Anzac day 2014

[Blackpearl]

one of _the_ great days for australia and new zealand alike. the dawn services around the country are becoming more attended each year as all australians remember those who have served and died for our country. the pride you feel is quite palpable. thank god we live in this country.

the afl pre-game ceremony was absolutely fantastic and was better than the nrl's. just wish that the nz anthem was also played at anz stadium to celebrate anzac day.

 

[tig_prmz]

I thought the same thing re NZ anthem.

Afl is always superior to NRL when it comes to pre match and post match stuff.

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[happy_tiger]

Can I slightly change the direction of the thread

Anyone have any relatives involved in either of the Great Wars

Had a great uncle who was killed at Suvla Bay during the landing ( He was English )

My Grandfather had one of the strangest roles during WW2 (English as well )

He flew with the reconnaissance planes and actually drew ( as in art ) the towns he flew over

He is an extremely good artist and one of the artist in his group was a world class artist (always forget his name )

 

[Tim Sheens]

My great uncle landed in the first wave at Gallipoli and went to the trenches in the Somme to see out another three years of war after surviving the Dardenelles campaign.

My sister has his diary that chronicles his journey from boarding at the wharves in Sydney until his return three and a half years later. He writes about seeing the pyramids and sphinx and times in the brig following drunkeness or fighting with the pommies amongst other things.

In relation to Gallipoli, he writes about a rumour before leaving Egypt, that it was their destination and then the nervousness amongst the troops aboard the ship as they awaited deployment to the landing boats. He also mentions the stretcher bearer with the donkey that a lot you would know of, and also again on the day he died.

His name was Charles Tierney and he received the King George's medal for bravery (at Lone Pine I think), but never liked to talk about it or the war in general. His wife told me as a teenager, of his horror when recalling to her the trenches in France and the nightmares he suffered.

 

[greatodensraven]

Some amazing stories there folks, definitely something to be proud of!

My uncle was in the Italian navy (yep they had one) during WW2, but his ship didn't last long before it was sunk. Not sure who's side they were on at the time but luckily he managed to survive.

One of the things I love about the Gallipoli legend is that after everything that happened there is so much respect between the Turks & the Allies. I hope to visit there one day.

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[ambostu]

My grandfather (a Scotsman) was a bomb disposal solider in WW2 in London when the blitz was on, reckons he never paid for a drink in a pub when that was all on, also said he saw quite a few mates lose their lives disarming ordinance. He lost his hearing in his left ear when a bomb detonated, pretty lucky to escape with his life.

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[cqtiger]

I would like to add a little known fact of WW1.

No Australian soldiers were shot for desertion. I believe that quite a few were court-martialled for it and that the British top brass petitioned Australia over it. The Governor General refused every request.

It appears because we knocked back conscription in that period all Aussie soldiers in the AIF were, in fact, volunteers.

I admire our government at the time for sticking up for our boys. There were a lot of innocent young men shot at the time. All governments of those that were shot in fact kept it all top secret. Only now are some facts emerging.

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