Wednesday, 26 April 2017

THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD

ANZAC Day.
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"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."

Traditional sacred ode spoken on Anzac Day, and carved on memorials.

Part of a poem by Laurence Binyon





Today, a lot of people in a small country town in Australia turned out for the annual Anzac march, indoor ceremony, and outdoor ceremony at the Anzac memorial. Midway through the outdoor ceremony it poured with rain, but still the majority stayed until the end in the rain to listen to the speakers and watch the flags go up. Every organisation of citizens , and there are many in the town, and surrounding villages, placed a wreath at the cenotaph. The Air Force supplied a catafalque party , the Last Post was played on bugle, and the traditional poetry and readings were read. 

Catafalque party is a guard, usually of four people, that stands watch over the coffin and catafalque of a distinguished person or over a significant monument." Wikipedia.

This happened in country towns, villages, suburbs and city centres around and across this wide Southern Land. 


The significance of the poppy in this post is that it grew on the battlefields of the Western Front after WW1 and is symbolic of the blood of the combatants. It was adopted as a lapel pin to raise money for returned veterans, and families of the slain. Traditionally worn on Remembrance Day. On Anzac Day rosemary can be worn in remembrance, also pins sold to raise money as above, but a different design. All over Australia for many decades people have worn them on and around Anzac Day.



 





 





 



 



 



 



 




 



 



The Last Post was played, like this







 



 



 



 



 




The WW2 memorial:


 



 



 




 



 



 



 



 




Family tradition. Every year on Anzac Day we have had "dry biscuits" as Mum used to call them, tinned corned beef, tea, jam, and Anzac biscuits , to educate our kids in what diet the WW1 ANZACs ate . The Anzac biscuits were sent in comfort parcels from home, the rest were rations issued. Their biscuits were too hard to bite, see my last post, and the link there, after reading this post. 


 



Afterwards we were invited to the RSL (Returned Services League) as hubby is a volunteer. Here are some photos from there:


 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



LEST WE FORGET.








safe link to modern Australian military personnel   

6 comments:

Profound Familiarity said...

It's inspiring to see the amount of effort you put into these posts.

Running on empty said...


Thankyou, Dan, it takes Acerules and me, I couldn't do it without her! We both work on the photos, and she loads every finished post!

Fizzfan said...

LEST WE FORGET. So sad the promise of that message isn't able to be fully realised across the whole world. So very grateful I'm able to live in a part of the world where war is not a part of my every day life. Always angry that people had to give up their lives in order to make that possible.

Running on empty said...


So true, Fizz, as said in the last verse of the song Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits, early in the post.

Kathy said...

Your memorial post is as thoughtful as the town memorial...such a nice way to remember those who sacrificed their lives for our freedoms...

Running on empty said...


Such horrible wars, I pray there will be no more wars.