ANZAC DAY

THE ODE

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.

Lest we Forget

Doug Kerry

Doug Kerry is my husbands Uncle who died in the Fall of Singapore at 18yrs old. Here is a letter he wrote to our Aunty (his brothers wife). My husband took his Mum (Nanna Joan Munro nee Kerry)  to Singapore to the War Memorial as Doug her brother never came home…. he was Missing in Action

Deaths as a result of service with Australian units

New Zealand
1860–61
Nil
Sudan
1885
9
South Africa
11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902
589
China
6 August 1900 – 25 April 1901
6
First World War
4 August 1914 – 31 March 1921
61,513
Second World War
3 September 1939 – 30 June 1947
39,761
Malayan Emergency
16 June 1948 – 31 July 1960
39
Korean War
27 June 1950 – 27 July 1953
340
Indonesian Confrontation
24 December 1962– 11 August 1966
16
Malay Peninsula
19 February 1964 – 11 August 1966
2
Vietnam War
3 August 1962 – 29 April 1975
521
Thailand
25 June 1965 – 31 August 1968
2
Somalia
20 October 1992 – 30 November 1994
1
East Timor
16 September 1999 – 18 August 2003
2
Afghanistan
11 October 2001 – present
11
Iraq
16 July 2003 – present
2
Total
102,814   LEST WE FORGET
The ANZAC Day Dawn Service has become an integral part of commemorations on 25 April.
Whatever its origin, the acronym ANZAC became famous with the landing of the Corps on the Gallipoli Peninsula at the Dardanelles, on 25 April 1915. It has since become synonymous with the determination and spirit of our armed forces. The significance of the day, and the acronym, in Australia’s heritage is probably best stated by Dr. Bean in the following excerpt from his official war history:
It was not merely that 7600 Australians and nearly 2500 New Zealanders had been killed or mortally wounded there, and 24,000 more (19,000 Australians and 5,000 New Zealanders) had been wounded, while fewer than 100 were prisoners. But the standards set by the first companies at the first call - by the stretcher-bearers, the medical officers, the staff, the company leaders, the privates, the defaulters on the water barges, the Light Horse at The Nek - this was already part of the tradition not only of ANZAC but of the Australian and New Zealand peoples. By dawn on 20 December, ANZAC had faded into a dim blue line lost amid other hills on the horizon as the ships took their human freight to Imbros, Lemnos and Egypt. But ANZAC stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship and endurance that will never own defeat.
The acronym survived Gallipoli. I and II ANZAC Corps fought in France and the ANZAC Mounted Division fought in Palestine. The decision to separate the Australian and New Zealand components of the ANZAC Corps was taken on 14 November 1917 when it was announced that the Corps would cease to exist from January 1918. An Australian Corps was then created to absorb the Australian divisions.
There was a brief period during World War 2 when ANZAC was resurrected. On 12 April 1941 in Greece, General Blamey declared I Australian Corps to be the ANZAC Corps, much to the delight of its Australian and New Zealand formations.
ANZAC was again a reality during the Vietnam conflict where, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, an ANZAC battalion served in Phuoc Tuy Province. These battalions were created by absorbing two companies and supporting elements from The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment into a battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment (RAR). Our 2nd, 4th and 6th Battalions held the distinction of being titled, for example, 2RAR/NZ (ANZAC) Battalion.
The bugle call Last Post is inextricably part of the end of day traditions.The Last Post was really the end of the day (a hard day’s fighting and a hard night’s drinking). On ANZAC Day, Reveille or Rouse breaks the silence that follows the playing of the Last Post, symbolising the awakening of the dead in the next and better world.
On ANZAC Day, the wearing of small sprigs of rosemary in the coat lapel, pinned to the breast or held in place by medals is thus synonymous with remembrance and commemoration.
It was an honour for my 10yr old daughter to be a part of two ANZAC Day services by singing the Australian National Anthem. She did a great job and we are very proud of her because she is the new dawn of the ANZAC Spirit.