ANZAC day in OZ & Kiwi today 25.04.09

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's....today is ANZAC day in OZ & Kiwi....to reflect on this day brings thoughts of our own + previous foe...who thankfully are now friends & allies

Lest we Forget..... .......Derek

[hucksdad]

Derek:  Thanks for reminding us.  As many Americans do, I feel a special  kinship for my English, Australian, and New Zealand cousins, in addition to the fact that my father's ancestors were British and Scotch-Irish.  I will pause today to remember and give thanks for all of the Allies.

Hucksdad

[Roderick Smith]

Although the generations involved are largely deceased, the day of national commemoration lives on through kids, wearing badges or uniform elements of father / grandfather / great grandfather; people whom many of them knew only as formal sepia-tone portraints on loungeroom walls.  The newspaper coverage this year included one photo of a young girl whose father had been killed only recently, on a peace-keeping mission in Afghanistan.

In a Paddleducks context, use the search function.  There have been postings on a mystery paddlesteamer, beached at Gallipoli.  PV Akuna Amphibious, in its varied career, featured in the Australian film 'Gallipoli'.  Melbourne-based bay steamer PS Weeroona was seconded for military duties in WWII.

It is interesting that the national day is based on one of the worst military disasters in which our joint nations have participated (other nations celebrate national victories), but the focus ever since I was in primary school is on the qualities of mateship and endurance: the boys from the city and the bush who enlisted in fervour, then found the reality.  Similar qualities show in a WWII story which I am writing, keyed around the preservation of a portion of the notorious Burma railway in Thailand.  It has appeared in RNV, and is being modified to be suitable for Rail Trails Australia, which covers the trails built on former railway alignments in Australia and NZ.  The Thailand one is a worthy honorary entry.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[steamboatmodel]

Is "ANZAC day in OZ & Kiwi" an official holiday?
Do you also have serveces on Remembrance Day?
Regards,
Gerald.

[Roderick Smith]

Yes,
It is an official holiday in Australia, and taken on the precise date.
Next year, 25.4 will be a Sunday.
Anzac Day celebrations will be conducted on the day, but the Monday will be a public holiday.

Traditionally, Anzac Day is marked with dawn services at local memorials, and a march by returned servicemen.
I have seen the ranks of WWI veterans dwindle and become frailer; the few survivors would be taken by car.
Now the last survivor of the Gallipoli campaign has died; and there are few/no WWI surivors either.
In turn, the ranks of WWII surivors are thinning.  These people are into their 80s and beyond.
Korea survivors are thinning.
For many years, survivors of Vietnam kept clear; it was a different sort of war.  I was of that era, but not a soldier in Vietnam.  It seems that the attitude is changing, and veterans from that campaign are now participating much more.  Many have returned to the transformed country to revisit the sites of their action.
There are now many veterans of a range of peace-keeping campaigns: not declared wars in the style of traditional ones, but still active service.

For the rest of Anzac Day, there are memorial services (with wreath laying) at local memorials, and the servicemen gather in RSL clubs or reunions of various wartime units to catch up on the news of mates since meeting a year earlier.  The reunion always meant a lot to my father.

For a long time, Anzac Day was one of two sacrosanct days in the year (Christmas Day being the other): no newspapers, no sporting matches, no shop trading.  Hotels opened from midday.
Now most activities are allowed on Anzac Day, but a lot of the commercial ones may not start until midday.
Usually Australian Football League schedules a blockbuster match for the afternoon, and makes it a war-tribute with an advance parade, and a flyover by Royal Australian Air Force planes.
RAAF flyovers with modern equipment are common in most major cities on the day.
In smaller towns, local enthusiasts with vintage military equipment (or anything from the era) perform a flyover.

Remembrance Day isn't a holiday as such (or is no longer).  It is marked by the sale of red poppies to raise money for Legacy, an organisation which supports widows and children of deceased servicemen.  The main moment is at the 11th hour of 11.11.  The nation is expected to observe a minute's silence.  For years, trams would come to a halt in the streets for that minute.  Most schools at which I have taught have put over a pa announcement to request that classes observe the silence.  One principal preceded the call with a very effective speech, a new one each year.
In the 1930s, Shrine of Remembrance was built through the depression, with a lot of funding coming from schoolchildren (donate a penny).  It has a roof slit so that at the correct time, the sun shines onto an inscribed tablet inside.  The slit had to be modified to allow for the effect of annual daylight saving.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[steamboatmodel]

Thanks Roderick,
Remembrance Day is our main day of services. It is a official holiday in some provinces and territories, but not all. I think the main thing is that we do remember and teach our children to remember.
Regards,
Gerald.

[Red_Hamish]

Hello all,a very poignant thread. A good friend of mine who nows lives here is from NZ. On Saturday past there was a wreath laying ceremony and a solemn open air service at the Lerwick War Memorial. It was attended by the ex pats of both australia and New Zealand. In all there were fifteen people at the service and when you cosider how remote these islands are from the opposite side of the world I think it fitting that the flags were flown at half mast on the civic buildings and in some other residents gardens. Shetland is well known for the willingmess to fly a flag for any reason as long as it is a worthy reason.

cheers

Jim