Today is when we celebrate our kinship with our Mates from across the ditch. we in NZ do this today as its the anniversary of that terrible battle for the land around Gallipoli in which so many brave souls perished in 5 months of hell on earth.
God Bless all you service folk
Rest In Peace all you fallen hero's...we will remember you and never forget the horrors you endured to ensure our freedom.

Thanks Elvis. ANZAC Day commemorates a loss in battle, but most importantly commemorates a bonding between two fledgling nations into lifelong friends, brothers and allies.

The battle at Gallipoli bought horrendous losses on both sides, but it also bought to the fore the honour of both sides, in particular the Turkish military commander and later President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Araturk later penned a note to the mothers of those soldiers lost.

"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 Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well."

As we move into uncertain times, let us never forget the sacrifices made both those heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can live in (relative) peace.

LEST WE FORGET

Thanks for reminding us, Elvis.

Vince - Coming from a former foe, that was poetry.

Here's to absent friends!

OldSchoolRanger wrote:

Vince - Coming from a former foe, that was poetry. Here's to absent friends!

Yes mate...he was a well respected and honourable man, a leader that many of today's politicians could learn from.

Lest We Forget.......God Bless all service folk past present and future. spare the time today to remember those who have fallen to ensure our freedom.

ANZAC Day...a most important day in the calendars of Australia and New Zealand, two countries that will forever share the bond of mateship and stand side by side and back to back in defence of one another.

The battle for Gallipoli in WWI, although a glorious defeat, was the birth place of a wonderful joining of two fledgling nations that will forever call one another brothers and sisters. It also bought to the fore a magnificent and humble Turkish leader by the name of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a true man amongst men.

It also reminds us of the terrible cost of conflict in all wars, the heartbreak to families at home, the devastation and loss suffered by those civilians who, through no choice of their own, had war come to their home, who lost everything...their whole life and in many cases their actual life. We cannot forget the animals too who worked side by side with soldiers, who paid the ultimate price for their devotion.

Yes, today is a a day of reflection on the horrors of war, the loss to nations and their peoples, the mateship and camaraderie born of a shared suffering or elation at having survived a battle and the ongoing mental horrors of all who endured the battles.

I salute and honour all who served and stood side by side with their comrades in defence of their country, regardless of their nation.

LEST WE FORGET

I think more needs to be done in the UK to remember the sacrifices made by ANZAC's in conflicts which they could quite correctly have stayed out of.
Their contribution was far greater than numbers alone.

Lest we forget

Well said folks. There are too many Americans who do know the significance of this day. Take care. All the best...
Gil

Gil:

I remember, at one time, being in the US on Remembrance Day, 11 November and buying poppies, but alas, no more.

And from the Great White North I send greetings to my brothers in arms and the commonwealth on ANZAC Day. Now at least our brothers are buried on friendly soil. Lest We Forget -Ron

English Mike wrote:

I think more needs to be done in the UK to remember the sacrifices made by ANZAC's in conflicts which they could quite correctly have stayed out of. Their contribution was far greater than numbers alone.

interestingly watching coronation street on the telly the other night,most of the cast were wearing poppies down at the pub...... we must be a year or 2 years behind the UK viewers but it shows it is done over there too....

Elvis wrote:

English Mike wrote: I think more needs to be done in the UK to remember the sacrifices made by ANZAC's in conflicts which they could quite correctly have stayed out of. Their contribution was far greater than numbers alone. interestingly watching coronation street on the telly the other night,most of the cast were wearing poppies down at the pub...... we must be a year or 2 years behind the UK viewers but it shows it is done over there too....

Wearing poppies for Remembrance Day has been pretty common here for a long time but it's a general thing based on Armistice Day.
ANZAC's part in the various conflicts is something only comprehended by a dwindling minority of us.
I'm minded to see what can be done, at least in a local context, to correct this.