Lest we forget....

To those who served & who sacrificed their lives for our Freedom...."thank you" just doesn't seem enough.

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.

I thought I would share an Anzac poem, that I really love.

It was written by Rupert McCall for the 90th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli, back in 2005.

So I have adjusted the words, to fit in with todays Anzac anniversay - 95 years

If you heard Rupert McCall read this poem at the Gallipoli dawn service back in 2005, I think you would agree that it was very moving....

NINETY-FIVE YEARS AGO

There on the ship - on that whispering ship

The abyss of uncertainties rest

There on the ship - in the night's eerie grip

His heart leaping forth from his chest

He senses adventure but riding the tide

Is the ripple of chaos to come

His lips hold a prayer that inspires his mind

To be sparing a thought for his Mum

Khaki surrounds him in similar veins

Character ready to flow

Now the landscape is forming - the moment is nigh

Ninety five years ago

There on the beach - on that terrible beach

Dawn filters through as they land

There on the beach some would not even reach

Nothing unfolded as planned

Running and falling! Confusion defined

He scrambles and clambers and claws!

The ridges rain venom - he somehow survives...

But his innocence dies on those shores

From the dearth of a trench - through the fly-ridden stench

Shines the grin with a knockabout glow

Where the slouch hat is worn, a new species is born

Ninety five years ago

There on the hill - that un-winnable hill

He is scared but by God, he's committed

There on the hill, so much young blood would spill

The word 'sacrifice' tragically fitted

In protecting their homeland, the Turks never budge

The high ground is theirs to defend

Death blows a breeze that puts ice in his knees

He prepares now to meet with his end

For a moment, the sky turns a calm shade of blue...

And with that, the commander yells "GO!"

He is hit and it burns - then to peace he returns

Ninety five years ago

There on his grave - on that lost lonely grave

With the others that grimly abound

There on his grave - wooden crosses stand brave

An ANZAC lies under the ground!

Australians - New Zealanders - brothers in arms

Mates on the same team today

"Goodbye and God bless cobber" so say the words

In a strength we could never betray

And this, on the face of a small humble stone

That in winter, is lashed by the snow

"Please cry no tears" he was seventeen years

Ninety five years ago

Here in my heart - with the beat of my heart

I can't help but tremble and shiver

Here in my heart - it's so hard to depart

From the pride that these spirits deliver

For the courage - the kinship - the duty - the dove

The flame of our freedom ascends

Enemies once, now we stand with respect

And continue this journey as friends

Gallipoli - home to a ghost in us all

From a page, pray our children will know

As the legend of ANZAC and lest we forget

It was ninety five years ago

The legend of Anzac...lest we forget

Ninety five years ago

Rupert McCall

Today I am also thinking of the mothers' of these men & boys - how hard must it have been for them, knowing they were going off to war?  Not knowing if they would ever return?

I really cannot imagine what that would have been like - seriously.

I know what it's like to have to send my 17 year old son off to another town for just 3 days every month -  I find it really quite hard, and worry about him a lot. 

So I have a new admiration & appreciation for those women who's son's, husbands, brothers, etc went off to serve in the many different wars over the decades - can you  imagine having to say goodbye to them?

It would have been heartwrenching!

God Bless them all.

I am also thinking of all those diggers from WW1 who were marked as missing in action at Fromelles on the Western Front in France. 

In recent years they have been discovered to be buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood, near Fromelles, thanks to a man named Lambis Englezos.  Those diggers have now been reinterred into individual graves at a newly built cemetary to commemorate these diggers.  A large percentage of them have also been positively identified using modern DNA technology.

I think this is a wonderful thing for these "forgotten" diggers and their families.

You can read more on this HERE

I learnt all about these diggers at Fromelles from reading this book

I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in this kind of thing - it is a really eye-opening & gut wrenching book that tells the story of the worst battle in Australian History.

5533 casualties & almost 2000 killed.....in one night.

Fitting in with the Anzac theme of my post, I thought I would re-share a  layout....

My Grandfather, who served in WW1 on the Western Front.

Happy Anzac Day

& Lest We Forget....