They shall grow not old
As we who 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

To the men and women of Australia and New Zealand who fought so gallantly for our countries. Thank you, for today we shall remember you.

Lest we forget

Lest we forget.

Cheers
Spooky

From the Cenotaph in Wellington the words of Rupert Brooke,

"These laid the world away; poured out the red
Sweet wine of youth; gave up the years to be
Of work and joy, and that unhoped serene,
That men call age; and those who would have been, Their sons, they gave, their immortality."

After travelling a great deal of the world the day that I will always remember as a privileged day was when I stood on ANZAC Beach on ANZAC day.

I kept a diary at the time but without repeating all of it I find it difficult to pick out the most important bit. We had be warned of possible terrorist attacks, so I shall merely quote my last paragraph, "Suddenly the light was with us and looking around we could see our neighbours for the first time. The majority of the crowd, and I wouldn’t attempt to estimate the numbers, would have been in their twenties or early thirties, most of the remainder were old codgers like me. I moved for the first time in almost five hours, wondering in fact if my legs and my feet would perform as required. Turning and looking up at the hills, now bathed in light, we had our first sight of the hundreds of Turkish soldiers reaching all the way to the skyline who had spent the night on the ridges guarding our backs. I hoped that they had been better prepared for the cold than I."

Tomorrow I shall raise a glass to them.

A heartfelt thank you to all the ANZAC forces for everything they've contributed to fighting for and keeping world peace.

I have recently read two books which I would thoroughly recommend to anyone who may be interested:

'Gallipoli' by Les Carlyon, and although obviously not about the original ANZAC's but still a superb book, 'Kokoda' by Peter Fitzsimons. Both fascinating accounts of these battles, with lots of personal stories told in them.
Also, there was a documentary produced about 18 months back simply called 'Gallipoli'. It was made by a Turkish director, but brilliantly tells of the campaign through the narrated diaries of soldiers on both sides as well as historians input. Truly excellent and very moving.

Lest we forget.

Missie and others from down under: ANZAC day in Turkey is something special as you all know.

Suggestion: If you have not yet been to Turkey, make plans to visit in the future. It is well worth it.

Cat's

LEST WE FORGET

The ANZAC casualties and those who suffered were:

• Australia: 18,500 wounded and missing - 7,594 killed.
• New Zealand : 5,150 wounded and missing - 2,431 killed.

The Turkish casualties were:

• Ottoman Empire (Turkey) : 109,042 wounded and missing - 57,084 killed.

There were many who lost their lives in the Gallipoli campaign including soldiers form Australia, New Zealand, France, British Empire, Turkey and even some Indians, Germans, Newfoundlanders and Sengalese.

LEST WE FORGET

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dragons,

quote:

Originally posted by BrendanM:
I have recently read two books which I would thoroughly recommend to anyone who may be interested:

'Gallipoli' by Les Carlyon, and although obviously not about the original ANZAC's but still a superb book, 'Kokoda' by Peter Fitzsimons. Both fascinating accounts of these battles, with lots of personal stories told in them.
Also, there was a documentary produced about 18 months back simply called 'Gallipoli'. It was made by a Turkish director, but brilliantly tells of the campaign through the narrated diaries of soldiers on both sides as well as historians input. Truly excellent and very moving.

Lest we forget.

Peter Fitzsimons has also written Rats of Tobruk; an excellent account of that campaign. I appreciated reading it and learning about what my father had experienced because he, like many others, never spoke of his war experience.

Lest We Forget

Yes, Lest We Forget

quote:

Originally posted by dragons:
LEST WE FORGET

The ANZAC casualties and those who suffered were:

• Australia: 18,500 wounded and missing - 7,594 killed.
• New Zealand : 5,150 wounded and missing - 2,431 killed.

The Turkish casualties were:

• Ottoman Empire (Turkey) : 109,042 wounded and missing - 57,084 killed.

There were many who lost their lives in the Gallipoli campaign including soldiers form Australia, New Zealand, France, British Empire, Turkey and even some Indians, Germans, Newfoundlanders and Sengalese.

LEST WE FORGET

Amongst others, I believe the British had approx 20,000 troopps killed at Gallipoli. A big loss of lives on all sides.
Lest we forget.

I called in at the vet last night to collect some supplies for our cats and the nurse told me she always gets up before the dawn on Anzac day (watches the ceremony on TV where possible) and says a little prayer at dawn, thanking for all who went to war and particularly for those who were wounded or did not return.

quote:

They shall grow not old
As we who 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

To the men and women of Australia and New Zealand who fought so gallantly for our countries. Thank you, for today we shall remember you.

Lest we forget

Here, here Missie. My husband was proud to march today - Anzac Day.

quote:

Originally posted by australena:
Amongst others, I believe the British had approx 20,000 troopps killed at Gallipoli. A big loss of lives on all sides.
Lest we forget.

Yes there were quite a few British killed.

Reports of all of the casualty numbers have been widely varied and as far as I know there is no general agreement on what the exact figures really are however Wikepedia has the following posted:

Gallipoli casualties
(compiled from various sources)
Total Allies 44,072 dies, 97,037wounded, 141,109 Total

- The United Kingdom 21,255 died, 52,230 wounded , 73,485 Total

- France (estimated) 10,000 died, 17,000 wounded, 27,000 total

- Australia 8,709 died, 19,441 wounded, 28,150 total

- New Zealand 2,721 died, 4,852 wounded, 7,553 total

- India 1,358 died, 3,421 wounded, 4,779 total

- Newfoundland 49 died, 93 wounded, 142 total

- Ottoman Empire 86,692 died, 164,617 wounded, 251,309 total

Total (both sides) 130,764 died, 261,654 wounded, 533,527 total

A terrible loss of life on all sides.

LEST WE FORGET

I was out of my bed at 3.20am on a cold wet morning to go to work & prepare for ANZAC Day. Every year our numbers swell for the dawn service & IMO it is wonderful to see the younger generation numbers increasing as the number of diggers dwindle.

LEST WE FORGET

quote:

Originally posted by jenno:[QUOTE]
My husband was proud to march today - Anzac Day.

Jen: There were a lot more people at the march this year, it seems to be growing each year. My husband said that when the vets had completed their march they stood and clapped the young ones marching for the parents and grandparents, and the old diggers were handing out flags to the little ones to wave. Very moving.

quote:

Every year our numbers swell for the dawn service & IMO it is wonderful to see the younger generation numbers increasing as the number of diggers dwindle.

Are there many people who fought in WWI left alive in Australia? There's only about a dozen left in the UK now, all well over 100 years old, of course.