Well as I am sure may of you do not know that the 25th of April is ANZAC Day. For those with little knowledge on this topic ANZAC stands for
Australian
New
Zealand
Army
Corp.
"The date itself marks the anniversary of the landing of New Zealand and Australian soldiers – the Anzacs – on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915. The aim was to capture the Dardanelles, the gateway to the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. At the end of the campaign, Gallipoli was still held by its Turkish defenders."
Anzac Day | NZHistory
ANZAC DAY is a day to celebrate the birth of an army, however it is also the celebration and rememberance of the Australian forces through all military conflicts including ww2.
"Of course, there are many other names from other wars where Australian lives were lost in the cause of a better world. We remember the airmen who flew in hazardous missions over Europe in WW2. The gallant pilots who fought in the victory at Milne Bay. We remember the sailors and submariners who were away from home for long periods on hazardous missions fighting to keep the vital sea lanes open, HMAS Sydney, Midway and Coral Sea. There were battles near our home land in the inhospitable terrain of New Guinea. We remember those who became POW's.
Later Australians fought with distinction in Korea and the battle of Kapyong springs immediately to mind. We took part in campaigns such as Borneo and Malaya. Our longest ever commitment to a conflict was in Vietnam, where over almost eight years, 46,000 Australian men and women served - some volunteers and some conscripts - but all there to do their duty.
But ANZAC day is not commemoration of the victories or defeats of the Australian armed forces at war. Instead we simply remember that individual, ordinary Australian men and women were prepared to make personal sacrifices, many who gave their lives, for the freedom and quality of life that we enjoy today. As all servicemen can tell you, none who goes to war, returns the same person, and many carry hidden wounds with them years later."
Anzac day Egypt 1940
Anzac Day
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 glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eyes, 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 of home,
They have no lot in our labour of the daytime,
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires and hopes profound,
Felt as a wellspring 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 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.
All quoted from the Australian Government\Defence force websites with appropiate links.
I will certainly post more through this week and espically on the day it self.