Lest We Forget

[PinHead]

well guys...we are lucky that we can all sit at our computers and debate various subjects..where we have made some good mates and had many laughs...but tomorrow...spare a thought for those that made it all possible...those that not only fought for our way of life but also fought for the freedom of a great many others...from the Boer War...to the original ANZACS...right through to our troops currently serving overseas and also at home here..we salute you..LEST WE FORGET

[longtail]

well said pinhead

They shall not grow 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


jason

[Nugget]

One of the few days a year you will see me without my Akubra.
To my heroes:
Great Grandad - 1st world war
Grandad - 2nd world war
Dad - Korean War, Vietnam.

Lest we forget.

Dave ><>

[blaze]

what ever you may be doing on this day
spare a moments for thoughts of those that have gone before us
Lest we forget
blaze

[ibbo]

Here Here, well said everybody!!

[Lucky_Phill]

A timely post Greg !

Is it asking too much that we attend a Dawn Service or at least take a moment to reflect. I think not.

To those that gave their Blood, Sweat and Lives. I Thank-you.

Phill

[MrWong]

;)
What can I say..... for those whom dont know me... Mr Wong - (Norm) I am a Serving Army member and low and behold right now 18.45 hrs ANZAC eve here I am a Duty Staff member at my workplace.
It will be a long night though all is in readiness for a dawn service to honour those who have established of proud customs and traditions.
As I type I have uniforms, suits and combat fatigues all ready to go be it ceremonial or general duties its all in readiness.
I have served in Iraq and Bougainville (most of the current Defence Force have deployed numerous times) lifes not so easy over there, its certainly no Tangalooma, Khancoban, or Kakadu; however its far better than Kokoda, Gallipoli, or Long Tan. Our predecessors did it hard and did us proud!
On Anzac eve every year I place a photo on my fridge, its one alot of ex AJ's could imagine. Its me and a mate at Kapooka after a week eight bayonet assault course. We are all covered in mud and full of smiles.
That photo has pride of place as I wont forget.... the guy beside me that day in the pic lost his life to a vehicle mine in Afganistan 2002 RIP SGT Russell.
We all have something small to give in some way be it some info to some kids on a pier, be it some infomation passed about a fish on this site, or in Andy's case the ultimate sacrifice.

Just wanted to say thanks from the guys in uniform for your thoughts and well wishes to one and all.
Lest we forget

[dasher]

Excellent and timely post pinhead. A big thank you for ALL servicemen and women for their sacrifices to ensure we have the ultimate freedom and life we lead.

Hip, hip

Hooray

Hip, hip

Hooray

Hip, hip

Hooray


LEST WE FORGET.

[subzero]

THANKS to all those Service Men/Women who have made sacrafices, some whom have made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today and hold so dear.

LEST WE FORGET

[shaman]

Anzac Day is a very special day to me as growing up it was celebrated by most of our rellys at the march and then to the RSL for brekky and a few tots. Tomorrow I will march proudly wearing my Dad's gongs (WWII 8th Division, Singapore) but the highlight of the day will be my 2 young blokes (9&11) marching for their Pop beside me. I also know my old Dad will be marching with us, we won't be able to see him but we will feel his spirit along side us. Lest We Forget. Shaman

[curly]

THANKS TO ALL THAT HAVE SAID, HAVE A GOODAY ON ANZAC DAY, i LIKE A FEW OTHERS ON HERE SERVED IN VIETNAM ME PERSONALLY DOING TO TOURS OF THE PLACE WITH 3 RAR (WHICH IS IN THE NEWS FOR THE GUY THAT ACCIDENTLY SHOT HIMSELF OVER THE WEEKEND) TO HIS FAMILY WE THINK OF, AS THAT WAS OUR FIRST CASUALITY IN IRAQ TO ALL OTHER SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN ALL THE BEST AND HAPPY FISHING!!!" LEST WE FORGET" CHEERS CURLY WA

[el_carpo]

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[el_carpo]

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[el_carpo]

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[Darryl]

Just got home from dawn service, and took my son for the first time.Sends chills down my spine every time i hear the last post.

Darryl.

[Feral]

Yep I get all teary when ever I hear the last post. This year is the first for a few where I wont be marching, my boys have decided they dont want to go this year, which upsets me a bit, but its their choice.

They have proudly worn there great and great great grandfathers medals marching for the boys brigade the past couple of years and made me proud enough already.

My little girl will be old enough to march with the school next year, hopefully she wil want to, then I can march with her!

[firefish]

Just got home form the dawn service here in Wodonga. About 3000 braved the cold. Certainaly puts things into perspective.
LEST WE FORGET>

[Lucky_Phill]

For a small town like Agnes Water here in the Capricorn Coast of Queensland, we had a great turn out. Hard to estimate numbers, but was good see the folk out early and a few youngins as well.

Off to the Gunshot Breakfast at the Tavern and then the march at 10am - 10.30am.

Phill

[borisdog]

I was actually at work on Night shift and went outside at Dawn for my own personal little "Dawn Service" to be greeted by a very amazing sight. A very thin crescent moon with a very bright star straight above it and a fairly "red" background. A Turkish flag (Close enough). Did anyone else see it? I'm in Townsville so it's pretty poignant to have something like that in a big military town.

[MrWong]

Boris dog
Your moon and star were loud and clear over Enoggera in Brisbane, I had the same thoughts as I sipped my coffee at 0355 awaiting the arrival of the crew for equipment issues for the days activities!
That moon was so very Turkish Crescent ( and also the same as the symbol for a medical facility in middle eastern culture - we have the red cross they have the red crescent moon symbolising the same).
An interesting event of nature that I wont dissolve from memmory very soon!

[Darryl]

Yeah i did see it boris, was awsome with the star above the moon, almost eerie.

Darryl.

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

In case anyone was wondering, the star seen was in fact the planet venus just above the moon, and if you were lucky, you could also have seen Mercury below it just near the eastern horizon.
A special moment on a special day.
For all those serving past and present, I salute you.
Lest We Forget.

[borisdog]

Yeah I thought it might be Venus but my celestial navigation is pretty ordinary at best ;D
I just thought it was a pretty special thing for our first ANZAC Day without a living member of the 1st AIF.

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

biorisdog,
Just checked out what it would look like tomorrow morning for anyone wanting to try and recapture your moment. You were incredibly lucky, coz tomorrow venus will be a bigger distance above the moon, and you won't get that same look like the flag. Venus will be a bit higher up but Mercury will be right near the moon - just below it (ie to the east).
Sunrise approx 6am, positions described above are for approx 5:30am.
Cheers
Jeff

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

They shall never be forgotton. Whenever we speak of noble deeds, their names will be remembered.

Dave

[borisdog]

That's interesting stuff Jeff, what's your source there?. I did see what I presume to be Mercury ( By your description ) but it didn't quite fit if you know what I mean. Where are you mate? It was really impressive here, they were very close together and the colour just really made the whole thing jump out. I wish I'd had a camera. I'll certainly never forget it or the people whose memory it evoked.

[bidkev]

The Last Post: was incorporated into funeral and memorial services as a final farewell and symbolises that the duty of the dead is over and that they can rest in peace.


Come home! Come home! The last post is sounding
for you to hear. All good soldiers know very well there
is nothing to fear while they do what is right, and forget
all the worries they have met in their duties through the
year. A soldier cannot always be great, but he can be a
gentleman and he can be a right good pal to his comrades in
his squad. So all you soldiers listen to this - Deal fair by all
and you'll never be amiss.

Be Brave! Be Just! Be Honest and True Men!

May we never forget their sacrifice.

kev

[bugman]

It is very moving to be walking down the main street of Brisbane at around 0400 and be joined by thousands of others.

You look around at those walking with you; children, teenagers, 20's, 30's, families and veterans. The city lights give a false light which makes it possible to see faces and it's simple - you can see it - where all there because we're proud.

I'm proud of all those that served for us and I'm proud I'm joined by the thousands of others in the pre dawn light on April 25 to remember.

Brett

[Owen]

In Flanders Field

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.
WWe are the dead. Shor days ago
we lived, saw dawn, felt sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now w lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you with 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.





I believe this was written by a Canadian soldier during a lull in the battle.
One can only wonder at the vasteness of our losses.
What written words, inventions, cures etc never were because of the madness that man has perpertrated on his own.
I was lucky. My Grandfather who shipped to France when he was sixteen years old (the same age as my own son) had the good fortune to be wounded shortly after arrival and sent home.

cheers,
Owen

[fishingbarry]

By Rudyard Kipling
Where the phrase "lest we forget"came from
Recessional
(A Victorian Ode)
God of our fathers, known of old --
#Lord of our far-flung battle line --
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
#Dominion over palm and pine --
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget -- lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies --
#The Captains and the Kings depart --
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
#An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget -- lest we forget!

Far-called our navies melt away --
#On dune and headland sinks the fire --
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
#Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget -- lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
#Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe --
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
#Or lesser breeds without the Law --
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget -- lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
#In reeking tube and iron shard --
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
#And guarding calls not Thee to guard.
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #Amen.

Thanks Dad 85yrs old still going strong WW2 , Korea,Malaysa,Viet. Navy man
Your loving son
Barry

[Owen]

I'm sure many of us today will have spent time reflecting on those friends and family that have been affected by war both past and present.
For me ANZAC day always brings memories of a good mate who served in Vietnam and died many years later from cancer attributed to agent orange. #This occured not long after my mother had passed on, so it was a difficult period.
As you may have guessed, I love good poetry.
In tribute to both of them I put together my own inadequate piece.


The Fates.

A child is born, a loved one dies
And each of us lives out the lies
In insulated peace, lest we might see.

That all we hold as truth and right,
our hopes, our faith, our dreams are nought;
But crystaline defence 'gainst what will be.

For all of us will come to know,
When Atropos has struck her blow
Her icy hand of fate has sought and sealed.

A friend, a lover, a confidant;
The measure of the thread too scant,
This universal truth to us revealed.

She takes not one, but all who've touched
or loved and laughed or been rebuffed.
A little piece of all who've ever known.

Begone grim horseman, no crop there be,
yes take the sisters back with thee.
And all the wars and plagues that you have sown

For in our lifes great tapestry,
our threads entwined, till we are one
Thus we may die, but truely all cheat death

Though short our time upon this earth
We greet your scythe with nought but mirth
My friend will live whilst ever I draw breath.


In Greek Mythology, the three fates decided the fate of all mankind.
Clotho spun the thread, Lacheis measured it out and Atropos cut the thread of life.

[aussiefool]

I was going to tell you all, the reasons why I go not go to #any ANZAC Day services.... blah blah ect ect........
But instead I'll just say thanks
Aussiefool
Ex serviceman

[choppa]

i still miss him,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Big_unit]

The man I am named after my Great Uncle James William McNelis. To say that Im proud and extremely honoured is the the tip of the iceberg.

[Big_unit]

Great Uncle Charlie McNelis, my younger brother is named after him.

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

That is fine poetry Owen.

Dave

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

That's interesting stuff Jeff, what's your source there?. I did see what I presume to be Mercury ( By your description ) but it didn't quite fit if you know what I mean. Where are you mate? It was really impressive here, they were very close together and the colour just really made the whole thing jump out. I wish I'd had a camera. I'll certainly never forget it or the people whose memory it evoked.

Mate,
Excellent site:
http://www.heavens-above.com/
Click Select under the Anonymous users section on the page
click australia, then type in Townsville into the search string
It will probably come up with Townsville QLD, click on that.
Your lat and long and local time are now fixed for the rest of your session. All info will be given relative to your own little spot on the world and local time will be correct.
Go to whole sky map
Set the date and time you want to view the heavens. It will then produce a map of the stars for that exact time and your exact position, with moon and visible planet positions highlighted. If you want to print it, select the black on white option. Note that the map is for use looking up (east is shown on the left and west on the right), so face south, hold the map up over your head and it should line up with all the star positions.

Its a really great site, for satellite tracking it is the best around. Hope you find the site interesting.

I'm living in Manila at the moment, so I might get a view of venus and the moon, but with the light and other pollution here, there is little chance of seeing Mercury.

Cheers
Jeff

[-Henno-]

Polishing boots, ironing 7 creases in my pants, tying silly bows, scrubbing my hat with toothpaste. That's what it used to mean to me.

Every year it seemed our base was called upon to send sailors to attend dawn services all over the state. It was a major hassle and I always figured if it was about honouring fallen servicemen that on that one bloody day that the living servicemen could have a day off. It did get better as the day wore on though. Everybody wants to shoot a drink to the guy in uniform and suddenly you are a hero for the day even though you are just a radio technician!

When I first joined up we sent a huge contingent of 200 young fellas to lead the march through Sydney. The streets were dead quiet but lined with heaps of people that all of a sudden started cheering as we rounded the first corner with SLRs clinking and boots smashing the deck.

The main thing I remember about that march was the gunnery officers that has spent weeks training us by screaming in our ears had to leave us alone to just do it and if we stuffed up we stuffed up. So they all went to the RSL and by the end of the march were a bit under the weather. Weapons were returned to the bus we had driven in in and if we wanted to stay we could. We all stayed. The gunnery jacks were so legless though they forgot the fact that besides the SLR's we also had razor sharp bayonets sheathed in scabbards on our belts and drove off without collecting them. By the end of the day we were knocking the lids off stubbies with em and chucking them at trees in Hyde park. No major injuries but nobody got in a fight that day. Somebody always wants to fight a sailor, but 200 sailors with bayonets, not one taker.

One thing you notice by the days end is all the self confessed hero's you are bumping into. Every civvy was in the SAS and you can never seem to run into an ex medic, cook, pay clerk. Yep a couple too many beers and everybody was a trained killer by the end of ANZAC Day.

[GES]

I attended the dawn service at Cleveland. What a turn out of people. It gets bigger every year. WONDERFUL.

GES

[catchy_fishy]

ANZAC Dawn is not celebrated to my knowledge in South Africa. (Armistice Day in November is however.)

It really has been wonderful reading all the posts in this thread - and being witness to the love, pride, respect and honour. It has been a privelege to be a small part of this -thank you for allowing me to join you in your rememberences.

Catchy Fishy

[revs57]

I have difficulty to find the words expressing my gratitude to those who have served and given the ultimate sacrifice, and their families that suffer silently when all have gone back to business as usual. i'm grateful for the ANZAC day parades, dawn service and other events that remain to help our generation remember our brave heros and all who have served our countries call.

I've had the privelege to participate at our local Primary Schools Anzac Day service for the past 5 years. I must admit I always feel inadequate, looking at he sea of young faces from many races and ethnic background...It reminds me that our children may just be the one's who learn to accept and reconcile with others who have different ideological, political, cultural, traditional and religious ideals.

In war everyone loses, however there can be no peace without justice and sometimes justice comes at a cost because someone has to stand up against that influence that seeks to rob people of freedom

A humble thanks to all who have stood up

Rhys

[borisdog]

catchy_fishy - Plenty of your countrymen paid the ultimate price too mate, the whole point of the most sacred day on the Australian calender is to preserve the memory of our people who fought and often died, regardless of the reason, for their country. We owe it to them to preserve that memory.

[borisdog]

I got caught p in the family tree thing a while back and stumbled into this thing. It's an Australian military service records site. To my knowledge it's pretty much only Army but there are other records there. I've found lot's of mine and wive's relations from WW1 and 2. WW1 records are much more complete but it's progressing all the time.

http://www.naa.gov.au/the_collection/defence/conflicts/ww1/ww1.html

[Bream_Reaper01]

I don't march but i do remember all soldiers,especially my granfather that lies in a grave in Palestine from WW2.

[catchy_fishy]

catchy_fishy - Plenty of your countrymen paid the ultimate price too mate, the whole point of the most sacred day on the Australian calender is to preserve the memory of our people who fought and often died, regardless of the reason, for their country. We owe it to them to preserve that memory.

Including a good friend of mine.

Whilst at school I led the rememberance day parade in my final year as a student Cadet and whilst it was a proud day, it was a sad day when I realised after the names were read from WW1, and WW2 and then more recently in border skirmishes that there were guys that I physically had known that had already paid the price.

I did not mean as South African's no one remembers, nor that no-one paid the ultimate price, rather that the common bond of remembering seems to have disappeared. In certain schools and in the military war heroes are remembered on 11/11 - but not to the same extent as Anzac Day.

I was comforted to experience the posts in this thread - let no SA cricket supporter hear this, but Aussies are a wonderful people and a wonderful nation for the values you hold dear.

Mike

[revs57]

Nice one Mike...Mum's the word :)

[GBC]

Had planned an getting to the annual dawn service at Orchid beach, however the extra high tide prevented us from going - treated the Ocean Lake camping area to Advance Australia Fair and other patriotic songs on the car C.D. at 0500 instead.

[Volvo]

:)Here's a quick fix James , see whatcha reckons ey..

[Big_unit]

Thanks Volvo.

[Volvo]

Or :-? :-/

[Big_unit]

Thanks Volvo, sorry I didnt reply sooner.

Thanks for your brilliant work.

Cheers
James

[lock]

Just read the thread on anzac I went to the service this year at gallipoli to say the dawn service was moving is an understatement . When the sun rose over the hills those poor buggers had to climb you saw the huge task that was asked of them and makes you stand in amazement that they actually near suceeded that day. When the last post was played I dont think there wasnt anyone who did not feel a chill up there spine and when our flag was raised and our anthem was played it reminded how proud and lucky I am to be an Aussie. It was also wonderful to see so many other aussies and kiwis all go and pay there respects to our fallen heros. This was one experience I will remember.
LEST WE FORGET.