised in a Queensland orphanage he' s never known a mother.'

But Struth, I miss Australia Mum, and in my mind each day
I am a mountain cattleman on high plains far away.
I'm mustering white-faced cattle, with no camel's hump in sight
And I waltz my Matilda by a campfire every night

I wonder who rides Billy, I heard the pub burnt down
I'll always love you and please say hooroo to all in town'.
The second letter I could see, was in a lady's hand
An answer to her soldier son there in a foreign land.

Her copperplate was perfect, the pages neat and clean
It bore the date, November 3rd 1917.
'T'was hard enough to lose your Dad, without you at the war
I'd hoped you would be home by now - each day I miss you more'

'Your Kathy calls around a lot since you have been away
To share with me her hopes and dreams about your wedding day.
And Bluey has arrived - and what a godsend he has been
We talked and laughed for days about the things you've done and seen'

'He really is a comfort, and works hard around the farm,
I read the same hope in his eyes that you won't come to harm.
McConnell's kids rode Billy, but suddenly that changed.
We had a violent lightning storm, and it was really strange.'

'Last Wednesday, just on midnight, not a single cloud in sight,
It raged for several minutes, it gave us all a fright.
It really spooked your Billy - and he screamed and bucked and reared
And then he rushed the sliprail fence, which by a foot he cleared'

'They brought him back next afternoon, but something's changed I fear
It's like the day you brought him home, for no one can get near.
Remember when you caught him with his black and flowing mane?
Now Horse breakers fear the beast that only you can tame,'

'That's why we need you home son' - then the flow of ink went dry-
This letter was unfinished, and I couldn't work out why.
Until I started reading, the letter number three
A yellow telegram delivered news of tragedy,

Her son killed in action - oh - what pain that must have been
The same date as her letter - 3rd November 1917
This letter which was never sent, became then one of three
She sealed behind the photo's face - the face she longed to see.

And John's home town's old timers - children when he went to war
Would say no greater cattleman had left the town before.
They knew his widowed mother well - and with respect did tell
How when she lost her only boy she lost her mind as well.

She could not face the awful truth, to strangers she would speak
'My Johnny's at the war you know, he's coming home next week.'
They all remembered Bluey he stayed on to the end.
A younger man with wooden leg became her closest friend.

And he would go and find her when she wandered old and weak
And always softly say 'yes dear - John will be home next week.'
Then when she died Bluey moved on, to Queensland some did say.
I tried to find out where he went, but don't know to this day.

And Kathy never wed - a lonely spinster some found odd.
She wouldn't set foot in a church - she'd turned her back on God.
John's mother left no Will I learned on my detective trail.
This explains my photo's journey, of that clearance sale.

So I continued digging, cause I wanted to know more.
I found John's name with thousands, in the records of the war.
His last ride proved his courage - a ride you will acclaim
The Light Horse Charge at Beersheba of everlasting fame.

That last day in October, back in 1917
At 4pm our brave boys fell - that sad fact I did glean.
That's when John's life was sacrificed, the record's crystal clear
But 4pm in Beersheba is midnight over here......

So as John's gallant spirit rose to cross the great divide,
Were lightning bolts back home, a signal from the other side?
Is that why Billy bolted and went racing as in pain?
Because he'd never feel his master on his back again?

Was it coincidental? same time - same day - same date?
Some proof of numerology, or just a quirk of fate?
I think it's more than that you know, as I've heard wiser men,
Acknowledge there are many things that go beyond our ken

Where craggy peaks guard secrets 'neath dark skies torn asunder,
Where hoof-beats are companions to the rolling waves of thunder
Where lightning cracks like 303's and ricochets again
Where howling moaning gusts of wind sound just like dying men.

Some Mountain cattlemen have sworn on lonely alpine track,
They've glimpsed a huge black stallion - Light Horseman on his back.
Yes Sceptics say, it's swirling clouds just forming apparitions
Oh no, my friend you can't dismiss all this as superstition.

The desert of Beersheba - or windswept Aussie range,
John Stuart rides on forever there - Now I don't find that strange.
Now some gaze upon this photo, and they often question me
And I tell them a small white lie, and say he's family.

'You must be proud of him.' they say - I tell them, one and all,
That's why he takes - the pride of place - my Anzac on the Wall.

By Jm Brown

Some very interesting peoms and articles above. I was at the national war memorial last week and it really brings home what our young men and women did. The ultimate sacrifices they made and the ones that survived with mental scars. I take my hat off to you all. There should never be war. Don't think it achieves much but my respects to all those who fought bravely and those who worked behind the scenes in hospitals and all those families who lost loved ones. Cheers.

Lest we forget.
Ma & Pa.

Sir Kev & Darkie
The ANZAC on the wall ,very heart wrenching ,can not help but bring a tear to an eye
Thanks Terry