TRAVEL TUESDAY - MELBOURNE ANZAC

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” - Pericles

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The Shrine of Remembrance is Victoria’s largest and most visited war memorial and is probably Melbourne’s most recognised landmark. It is a permanent and lasting memorial to the ANZAC spirit and acknowledges those who served and those who died in the Great War of 1914-1918 and armed conflicts and peacekeeping duties since. The Shrine is located on Melbourne’s most famous boulevard, St Kilda Road, just south of the Melbourne central business district.

Designed by architects Phillip Hudson and James Wardrop who were both World War I veterans, the Shrine is in a classical style, being based on the Tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus and the Parthenon in Athens. Built from Tynong granite, the Shrine originally consisted only of the central sanctuary surrounded by the ambulatory.

The Shrine went through a prolonged process of development, which began in 1918 with the initial proposal to build a Victorian memorial. Two committees were formed, the second of which ran a competition for the memorial’s design. The winner was announced in 1922. However, opposition to the proposal (led by Keith Murdoch and The Herald) forced the governments of the day to rethink the design, and a number of alternatives were proposed, the most significant of which was the ANZAC Square and cenotaph proposal of 1926.

In response, General Sir John Monash used the 1927 ANZAC Day march to garner support for the Shrine, and finally won the support of the Victorian government later that year. The foundation stone was laid on 11 November 1927, and the Shrine was officially dedicated on 11 November 1934.

Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders “who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations” and “the contribution and suffering of all those who have served.” Originally 25 April every year was to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Anzac Day is also observed in the Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, and Tonga.

Lest we forget...

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
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TRAVEL TUESDAY #76 - ANZAC SHRINE, BRISBANE

“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.” - Laurence Binyon

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.  

The Shrine of Remembrance is located in ANZAC Square, between Ann Street and Adelaide Street, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. With its 'Eternal Flame', the Shrine is a war memorial dedicated to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzacs).

The Shrine of Remembrance is a major Brisbane landmark of cultural, architectural and historic importance and is a key component of the Queensland Heritage listed square and annually hosts ceremonies for ANZAC Day and Armistice Day (now referred to as Remembrance Day). A service marking Singapore Day (The Fall of Singapore, 15 February 1942) is held annually on the closest Sunday to the 15th, in remembrance of the losses of the 8th Division during World War 2.

Funds were raised by public subscription for a memorial to fallen soldiers in World War I and in 1928 a competition was held for its design. The competition was won by Sydney architects Buchanan and Cowper who proposed a Greek Revival structure. The Shrine took two years to build and was dedicated on Armistice Day 11 November 1930 by Governor John Goodwin with a dedication plaque.

Designed in the Greek Classic Revival style, the columns of the Shrine of Remembrance are built of Helidon sandstone, and the Eternal Flame is kept in a brass urn within the Shrine. The steps leading to the Shrine of Remembrance from ANZAC Square are made of Queensland granite. The 18 columns of the Shrine symbolise the year 1918, when hostilities ceased.

There is a crypt in the lower section of the Shrine of Remembrance which contains the World War I and World War II Shrine of Memories, which contains memorial plaques to numerous Australian regiments who fought during these campaigns. There is also a World War I memorial sculpture on the Shrine of Memories external wall.

Each year, on ANZAC Day, on 25 April, a Dawn memorial service is held at the Shrine of Remembrance, with wreaths being laid around the 'Eternal Flame' in memory of those who died in conflict. There is also a memorial service held each year on Remembrance Day, 11 November and wreaths are again laid at the 'Eternal Flame'.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
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MOVIE MONDAY - ANZAC DAY & GALLIPOLI

“Heroes who 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 Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away 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.” - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

In Australia and New Zealand we observe Anzac Day on April 25th as a day of commemoration for those who died in the service of their country, and is a day for honouring returned servicemen and women, whichever battle or war they served in The 25th day of April is the anniversary of the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) at Gallipoli in 1915. On the first anniversary of that landing services were held throughout both countries in remembrance of the thousands of Australian and New Zealand soldiers who died during the eight-month Gallipoli Campaign.

Since 1916 Anzac Day has evolved to the observance we commemorate today. The day of observance begins before dawn with a march by returned and service personnel to the local war memorial, where they are joined by other members of the community for the Dawn Service. This is a solemn and grave ceremony which brings to mind the lives lost and the terrible futility of warfare, whether it happened in Gallipoli, in the Middle East, in America, in Vietnam, in Afghanistan, the Gulf or in Korea…

The assault on the Gallipoli Peninsula began on the 25th April 1915, as an attempt by Allied Command to weaken the strategic position of Germany, Austro-Hungary and Turkey who were allied in the first world war. It was the Australasian Expeditionary Force’s first major engagement of the First World War after their training in Egypt. By the end of the first day of warfare on the Gallipoli peninsula, about 2,000 allied troops lay dead. The bloody fighting continued, and by the end of the first week more than 6500 ANZACs had been killed or wounded. No ANZACs ever reached the Turkish trenches, however, many thousands of Turks also died there.

In 1919, after the war was over, several ANZACs went back to Gallipoli to bury their dead properly. At the Nek, they found the bodies of more than 300 Australians in an area smaller than a tennis court. After eight long months of bitter fighting, the British High Command decided that the war at Gallipoli was too costly when they were also fighting other battles in Europe. The ANZACs alone had lost 10,000 men, and so the order came for a withdrawal.

Since the first anniversary of the Gallipoli landing in 1916, Anzac Day has evolved to acknowledge the sacrifice and service of subsequent wars and to encompass new understandings of the full impact of armed conflict on those who have served their country.

The 1981 Peter Weir film “Gallipoli” captures the spirit of Anzac Day and makes for poignant viewing, especially for anyone who has been in a war zone of been affected by warfare. It is acted well by the young Mel Gibson, Mark Lee and Bill Kerr and it is a film that established Gibson as an international star.

It is an excellent anti-war film that establishes this premise subtly and often with wry humour. It is Australia’s version of “All Quiet on the Western Front”, but instead of using the soldiers’ conscience as its premise at that film does, Gallipoli hinges on the Australian cultural foundation of “mateship”. War brings together mates, then it cruelly separates them. The last twenty minutes of the film are particularly illustrative of the callous and brutal nature of war. I think that long though the film is, and a little slow at times, it still is one of the best Australian films, having substance and meaning, but also emotional strength and a pillar in Australia’s culture.

MUSIC SATURDAY - ANZAC DAY REQUIEM

“Dulce et decorum est
 pro patria mori.” - Horace

April 25th is Anzac Day, the anniversary of the first major military campaign fought by Australian and New Zealand forces in WWI. ANZAC is an acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and the soldiers in these corps became known as Anzacs. In 1914, at the outbreak of WWI, Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only thirteen years, and the new federal government was eager to establish Australia as a sovereign nation amongst the others in the world. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the Allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies, in order to capture Istanbul. They landed at Gallipoli on 25th of April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders of the site.

What was supposed to be a masterstroke to eliminate Turkey from the war became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian and 2,700 New Zealand soldiers were killed. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians at home and 25th of April quickly became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war. An excellent film to see, highlighting the Gallipoli campaign from the Australian perspective is Peter Weir’s “Gallipoli” (1981).

Today in Australia we marked this solemn day with dawn services, commemorative parades, talks and special exhibitions. Anzac Day is a national public holiday and is one of the most spiritual and solemn days of the year for all Australians. This year the commemorative events are particularly widespread and important as we mark the centennial of the landing of the Anzacs in Gallipoli in 1915.

Anzac Day is a solemn day to mark our war losses, but more importantly it is a day to contemplate upon the futility of war and to actively promote peace. I am mindful that a lot of my readers may have children, partners, friends fighting in wars at this time and my heart goes out to you in empathy.

For Music Saturday, a Requiem Mass by André Campra (baptised 4 December 1660 in Aix-en-Provence – 29 June 1744 in Versailles). Campra was a French composer and conductor. Who was one of the leading French opera composers in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau. He wrote several “tragédies en musique”, but his chief claim to fame is as the creator of a new genre, “opéra-ballet”. He also wrote three books of cantatas as well as religious music, including the Requiem below.

Campra was the son of Jean-François Campra, a surgeon and violinist from Graglia, in Italy, and of Louise Fabry, from Aix-en-Provence. His father was his first music teacher. On December 3, 1660, he was baptised in the Église de la Madeleine in Aix. He became a choirboy in the Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur in Aix in 1674, and commenced ecclesiastical studies four years later.

He was reprimanded by his superiors in 1681 for having taken part in theatrical performances without permission, but was nevertheless made a chaplain on 27 May of that year.From 1694 to 1700, he was maître de musique (music director) at the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, after having served in a similar capacity in Arles and Toulouse. Campra controversially brought violins into the making of sacred music at Notre-Dame de Paris, which at the time was seen as very avant-garde due to their reputation as ‘street instruments’.

He began to turn toward the theatre in 1697 and published some theatrical compositions under his brother’s name to protect his reputation within the church. In 1700 he gave up his post at Notre-Dame and concentrated on his theatrical music to critical success. By 1705 he was a musical celebrity but this resulted in him becoming a target for negative articles in the press. From 1720 onwards, he returned to the composition of sacred music.

Although Campra had obtained critical success he did not have financial security and hence in 1722 he was engaged by the Prince of Conti as maître de musique although this appointment was short lived. After the death of the regent, Campra became sous-maître at the Royal Chapel in Versailles in 1723. In 1730 he became the Inspecteur Général at the Opéra (Royal Academy of Music).He died at the age of 83.With his composition of L'Europe galante he was the true genius of the opéra-ballet, a musical genre originated by Pascal Colasse (in his Ballet des saisons).

Messe Des Morts (Requiem) – Composed after 1723

1. Introit

2. Kyrie (7:51)

3. Graduel (14:08)

4. Offertoire (20:59) Offertoire (Suite) (26:29)

5. Sanctus (32:14)

6. Agnus Dei (36:13)

7. Post Communion (43:07)

With Judith Nelson, Soprano; Dinah Harris, Soprano; Jean-Claude Orliac, Tenor; Wynford Evans, Tenor; Stephen Roberts, Bass; Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists conducted by John Eliot Gardiner (1979).

FOOD FRIDAY - ANZAC BISCUITS

“If I have got to be a soldier, I must be a good one, anything else is unthinkable.” - Wilfred Owen

As Anzac Day is tomorrow, Food Friday today offers you the recipe for Anzac Biscuits. These are sweet biscuits, popular in Australia and New Zealand, made using rolled oats, flour, desiccated coconut, sugar, butter, golden syrup, baking soda and boiling water.

Anzac biscuits have long been associated with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) established in World War I. It has been claimed the biscuits were sent by wives and mothers to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation. Today, Anzac biscuits are manufactured commercially for retail sale. Biscuits issued to soldiers by the Army, referred to as “Anzac tiles” or “Anzac wafers”, differ from the popular Anzac biscuit. Anzac tiles and wafers were hard tack, a bread substitute, which had a long shelf life and was very hard.

The term “Anzac” is protected under Australian law and cannot be used in Australia without permission from the Minister for Veterans' Affairs; misuse can be legally enforced particularly for commercial purposes. Likewise similar restrictions on naming are enshrined in New Zealand law where the Governor General can elect to enforce naming legislation. There is a general exemption granted for Anzac biscuits, as long as these biscuits remain basically true to the original recipe and are both referred to and sold as Anzac biscuits and never as cookies!

ANZAC BISCUITS

Ingredients

150g (1 cup) plain flour

90g (1 cup) rolled oats

85g (1 cup) desiccated coconut

100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar

55g (1/4 cup) caster sugar

125g butter

2 tablespoons golden syrup

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Method

Preheat oven to 160°C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

Combine flour, oats, coconut and combined sugar in a large bowl.

Stir the butter, golden syrup and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda. Add to the oat mixture and stir until well combined.

Roll level tablespoonfuls of the oat mixture into balls and place, about 5cm apart, on the prepared trays. Flatten until about 1cm thick. Bake, swapping trays halfway through cooking, for 15 minutes or until light golden.

Set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

REMEMBRANCE DAY, 2014

“We have all taken risks in the making of war. Isn’t it time that we should take risks to secure peace?” - J. Ramsay MacDonald


Throughout the British Commonwealth, Remembrance Day is the 11th day of the 11th month, when on the 11th hour we remember the fallen in the Great War and pay homage to victims of all wars all over the world.  The first ‘Day of Remembrance’ was observed in 1919 and was originally called ‘Armistice Day’. It commemorated the end of hostilities (the signing of the armistice), which occurred on 11 November 1918. It came to symbolise the end of the war and provide a formal opportunity to remember those who died.

After the end of World War II in 1945, the Australian and British governments changed the name to Remembrance Day. Armistice Day was no longer considered to be an appropriate title for a day that would now commemorate all war dead. In October 1997, then Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Deane, issued a proclamation:
“The 11th of November is declared Remembrance Day and I urge Australians to observe one minute’s silence at 11.00 am on Remembrance Day each year to remember the sacrifice of those who died or otherwise suffered in Australia’s cause in wars and war-like conflicts.”

Although Australia had become a nation in 1901, at the outbreak of war in 1914 its loyalties still lay with Britain and its culture was staunchly colonial. The Australian government had committed itself to supporting the British war effort and Australian men volunteered to fight and die on the battlefields of Europe, Turkey and the Middle East.  Of the Australian population of 5 million, 300,000 young men went to the Great War. Of those, 60,000 died and 156,000 were wounded or taken prisoner.

Unlike many of its Allies, Australia did not conscript its soldiers to fight in the Great War - all Australian “diggers” (= soldiers) were volunteers. But conscription was an issue in the Australian political arena with Prime Minister William (Billy) Hughes sending Australian voters to two bitterly fought referendums.  Although the ‘no’ vote to conscription was successful on both occasions, the ‘no’ wins were narrow ones. The 1916 referendum recorded a 64,549 majority for ‘no’ and the December 1917 referendum recorded a win for the ‘no’ case of 149,795.

Australian troops earned a reputation for their gallantry and courage under dreadful conditions, and they were often used by the British command as the first wave of an assault, leading to heavy casualties. Nearly 8000 Australian men died in the Dardanelles campaign; 800 at Lone Pine - the most famous of the Gallipoli battlegrounds. Do see the excellent 1981 Australian film “Gallipoli” of Peter Weir if you can, for a good coverage of the time and events around the Australian sacrifice in Gallipoli (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082432/).

The war was no better for the Australians on the Western Front. The Front ran for more than 750 kilometres, from the English Channel to the French-Swiss border, and was marked by irregular rows of trenches. The Somme, Pozieres, Ypres, Villers-Bretonneux, Bullecourt, Amiens, Passchendaele, the Hindenburg Line are all places that still manage to send shivers down the spine. 10,000 Australians died at Bullecourt, nearly 23,000 were dead on the Somme.

Lest we forget!

ANZAC DAY 2012

“All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers.” - François Fénelon

ANZAC Day, celebrated on the 25 April is probably Australia’s most important national occasion. The day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they took in that name endures to this day.

In 1914, when WW1 broke out, Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only 13 years. The new national government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in order to open the Dardanelles to the allied navies. The ultimate objective was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany.

The Australian and New Zealand forces landed on Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated, after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers had been killed. News of the landing on Gallipoli had made a profound impact on Australians at home, and 25^th of April soon became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in the war.

Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the Australian and New Zealand actions during the campaign left us all a powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as the “ANZAC legend” became an important part of the identity of both nations, shaping the ways they viewed both their past and their future.

The End

After the blast of lightning from the east,

The flourish of loud clouds, the Chariot throne,

After the drums of time have rolled and ceased

And from the bronze west long retreat is blown,

Shall Life renew these bodies? Of a truth

All death will he annul, all tears assuage?

Or fill these void veins full again with youth

And wash with an immortal water age?

When I do ask white Age, he saith not so, -

“My head hangs weighed with snow.”

And when I hearken to the Earth she saith

“My fiery heart sinks aching. It is death.

Mine ancient scars shall not be glorified

Nor my titanic tears the seas be dried.”

Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Owen, the son of a railway worker, was born in Oswestry, Shropshire, England, on 18th March, 1893. He was educated at the Birkenhead Institute and at Shrewsbury Technical School, and worked as a pupil-teacher at Wyle Cop School while preparing for his matriculation exam for the University of London. After failing to win a scholarship he found work as a teacher of English in the Berlitz School in Bordeaux. Although he had previously thought of himself as a pacifist, in October 1915 he enlisted in the Artists’ Rifles. Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, he joined the Manchester Regiment in France in January, 1917.

While in France Wilfred Owen began writing poems about his war experiences. In the summer of 1917 Owen was badly concussed at the Somme after a shell landed just two yards away. After several days in a bomb crater with the mangled corpse of a fellow officer, Owen was diagnosed as suffering from shell-shock. While recovering at Craiglockhart War Hospital he met the poet Siegfried Sassoon. Owen showed Sassoon his poetry who advised and encouraged him. So also did another writer at the hospital, Robert Graves. Sassoon suggested that Owen should write in a more direct, colloquial style.

Over the next few months Owen wrote a series of poems, including Anthem for Doomed Youth, Disabled, Dulce et Decorum Est and Strange Meeting. Sassoon introduced Owen to H. G. Wells and Arnold Bennett and helped him get some of his poems published in The Nation. Owen also had talks with William Heinemann about the publication of a collection of his poems. In August 1918 Owen was declared fit to return to the Western Front. He fought at Beaurevoir-Fonsomme, where he was awarded the Military Cross. Wilfred Owen was killed by machine-gun fire while leading his men across the Sambre Canal on 4th November 1918. A week later the Armistice was signed. Only five of Owen’s poems were published while he was alive. After Owen's death his friend, Siegfried Sassoon, arranged for the publication of his Collected Poems (1920). He is considered to be one of the greatest English war poets.

ANZAC DAY 2010

“In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.” - José Narosky

Today is Anzac Day, one of the most important commemorative days in the Australian Calendar. ANZAC was the name given to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps soldiers who landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey early on the morning of 25 April 1915 during the First World War (1914-1918). As a result, one day in the year has involved the whole of Australia in solemn ceremonies of remembrance, gratitude and national pride for all our men and women who have fought and died in all wars. That day is today, 25 April.

Every nation must at some stage, come for the first time to a supreme test of quality; and the result of that test will hearten or dishearten those who come afterwards. For the fledgling nation of Australia that first supreme test was at Gallipoli. The Australian War Memorial in Canberra leads the nation in honouring the fallen, but every city, town and village in Australia today commemorated the significance of this day with a variety of activities that perpetuates the memory of the dead, “lest we forget”…

The Gallipoli operation cost Australia 26,111 casualties, 8,141 dead; New Zealand 7,571 casualties, 2,431 dead; Britain 120,000 casualties, 21,255 dead; France 27,000 casualties, 10,000 dead; India 1,350 dead; Newfoundland (now part of Canada) 49 dead.

The painting for this Art Sunday is Charge of the 2nd Infantry Brigade at Krithia (1927) by Charles Wheeler (1880-1977). He was born on 4 January 1880 at Dunedin, New Zealand, son of John Edward Wheeler, labourer, and his wife Victoria Julia, née Francis, both English born. After John's death, Julia moved with her family to Williamstown, Melbourne, about 1891. Apprenticed in 1895 to C. Troedel & Co. as a lithographic artist, Charles began part-time study next year at the Working Men's College; in 1898 he took drawing classes at night in the National Gallery schools under Frederic McCubbin and in 1905 joined the painting class under L. Berbard Hall. Some five years later Wheeler held his first one-man show. In 1910 the National Art Gallery of New South Wales purchased his painting, 'The Portfolio', and the National Gallery of Victoria acquired 'The Poem'. Wheeler exhibited with the Victorian Artists' Society in 1908-10 and with the Australian Art Association in the 1920s and 1930s.

In April 1912 he had travelled to London, visiting Paris and the Prado in Madrid to see the work of Velazquez. In the following year he exhibited 'Le Printemps' at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français, Paris, and in 1914 went to the Netherlands. Returning to England before the outbreak of World War I, he enlisted in the 22nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (1916) for his actions at Vimy Ridge, but refused a commission and remained a sergeant. Demobilized in February 1919, Wheeler took a studio at Chelsea and exhibited 'Autumn Afternoon' and 'Golden Hours' at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Back in Melbourne, he held an exhibition at the Athenaeum Gallery in March 1920. For some years a private teacher of drawing and painting, he became assistant drawing instructor at the National Gallery in 1927 and drawing-master in 1935.

ANZAC DAY - 2009

“The tragedy of war is that it uses man's best to do man's worst.” – Harry Emerson Fosdick

Anzac Day in Australia is one of the most moving and universally commemorated days on the Australian holiday Calendar. The Anzacs are the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought against the Turks in the battle of Gallipoli in 1915. This was a major campaign of World War I that took place on the Gallipoli peninsula, on the European side of the Dardanelles in 1915–16. The Allies (with heavy involvement of troops from Australia and New Zealand) hoped to gain control of the strait, but the campaign reached stalemate after each side suffered heavy casualties. Total Allied deaths were around 21,000 British, 10,000 French, 8,700 Australians, 2,700 New Zealanders and 1,370 Indians. Total Turkish deaths were around 86,700 - nearly twice as many as all the Allies combined. New Zealanders suffered the highest percentage of Allied deaths compared with the population size of New Zealand.

The song "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by Eric Bogle is about the Gallipoli campaign and gives a heart-wrenching personal message about the solders who sacrificed all for “king and country”.
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

On this Anzac Day, I wish you peace whoever and wherever you are.

REMEMBRANCE DAY AND POPPIES

“Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.” - John F. Kennedy

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month represents a very important moment on what is commemorated as Remembrance Day in many countries around the world. Thousands of people attended a service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra today, and in Australia in nearly all cities and towns, ceremonies were held, 90 years after the end of World War I. The guns fell silent on the Western Front on November 11, 1918, but not before ten million soldiers lost their lives in the Great War, with 60,000 of them being Australians.

The sacrifice of fallen soldiers is on the minds of all Australians today, as we commemorate this anniversary. The tradition of Remembrance Day began soon after World War I, what is still known as the “Great War”. It really affected everybody, and it certainly affected every family in Australia at that time. Crowds at today's ceremony were invited to lay poppies on the tomb of the unknown soldier in Canberra, while everywhere artificial poppies were on sale to raise money for the veteran community. Poppies are significant for Remembrance Day because they were the first flowers to bloom on the Western Front at the end of the First World War after all the fighting had finished.

Claude Choules, a107-year-old veteran of both World Wars has used Remembrance Day to call for Australian troops to be brought home. He enlisted in the British Royal Navy when he was 14-years-old and was present at the scuttling of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow at the end of World War I. He moved to Western Australia in 1926, and served with the Royal Australian Navy during World War II. Mr Choules says he would like to see an end to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan: "I don't want to see any more wars. Seeing war is not exciting, like it used to be.” As they say, old age brings wisdom…

Here is a poem by Siegfried Sassoon, a World War I soldier and poet:

Suicide in the Trenches (1918)

I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you’ll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.

Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967)

POSTCARD FROM BRISBANE

“A wise traveller never despises his own country.” - Carlo Goldoni

Another trip to Brisbane this week, and another one coming up the week after. I feel a little guilty with all this flying I am doing, however, there are things one cannot do effectively through phone and video conferencing. The personal interaction is paramount and one can achieve a lot through that interaction, much more than through a phone conference.

Brisbane weather was very good, I was told, as I saw precious little of it, being inside and hard at work. Brisbane enjoys a subtropical climate with very mild, dry winters and then monsoonal type summers with lots of rain or even cyclones. This explains the lush vegetation and the profusion of tropical fruits. Winter Queensland strawberries (which I enjoyed at lunch) are sweet and lush this time of the year.

The postcard from Brisbane this time round is from the Anzac Square War Memorial. It is located close to the Central Railway Station, between Ann and Adelaide Sts. While in the midst of the busiest part of the Brisbane CBD, the monument is uniquely and ideally set in peaceful surrounds life. Anzac Square is dedicated to Australia's military heritage and contains the Shrine of Remembrance, with its Eternal Flame. It forms the focal point of the surrounding park, with its radially patterned pathways, pools, lawns and Bribie Island Pine Bottle trees.

There are Touch-Tell systems in place that explain the significance of Anzac Square to visitors. Co-located beside Anzac Square, in the pedestrian tunnel, is the World War II Shrine of Memories. Visitors can view Honour Rolls, Unit Plaques and a mosaic containing over 140,000 hand-cut Venetian glass enamels and soils from official World War II cemeteries.