Armistice Day November 11, 1918

When the world remembers the end of WWI.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

For the Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, 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.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables at home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Laurence Binyon (1869–1943)

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.

To read more about Australia's participation in war and peacekeeping, please visit the Australian War Memorial site.

Update:



Update II:
See Anzac Day here. With the last sight of Australia by troops deployed to the European Theatre of WWI. I particularly love the statue brought back to Australia from Port Said which is now situated near Albany, WA, overlooking King George Sound. For many Aussie soldiers their last sight of Australia ever.

Israel honours Australian aboriginal with a memorial

An Aboriginal elder is to be honoured for his unique role in opposing Nazi Germany's persecution of Jews, with a memorial to be unveiled at Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum.

Eighty-two years ago, William Cooper, then aged 77, led a protest march in Melbourne a month after the notorious "Kristallnacht" co-ordinated attacks on Jews carried out by the Gestapo and Schutzstaffel (SS).

I'm not so sure that this indigenous Australian man would have experienced similar oppression to that of the Jews in Europe during the war...

"He would've experienced a similar oppression ... a similar genocide right here in Australia, so he had a very firm empathy with the Jewish people," Mr Cooper's grandson, Kevin Russell, told AAP on Saturday.

He is uncommon in his protest as he was defending the rights of others rather than completely concentrating on the "poor me" and "my ppl" focus of later "activists", who seem determined to blame everyone for their failings.

Read more here.

Villers-Bretonneux catafalque - no weapons?

Just curious - watching the Anzac Day dawn service from the Australian War Memorial Cemetary in Villers-Bretonneux I wonder that the guard have no weapons.

On April 24th 1918 the Germans had taken Villers-Bretonneux and were driving the allies back.

Something else to remember about the battle at Villers-Bretonneux is that it was a victory, the ANZACs and the French drove back the Germans and won the battle, the allies eventually winning the war.

The battle won, the ANZACs realised it was three years to the day that the landing at Gallipoli took place.

The Last Post and Reveille were very well played at this service.

ANZAC Day - AWM

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day, I'll be attending the Dawn Service at 4:28am, and then the Gunfire Breakfast with the local RSL members.

For The Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, 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.

They mingle not with laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England’s foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

Menin Gate at Midnight, by Will Longstaff (click here for more info, and here for larger image.)

This is the tribute to the Anzacs by Kemal Ataturk

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives...
you are now lying in the soil of a frendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us
where they lie side by side here 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.'

KEMAL ATATURK

Kemal Ataturk Memorial, Canberra.

In the above Kemal Ataturk memorial link King George Sound is mentioned. I've been to Albany in WA. King George Sound was where the soldiers sailing from Australia to the First World War had their last glimpse of Australian soil. This memorial is there. It is beautiful. I have photos of it, but this is from a better angle. More information here on King George Sound's Desert Mounted Corps Memorial, more commonly known as the Light Horse Memorial.

To learn more about ANZAC Day, visit the Australian War Memorial site.

More information here, too. A lot to read!

This site is great, too. It's last update seems to have been in 2006 - he needs help to record all the war memorials at his site - I can not find an address for him/her. I hope he notices my visit and contacts me! Australian war memorials are unusual, we commemorate not only those who died, but all who went to war.

War memorials honour people, not war.

These deeds
Which should not pass away
Names that must not wither.

Pearl Harbour - 7 December 1941

I've been to Pearl Harbour.
That's how I remember.

Please visit my friend KC's blog and Remember Pearl Harbour.