Anzac Day is a National public holiday and is considered one of the most spiritual and solemn days of the year in Australia and New Zealand
Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. The pride they took in that name endures to this day, and Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand.
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.
Ma photo, aujourd'hui a été prise de la TV, et elle montre le cimetière de guerre chez Villers-Bretonneux. Ici, beaucoup de soldats australiens sont enterrés.
17 comments:
Well done! I thought long and hard about an Anzac Day picture but couldn't find a suitable one in time on the Sunny Coast, so I had to use one from Brisbane on my other page!
Sunshine Coast Daily - Australia
Merci à ces soldats du bout du monde, je suis restée française grâce à eux. Ils ont peut être combattus auprès de mes 3 oncles qui sont morts tous les trois la même année en 1917 pendant cette horible guerre.
Chère Lyliane
Ma photo, aujourd'hui a été prise de la TV, et elle montre le cimetière de guerre chez Villers-Bretonneux.
Il est tellement très regrettable quand une famille détruit trois hommes merveilleux, mais je suis reconnaissant à Dieu, que vous êtes resté français.
Ici, est ci-dessous quelques mots du Wikipedia sur le sujet.
Villers Bretonneux a été le site d'un des tragiques épisodes de la bataille de la Somme en 1916. Des milliers de soldats Australiens et Néozélandais de l'ANZAC, qui étaient venus renforcer les effectifs de la British Army, y sont morts, pour avoir réussi à résister à l'offensive de l'empire allemand. Un imposant mémorial a été dressé au nord de la commune, sur un site contenant plusieurs milliers de croix blanches. La commune rend également hommage au sacrifice des soldats Australiens dans le "musée du soldat Australien", qui a été installé au premier étage de l'école communale, dans la cour de laquelle un simple calicot rappelle chaque jour aux visiteurs et aux élèves: "don't forget Australia". La reconstuction de cette école, dans les années 1920, a été financée par les habitants de l'état de Victoria. Cette école s'appelle donc logiquement "école Victoria".
Bitingmidge,
Bon ANZAC Day to you. The tradition will live on with the young people who are Australia's future. There were so many of them at all the Dawn Services this year.
Gallipoli, Turkey. Australian soldiers were slaughtered on the beaches. Our main memorial service is held in Gallipoli each year and young Australians often make the "pilgrimage" to be present at least once.
Bravo to the youth of Australia for keeping the tradition alive.
Thank you for this story. I had no idea about the ANZACs so I learned, again, something new!
I'm always amazed to see how strong the ANZAC spirit still is in OZ. Beautiful post.
Thanx for all the explanations. I didn't know about the ANZAC before.
Bravo pour ce post, cher M. Benaut. Ils ont montré Villers-Bretonneux à la télé à 13h aujourd'hui.
Sur le site de la ville, il y a une page pour les Australiens....
http://www.villers-bretonneux.com/Australian.htm
Thank you for the link, Marie. I had a look and it is very good.
Yes, for the very first time, Australia held a memorial service in Villers-Bretonneux this year. Australian soldiers drove German soldiers out of this western French village and this marked the beginning of the retreat of Germany from France. It was one of the most significant battles of the Somme.
Today I also learned that more bombs were dropped on Darwin than Pearl Harbour! Darwin is our northernmost city, capital of the Northern Territory, closest to Papua New Guinea which was under seige from the Japanese in the Second World War. Obviously there was much less military damage as Darwin was barely populated at that time and there was no large admiralty fleet. An interesting fact, nonetheless.
Some also do not realise that Japanese submarines were also found in Sydney Harbour.
It is good that we remember our soldiers. We owe them a very great deal. Ours is a free, politically stable, peaceful, democratic country, in large part thanks to them. It continues to be so, in this century, in large part thanks to the current alliance between Australian, New Zealand and the United States - called the ANZUS pact.
Not the first time in V-B, Mme...just the first Dawn Service on the day. For years there have been services at both V-B in the morning, and Bullecourt in the afternoon, on the Sat closest to Anzac Day. They have held dawn services in Paris.
I attended V-B and Bullecourt 3 years ago. There's a link to some of my photos from that occasion on my blog today.
V-B was very important in preventing the German advance to Amiens. As were the battles in 1918 arounf Le Hamel. The villagers of V-B are incredibly welcoming on AD, and ther eis cake and champagne after the service. The same happens in the afternoon at Bullecourt.
I just hope it doesn't become overwhelming and ugly like it has in Gallipoli in recent times.
Bravo Sally for attending the services. I'll pop over and have a look at the photos. You're a fount of knowledge always which is most appreciated dear.
Every day I am reminded of just how insulated we Americans are. I had no idea...
Nous faire partager cet hommage d'Australie pour des Soldats Australiens morts en France, par l'interméidiare d'une photo prise sur ton écran de télévision, montrant un cimetière militaire situé chez nous, c'est assez génial et émouvant à la fois. C'est une belle intention de ta part.
Je ne connais pas ce cimetière, mais je connais Omaha Beach.
Maria - don't feel bad - this is all part of our lifelong learning. When I was in San Francisco in 1974, a dress shop attendant asked me where I was from. I said "Australia. Not Austria, Australia". She replied: "oh, that's somewhere up near Alaska isn't it?" lol
Claude: Merci pour votre comment.
I didn't know either :( Your photo is very moving, M. Benaut.
Beautiful photograph to commemorate ANZAC Day. The way the tulips turn their heads tomwards the memorial is just right, isn't it?
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