I went to a small country town today, to watch my brother march in his first ANZAC day march. Although the parade itself was small, it was very moving: the old diggers marched with great pride, alongside some of our newest recruits 
::: Raises a glass to all the ANZAC veterans:::
May we never forget.
Thank you for your service.
::: drinks:::
And I see from today’s paper that the Anzac Bridge in Sydney will be closed over the weekend so that a sculpture of a New Zealand serviceman can be added to the existing Australian one.
As my fellow Board members must have come to realize by now, everything has a connection with Thailand, and Anzac Day is no exception. It is always commemorated privately in Thailand, because of the Death Railway. You know, that whole Bridge over the River Kwai thing.
And a great big salute from me to those who died.
You taught me something. I always thought that was in what was then called Burma.
Almost in Burma. Right next to it. The river is actually spelled Kwae, and the vowel is pronunced like the “a” in “flat,” but due to the movie, you’ll see it spelled Kwai a lot now for tourism purposes.
The local English-language newspapers still call the country Burma, refusing to recognize the name Myanmar. It was the junta that changed the name, I think. Still use Rangoon instead of Yangon, too.
It’s always nice when this is recognised in places other than Australia, New Zealand, or Turkey.
Thank you, Sam.
[narrowly avoiding tears in the USA]I’ll hoist a glass, as well.
And I also salute those who survived it, too. Don’t want to leave them out.
Thanks to you too, Oslo.
I think the weird thing here is not that Australia’s and New Zealand’s solemn days are any more important intrinsically than, say, America’s. But it’s a bit like, given that the average American will have feelings for the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Veterans’ Day, imagine those three distilled into one.
Yeah, we have “Australia Day” and “Waitangi Day” in NZ, but although I can’t speak for the NZers, Australia Day is a bit meh, and thought of by most as just a day off work. Anzac Day is where it’s at.
Anzac Day rocks.
A workmate went to the first Anzac Day service at Villiers Bretonneux. Her husband is bringing me back photos of the graves of my three (albeit British) great-uncles who died in WW1. It’s incredible to me that I’ll have photos and even more incredible that a virtual stranger cares enough to take them.
I came close to doing the Anzac Tour od France and Belgium this year. However, when I heard 2,000 peole were on the tour I decided I was better off at home. My daughters have done the dawn service at Anzac Cove.
I’d love to do Anzac Cove one day.
I’m just put off by the crowds and drunken flag-waving yobs.
Yes- I agree. It is like a pop concert. I juust look at my medal collection- my photos of relatives I never knew- and remember silently.
(Medals were purchased btw- I would never be brave enough to win one).
Waitangi isn’t exactly “meh”, it fact it tends towards the fraught: ceremonies at Waitangi are generally hijacked by Maori activists, with lots of protestors, egg-throwing and cops: you could probably run a pool on which pollie will pack a sad and not show that year - or will turn up, and make a big show of being down with the bros. Some want an alternative national day, but it would probably end up being bland and anonymous, whereas Anzac Day evokes a lot of genuine - as opposed to manufactured - feeling.
I went to Anzac Cove one year, but not for the dawn service - it was in September, late one day, with very few other visitors, which I felt was a really good way to experience it. We went with a Turkish guide and driver, and while it was really significant for us to be there, and to see the place first hand, the long lasting memory I have is of the way it was really meaningful for our guides too. They have both ANZAC and Turkish cemetaries there, and our driver was in tears as we wandered through one of the Turkish ones. It was a really shared experience.
Perhaps it hits me more as I get older, but some of those boys were only 17-18. Not that I’d wish another war on us, but these days that generation has Naughty Corey for a role model??
And the youngest was 14 when he died. Soldier Boy (book)
Large crowds at services around the country on Friday. Unfortunate that one of the gatherings was at a Boer War memorial in Oamaru down in Otago which is to be moved for a road. The folk there were farewelling the landmark.
Personally, I’m affected more by Remembrance/Armistice Day (November 11) than Anzac Day. It was nice though that at one of the Australian parades, the RSL there decided that Kiwis could be part of the march with them this year, and not just stuck at the back. I guess the Anzac spirit thing might be becoming more real for some folks.
Why wouldn’t the Kiwis be part of the ceremony? Their bravery and losses helped make the position defensible… They are always part of ANZAC Day ( as far as I am concerned).
Not to mention it was a Kiwi soldier who first suggested the term Anzac … But there’s a bit of a divide between the way Australia and New Zealand sees Anzac Day, so I learned a couple of years ago. Right from when the first remembrance services were held during World War I. I was surprised to hear on the news about the parade, though, that keeping our veterans at the back had been the norm, instead of side-by-side with the Aussies, but I’m glad that’s now been changed. Only one parade, so I wouldn’t expect that to have been standard practice everywhere.