They went with songs to the battle, they were young. Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe.
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.
Lest We Forget
A Dawn Anzac Ceremony – a strong Tradition in Australia
What is an ANZAC?
“ANZACS,” is an acronym for the Australian and New Zealand Army Core, a group of troops renowned as courageous fighters who fought agains the Turks in the battlefields of WW I, far away from their own shores. Members on both sides of my family were injured and died at this gory battlefield.
Each year on April 25, Australia and New Zealand remember the Anzacs and broadly all the casualties of war. With ceremonies and services, the Anzac day traditions continue to grow in popularity, even though the last “digger” or Anzac soldier has passed away. Ceremonies are attended in every town, large and small, and attended by young people who proudly wear Grandfather’s medals and older ex-servicemen alike.
This year, Australians will honour them by standing on our driveway in a line of honour at 5.55am.
The sacrifice and valour of the original soldiers created the ANZAC legend and constituted a turning point in Australian history and the formulation of Australia’s identity. After this battle and war, Australians seemed no longer satisfied to be part of a British outpost in the Pacific. As a nation, we had grown up. We wanted to be a country and identity, in our own right, not a mere vassal. The Anzac legend fortified this belief.
The Anzac story of the Gallipoli battle has now become legendary. The Gallipoli battalions were sent into battle, under-resourced, and ordered to positions impossible to defend; vertical cliffs with enemy positioned at the top.
They were headed for a level of bloodshed on all sides, previously unknown in the annals of modern history. Actor Mel Gibson immortalized the Anzac soldier’s spirit in the 1981 film “Gallipoli”. It makes me cry every single time I watch it, for the men, their families and the loss of Australia’s best young men.
So every April 25, we will always remember them.
Lest We Forget
A snippet from 1981 of a surpringly nervous Mel Gibson as he talks about the film.
Early this morning, April 25, more people than usual were up early. What’s more, they were all walking past my house. Where were they going?
If April 25 holds any significance for you, I won’t have to tell you.
The Dawn Service – April 25
At the end of my street is a memorial to Australia’s and New Zealand’s fallen soldiers in war, and April 25 is named, Anzac Day, because of them.
When WWI was declared, many young men, fathers, brothers, sons, signed up as soldiers, volunteering to fight with their Allies in Europe. Many of them faked their age so that the armed forces would accept them for duty. The youngest volunteer was James Martin, a mere 14 years and 3 months old.
James Martin, along with my Great Uncle, were amongst the Australian and New Zealand soldiers, who briefly trained for open desert warfare, prior to travelling to the Dardanelles near Turkey, and came to be known as ‘Anzacs.’
‘Anzacs’, because they were the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
Anzacs because they fought for 8 months in the hellhole campaign that was steep cliff faces and filthy trenches in a place, known as Gallipoli. 8,141 Australians died at Gallipoli and thousands more were injured. Including my Great Uncle ‘Ted’ – Edward Russell.
Many of Australia’s finest, strongest and youngest men were fatally wounded, including one called James Martin, then just 15 years old.
This was not the worst battle in the war. Many more men died on the battlefields in France. Yet the Anzac ‘diggers’ and this spirit represents a special place in the hearts of Australians. They are the most venerated. Anzac day and its tradition of remembrance of them, becomes more popular each and every year.
We have few real traditions in our country. Perhaps this is the reason we cling to Anzac Day as it binds our nation together as a community?
Perhaps it is the stories of the death of such a young man as James Martin, the loss of such youthful promise, that brings home to each and every one of us, the enduring horror and consequences of war. Such senseless loss.
The following poem and haunting bugle tune never fails to brings tears to my eyes. In the tune, the bugle player summons the troops to assemble; the bugle calls them once, twice, three times, but the fallen soldiers do not come, nor do they answer.
Anzac day commemorates all servicemen and women who served in conflicts, not just those who died. To honour those who paid the supreme sacrifice, we stand in silence, after the reading of the Ode and the Last Post is played.
Anzac biscuits – these were sent to the troops in Gallipoli by family
And what of James Martin’s family, living far away from the battlefields, in Australia? How did they cope without the boy they once held safe, in their arms?
A mother grieving a lost son; a Father who’d never have a beer or teach his son how to fix a broken car; a brother or sister who’d no longer feel the camaraderie between siblings as they grow, a schoolkid who’d lost his mate, and finally the boy himself, who’d never grow old enough, to become a man.
Every armed conflict and terrorist act, hurts more than just nations, soldiers and civilians, but the raw horror and loss cast a long and painful shadow far and wide.
James, like so many other soldiers gave up his tomorrows, so that we could enjoy today.
War is deeply woven into human history. Organized society and conflict appear to have marched side by side, each affecting the other. Wars have changed societies in many ways but changes in society have also affected the nature of war.
It is 1942: a Norwegian soldiers fighting on the Eastern front, on the German side, is killed. One of his comrades, injured in the same incident, falls in love with a Austrian nurse whilst recuperating.
57 years later, a Detective in Oslo with the unlikely name of Harry Hole is appointed to the Norwegian secret service, his brief is to monitor Neo-Nazi activity in Norway: a fairly mundane assignment that turns out to be anything but….
Akershus fortress in Oslo where scenes in the book are set
With many parallels to recent world events and rising anti-multicultural sentiment, Nesbø’s, ‘The Redbreast‘, (which won the Glass Key, the Riverton and the Norwegian Book club Prize for the best ever Norwegian Crime Novel), will take the reader both on a historic and also a contemporary journey.
Chillingly ironic and yet at times, familiar were some of the attitudes found amongst the more despicable characters in the book. It digs deep into the hearts and minds of those Norwegians who felt passionate enough to risk their lives, fighting alongside and for the Nazis, during the war. They believed in saving Norway from, what they saw, was the Bolshevik advance.
The Novel delves into their individual motives and how they might have felt on their return to Norway, when they discovered they had been labelled ‘traitors,’ shunned by their own society after war’s end; a topic rarely written about in the Western world.
A different perspective can reveal things hitherto unseen, and at times, I was surprised I that Ifelt a little sympathy for these men, despite philosophically being poles apart from them. It made me question the modern politic climate of Norway. The massacre on Utøya, Norway and now the terrorist attack on the mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, which appears to have links to Utøya, made me wonder if there might be some more citizens with these beliefs, hidden surreptitiously, under a guise of normality. Let’s hope not.
Oslo fjord
The Good: Following a hunch that several murders are linked, Harry pays a high personal price in the book, but still manages to find a little romance in all the horror. I found this an unlikely but interesting diversion, but it provides Hole with a clue vital in solving the mystery.
The Bad: Although we know the killer’s mind from the start (but not who he is), he remains carefully hidden through out the book, his actions being explained by a slightly unbelievable trip to a psychiatrist.
The Ugly: One wonders how many readers might feel sympathy for these “traitors” or even perversely idolize them as historic “warriors,” using this as justification for the Neo Nazi “thuggish” behaviour. I am not sure. Yet there is still the theme of redemption offered up to readers too, albeit in small amounts.
This was the first of the Harry Hole series to be translated into English, and since then, every book in the series has been translated and was a best seller.
Recommended for those who like Nordic Noir/Scandi Detective fiction and have not yet read Harry Hole.
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I find there to be profound wisdom in proverbs, sayings and quotes and I marvel at the way they are so succinct in communicating messages to the reader. Mostly anonymous, they come to us from past generations and from across cultures. They speak of the experiences of lives lived and lessons learned. Quotes, like proverbs, make us think more deeply about something.
Each Friday, I post a Proverb or Saying and a Quote that I find thought-provoking.
I hope you will too.
Sun Tzu was a military strategist, writer and philosopher in Ancient China. Some believe his writings are essential in understanding Chinese political motivations and expansion, in modern times. But does Sun Tzu’s proverbs have meaning for us in our present day lives? What, if anything can we learn from this quote? What do you think about opportunities? Do you create your own or are you merely a passive agent?
“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.”
-Sun Tzu
The quote this week comes from another historical figure; this time from the West. Battling the hierarchical medical and military fraternity of her time, and for that she must have had intelligence, determination, and perseverance.
This is what Florence Nightingale had to say of her achievements: –
“I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.”
– Florence Nightingale
Is there a lesson in this, for us? What do you think?
Join in the discussion by leaving a comment below.
Proverbial Friday – Something thought provoking to Ponder About
“We don’t catch hold of an idea, rather the idea catches hold of us and enslaves us and whips us in to the arena so that we, forced to be gladiators fight for it.”
– Heinrich Heine 1797 – 1858
So says the inscription on the statue of German Poet, Journalist and literary critic, Heinrich Heine, in Berlin, Germany. His words of wisdom have often intrigued me and it was for that very reason that I tracked down his statue, on a recent trip to Berlin.
Why bother to search for a statue, you might say? After all, the Heine statue is a little off the usual tourist path and one has to actively search for it, [and you already know that I was doing just that]. It is because I’ve been fascinated by the liberal, and at times prophetic words, of this free thinking writer and how his words written in the 19th century, became catastrophically true, in the twentieth century. But more about that a little later.
Heine’s statue sits in a small square, fringed with manicured hedges and shady trees, and is a suitable spot to rest and reflect, as Heine did, upon the world, (although I suspect, today’s visitors might update social media, rather than navel-gaze). Whilst mapping out my walking route around Berlin attractions, finding his statue was a short stop before my walking destination – the Pergamon, a Berlin absolute ‘must – see’.
The Pergamon is situated amongst a complex of museums, housed in several palatial buildings on Museum Island. The classic architecture of the museum buildings harkens back to Ancient times and is an excellent visual attraction in itself.
Also in the Museum complex, the monumental Neues Museum, circa 1800’s, contains Ancient art and archeology, whilst Neoclassical art fills the neighbouring and awe-inspiring Altes Nationalgalerie.
Altes Nationalgalerie
But, I am here to see the Pergamon itself, and its jewels in the archaeological crown – one of which is the excavation finds of frieze panels of the Pergamon Altar, reclaimed in archaeological digs, from 1878 to 1886. Disappointingly, for me and future visitors, I find that the Pergamon Altar exhibit is closed for renovation, until 2019. Well, maybe next time.
What you won’t see till 2019. Wikipedia Photo
Nevertheless, I am aware that one ‘altar’ doth the Pergamon, not make. There are other ‘jewels’ to see. Some of the other monolithic exhibits, such as the Market Gate of Miletus, the Ishtar Gate and the Processional Way from Babylon, are overwhelming and to say that is a complete understatement. Just look at them!!!
If you don’t ever get to visit the historic sites of the Middle East yourself, visiting the Pergamon will make you feel like you have!
The exhibits are unlike anything I have seen and are but a small window into the world of ancient civilizations. I am completely gobsmacked by the level of intricate detail and the skills necessary to produce such fine work.
To Plan a visit, go to the Museum website here, and please note there’s an option to purchase a combo ticket, for entry to all three museums, at a discounted price. A good tip to remember is to arrive at the Pergamon around opening time so as to avoid the lengthy queues commonly found, later in the day. I arrived just on opening time, and already the queue to enter took around 20 minutes.
If you decide the queues to the Pergamon are too long on your arrival, the surrounding gardens and Berlin’s Domkirke cathedral are in themselves, a delight to see. The square in front of the Cathedral church is filled with buskers, street artists, and unfortunately, a few less desirable folk angling for the tourist dollar, legally or illegally. Be careful with your money around them.
The Pergamon Museum complex is located on Bodestraße 1-3, Berlin and if you don’t want to walk there, from your accommodation, as I did, you can take a Bus, Tram, UBahn or Uber. Me? I enjoyed the a brisk, but lengthy early morning walk from my room at Comfort Hotel Auberge, which is located on Bayreuther Straße, a few steps from Wittenbergplatz station, but the walk back was a little too much, after being on my feet all day, so a bus near the Brandenberg gate took me right back to Kurfürstendamm, and then it was only a short stroll home past the farmer’s markets.
Hotel Auberge is family run boutique hotel with classic old world features. Think ornate plaster ceilings, chandeliers in every room, carpeted stairs with turned wooden banisters, and a spacious room overlooking a leafy courtyard. Breakfast is an ample and satisfying buffet and tea is served to your table.
On a 37° Celsius summer day like this one, the balcony seat was a perfect place to enjoy the sounds of the birds, and the city waking from its slumber before embarking on my walk.
The modern KaDeWe and Kurfürstendamm shopping precinct, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, the Europa-Center and the Zoological garden are an easy 10 minutes walk away.
On my lengthy walk around Berlin, and the Pergamon, I was happy to find Heine, and pondered his thought-provoking words, especially his tragically prophetic line from the 1821 play, Almansor,
“Where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn human beings too.”
Fragment of the Berlin Wall on Freidrichstaße
Today, as I read a book called Stasiland by Australian author, Anna Funder, and learn of what it was like to live in the GDR, prior to the fall of the infamous Berlin Wall, I remember the inscription on Heine’s statue and ponder more his words, in much the same way as Anna Funder did, in her book:
“Heine, the free thinking poet, would be turning in his grave to see the sort of enslaving and forcing and fighting that has gone on here, under his cold black nose and pigeon shit shoulders.” -Anna Funder in Stasiland.
Have we really learned any lessons?
If you enjoyed reading my Tuesday Travel adventures, and are looking for other Travel themed blogs, you may like to check out:
I find there to be profound wisdom in proverbs, sayings and quotes and I marvel at the way they are so succinct in communicating messages to the reader. Mostly anonymous, they come to us from past generations and from across cultures. They speak of the experiences of lives lived and lessons learned. Quotes, like proverbs, make us think more deeply about something.Each Thursday, I post a Proverb or Saying and a Quote that I find thought-provoking. I hope you will too.
The first proverb is a little obscure, so I am hoping readers may share their thoughts about what the real meaning of this proverb could be? The second, the quotation, was chosen after hearing of reports of increased conflict in the Syrian region.
“Frog likes water, but not hot water” – Swahili Proverb
“In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher” – The Dalai Lama
It is a national holiday observed in every Aussie town, large and small, it is a day so sacred that merchants once required special permission to open their doors, Anzac day and its memorial services, honoring our soldiers, becomes increasingly popular with every passing year, and this year, the 100th anniversary is, by far, the biggest event yet.
Together with New Zealand, Australia has few non-indigenous traditions and as such, we have clung on to this one event in our history, and made it a tradition observed by young and old alike. The proud, egalitarian, happy-go-lucky spirit, our friendly ‘larrikinism’, our casual “she’ll be right” Australian attitude is epitomized in the ANZAC forces (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), in WWI. Anzac memorial services have become a tradition, not because they were a wonderful success, (the original campaign was, in fact, an abject failure, and led to the dismissal of Winston Churchill), but rather because this event has so defined our nation and become entrenched in our psyche and because we, as a nation, need to remember April 25, ANZAC Day, “Lest We Forget.”
Memorial services are held at dawn, and are attended by millions of Australians, like me, across Australia, whether or not they have family members who are military veterans. Why dawn, you might ask? Stand 2, or dawn, is seen by the military, as the best time to launch an offensive strike. Anzac day’s dawn service commemorates the exact time the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand combined Army Corps), forces attacked the Gallipoli peninsula in the Dardenelles, in Turkey in 1915, 100 years ago.
The most moving tribute of all is the laying of the wreaths on the community monument to the sounds of the Last Post. A truly poigant moment….
A few naysayers think Anzac day is becoming over-commercialised, but I would rather see this, than forget the sacrifice of those young men and indeed their families who lost loved ones; rather see this than forget the lessons learned in the “war to end all wars”, rather see this than have the general public forget the true meaning of Anzac day altogether and instead think of it as just another day off from work. Pondering the lessons learned in quiet remembrance will ultimately fade away in time without the awareness of the meaning behind the holiday, driven mainly by the media, won’t they?
In almost every suburb in the community, there stands a statue with a soldier (known as a digger – presumably because they dug trenches in which to fight), or that of a light horseman. We owe many things and perhaps, even our liberty, to brave young men who without much thought, willingly signed up to fight someone else’s war. In particular, those that gave the ultimate sacrifice, giving all that they had to give: like my 2 Step Great Uncles that gave their life. My Great Uncle Ted was a Gallipoli veteran who survived the campaign and was left with respiratory problems for the rest of his life, from mustard gas inhalation.
The Gallipoli conflict was not one that involved Australia directly, but rather our allies. So it was due to the strong colonial ties that prevailed at this point in our history, and the fact that Australia was not permitted, by Britain, to have a fully autonomous military force, that we sent our bravest and strongest young men to fight in the war in Europe. Firstly, to protect the Suez Canal, Churchill then wanted to make a quick strike to knock Turkey out of the war, who was allied with Britain’s enemy, Germany. But how wrong can one get? Very wrong, as it turns out…
Gallipoli, the Turkish Anzac campaign, was a much documented disaster, for which Winston Churchill was entirely to blame. He could not have chosen a worse location: landing troops on a beach under a steep cliff atop where Turkish snipers were waiting to pick them off. The allied forces were forced to withdraw * months later long after the first landing. Churchill was later sacked as Prime Minister.
The Australia population was then around 500,000. Australian casualties for the campaign were 26,111, comprising 1007 officers and 25,104 other ranks. Of these, 362 officers and 7779 men (total 8,141) were killed in action, died of wounds or succumbed to disease. These were our bravest and strongest men, our genetic best, and many were not to return or were to return incapacitated in mind or body. For a young nation struggling to find its feet, their loss was devastating.
Even though the name ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) pertained to the original WWI conflict in Gallipoli, the name has become synonymous with military personnel fighting under the Australian and New Zealand flags until they were formerly separated into distinct military forces. And so, the event lives on in our community, with children wearing their father’s medals from conflicts in Vietnam, Korea and Afghanistan, and younger people wearing their grandfather and great grandfather’s medals, from WWI and WWII, with pride and remembrance.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we shall remember them…. Uncle Ted and the others…. lest we forget.
More about the history of Anzac day here:
Significance of ANZAC day from Wiki
Australia
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all those who died and served in military operations for their countries. Anzac Day is also observed in the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga.
History
Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.[1] The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand.[2] This is a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same remembrance day, but making reference to both countries in its name.
The Gallipoli campaign
When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a Federal Commonwealth for thirteen years. In 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of an Allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula, under a plan by Winston Churchill to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies. The objective was to capture Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany. The ANZAC force landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish Army commanded by Mustafa Kemal (later known as Atatürk). What had been planned as a bold strike to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915, the Allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. The Allied Gallipoli casualties included 21,255 from the UK, an estimated 10,000 dead soldiers from France, 8,709 from Australia, 2,721 from New Zealand, and 1,358 from British India. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians and New Zealanders at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which they remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.
Though the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Istanbul and knocking Ottoman Empire out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand troops’ actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an “Anzac legend” became an important part of the national identity in both countries. This has shaped the way their citizens have viewed both their past and their understanding of the present.
Anzac Day is a national public holiday and is considered one of the most spiritual and solemn days of the year in Australia. Marches by veterans from all past wars, as well as current serving members of the Australian Defence Force and Reserves, with allied veterans as well as the Australian Defence Force Cadets and Australian Air League and supported by members of Scouts Australia, Guides Australia, and other uniformed service groups, are held in cities and towns nationwide. The Anzac Day Parade from each state capital is televised live with commentary. These events are generally followed by social gatherings of veterans, hosted either in a public house or in an RSL Club, often including a traditional Australian gambling game called two-up, which was an extremely popular pastime with ANZAC soldiers. The importance of this tradition is demonstrated by the fact that though most Australian states have laws forbidding gambling outside of designated licensed venues, on Anzac Day it is legal to play “two-up”.
Despite federation being proclaimed in Australia in 1901, many[who?] argue the “national identity” of Australia was largely forged during the violent conflict of World War I,[9][10] and the most iconic event in the war for most Australians was the landing at Gallipoli. Dr. Paul Skrebels of the University of South Australia has noted that Anzac Day has continued to grow in popularity;[11] even the threat of a terrorist attack at the Gallipoli site in 2004[12] did not deter some 15,000 Australians from making the pilgrimage to Turkey to commemorate the fallen ANZAC troops.[13]
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