We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2007 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:55:43 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2008 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Today is ANZAC Day, the Australia-New Zealand equivalent to Memorial Day. Today, the Australian and New Zealand flags will fly above the Castle. New Zealand Website on ANZAC Day. The Australian Equivalent. ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day commemorates the opening of the Gallipoli Campaign with the landings in Suvla Bay. Gallipoli was the brainchild of Winston Churchill. It was an attempt to force the Dardanelles and reach the Black Sea, freeing up the Russian Black Sea Fleet and opening up new routes of supply and a new thrust at the Austrians and Germans via the Balkans. Churchill... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:41:05 -0600 One mustn't be too hard on Winston. His mother was American after all. Willie Apiata donated the VC he won in Afghanistan to the country for Anzac Day where apparently the NZSAS is building bridges... with extreem predudice. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html#comment-72549 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html#comment-72549 Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:57:47 -0600 Thanks for remembering your Australian allies! http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html#comment-72518 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html#comment-72518 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:49:54 -0600 Yes we will remember them. ANZAC Day is built on the remembrance of the ANZACs but it has extended beyond WWI veterans to all, even those involved with this recent war. It's not really about war, the good or bad of it. Should we or shouldn't we etc. Sidestepping such arguments means it's well accepted by most Australians though not really that heavily attended. It's about recognizing the service and the suffering too these men and civilians went through and kind of giving thanks. A little like Remembrance Day. Because of it's national spirit, ANZAC day is also a kind of secondary Australia Day and a reminder of our connection to the Commonwealth nations of NZ and the UK in particular. So perhaps it has a military funeral feel together with the joy of living the free people we are. It can be a difficult day for veterans but well worth it. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html#comment-72500 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html#comment-72500 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:00:32 -0600 Comrades, Here's to my grandfather, Eugene Okeefe, a machine gunner with the Australian Army at the Western Front. He volunteered and did his bit, and eventually passed away a half-century later from the effects of being gassed. And another to his daughter Patty, my late mother, who worked as a teletype operator at McArthur's HQ. Good on ya both..... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html#comment-72499 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html#comment-72499 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:09:12 -0600 And the band played "Waltzing Matilda," As the ship pulled away from the quay, And amidst all the cheers, the flag waving, and tears, We sailed off for Gallipoli. .... Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me? And their ghosts may be heard as they march past by the billabong, Singing, who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me? I can also sing "The Green Fields of France" but not with the perfect voice of Bogle!]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html#comment-72498 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html#comment-72498 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:38:39 -0600 A FYI, Eric Bogle has recorded a song The Band Played Waltzing Matilda about the Galipolli Expedition. There are a number of versions out there by him and others, some with slides that may be a good fit for your remembrance. BTW, the way the War Memorial in Canberra is inspiring. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html#comment-72497 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/anzac_day_2.html#comment-72497 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:19:42 -0600