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Post by pookie on Apr 25, 2009 5:07:39 GMT
Today is Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand where we remember all our Fallen from Galipolli and all the conflicts since then. It is marked by very moving Dawn Services and Marches across Australia and NZ and of course Anzac Cove ,Galipolli.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2009 5:17:07 GMT
Is it the most important national holiday of the year? I know that I have often seen Aussies on travel forums looking for a place to congregate for Anzac day when they are in Paris or Brussels or somewhere.
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Post by pookie on Apr 25, 2009 5:36:46 GMT
Yes K2 it is.This is the 93rd year and more and more young people are taking part in the services.My young grandkids go to the Dawn service and the march ,40,000 turn out to the Dawn service this year in Perth.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 25, 2009 14:44:55 GMT
Felicitations of the day, Pookie. And thanks for explaining Anzac Day. It is analogous to Veterans' Day in the US, but seems to be observed more in your country. What is Remembrance Day, please? (part of that song, "sailing home on Remembrance Day" is stuck in my head)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2009 16:19:14 GMT
Saw this on my calendar and was going to ask. Thanks.
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Post by lagatta on Apr 25, 2009 20:06:32 GMT
If I'm not mistaken, this horrible battle gave rise to a sense of nationhood among the "British Colonials" in the Antipodes. The battle of Vimy Ridge in Northern France has something of the same resonance among Canadians, but it does not have the same degree of meaning. (googling Gallipoli Vimy will get you various links on these battles and their significance).
For us, Remembrance Day (Jour du Souvenir) is the Armistice of the "Great War", and commemorates both war dead and veterans who survived conflicts (whether they are still alive or died later on of natural causes).
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2009 20:13:30 GMT
We have two dates in France -- one for WW1 (11 November) and one for WW2 (8 May). I am afraid that I must say that these dates no longer have any special significance for most people, especially 11 November. The very last veteran in France died a year ago. Even though people are well aware of the history and even sometimes visit the battlefields and cemeteries, it is now quite abstract.
This is not as true regarding WW2, particularly in Normandy, but it is still only a small percentage of the population that continues to have a deep sentimental attachment to that date or the events in question.
I would think that it is a shame, except for the fact that it is the long period of peace in Europe since 1945 that has made it possible to forget. That is perhaps not a bad thing.
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Post by Jazz on Apr 25, 2009 21:15:36 GMT
I once visited Gallipoli and was shocked at how moved I was. To look down from the cliffs to the water, it could have been nothing but a massacre. Those poor brave men were not cared for by their blind officers who ordered them to fight.
However, time has passed. There is a small, beautifully tended graveyard for the fallen Australians, which overlooks the sea. There are well preserved WW1 trenches and a modest museum. History feels very much alive here.
For your day, sad and beautiful,
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Post by lagatta on Apr 25, 2009 21:38:20 GMT
I'll have to go there. I've been to Dieppe. with a friend, very elderly now, who was in the Resistance in Normandy as a very young man. He pointed out how that too was a massacre in the making. There are also Irish songs about Gallipoli: unitedireland.tripod.com/gallipoli_lyrics_chords_the_fureys.htmlJazz, Turkey is somewhere I want to get in general. So many places I haven't been...
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Post by pookie on Apr 25, 2009 22:30:13 GMT
Rememberance day is observed on the 11th of November to mark the end of WW1.The last post is sounded by a lone bugler on the 11 hour of the 11 month to observe 1 minute silence.
It is not a public holiday here so most ppl stop wherever they are.
I think Veterens Day is on the same day
K2....There is a big ceremony held at the war memorial at Villiers Brettoneaux(sp) 3000 attended this year. A speech and wreath was also layed by a French official at Gallipoli.
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