Happy Anzac Day?

[AggieDave 6]

Alright, all of yall from down under gotta tell me what that's about.

It's on my Get Fuzzy comic-a-day calander (came printed from the factory with it), but I don't know what it is.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[n2skdvn 0]

try thishttp://www.nzhistory.net.nz/Gallery/Anzac/Anzacday.htm

google searches work !!!

if my calculations are correct SLINKY + ESCULATOR = EVERLASTING FUN
my site

[jumpy 0]

'In 1915 on the 25th of April
Far away across the sea our soldiers fought so bravely in a place called Galipolie
These soldiers were the anzacs who fought for you and me
They gave there lives all fighting so that we could all be free
Lest we forget'
^A poem I learnt in primary school

Basically its the day we honor all of our war vertans, notably the Anzacs.

[nacmacfeegle 0]

Google Gallipoli Dave, it was a British military fuck up during WW1, where the price was paid by the Aussie and Kiwi troops. A hideous waste of life.

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[nacmacfeegle 0]

Dave your into choonz and stuff....
This one is about Gallipoli.
Its traditional song, but if you fancy busting that geetar out of an evening, the Pogues did a nice version of it. "The band played waltzing matilda"


Now when I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover.
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback,
Well, I waltzed my Matilda all over.
Then in 1915, my country said, "Son,
It's time you stop ramblin', there's work to be done."
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun,
And they marched me away to the war.

And the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As the ship pulled away from the quay,
And amidst all the cheers, the flag waving, and tears,
We sailed off for Gallipoli.

And how well I remember that terrible day,
How our blood stained the sand and the water;
And of how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk, he was waitin', he primed himself well;
He showered us with bullets, and he rained us with shell --
And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all to hell,
Nearly blew us right back to Australia.

But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
When we stopped to bury our slain,
Well, we buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,
Then we started all over again.

And those that were left, well, we tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
Though around me the corpses piled higher.
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head,
And when I woke up in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead --
Never knew there was worse things than dying.

For I'll go no more "Waltzing Matilda,"
All around the green bush far and free --
To hump tents and pegs, a man needs both legs,
No more "Waltzing Matilda" for me.

So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed,
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane,
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And as our ship sailed into Circular Quay,
I looked at the place where me legs used to be,
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me,
To grieve, to mourn and to pity.

But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As they carried us down the gangway,
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared,
Then they turned all their faces away.

And so now every April, I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
Reviving old dreams of past glory,
And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore,
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
And I ask meself the same question.

But the band plays "Waltzing Matilda,"
And the old men still answer the call,
But as year follows year, more old men disappear
Someday, no one will march there at all.

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda.
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong,
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?

copyright © Eric Bogle

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[Skyflier 0]

The day we show our respect for the diggers who fought for our country. In typical Aussie fashion this involves early morning drinking and all day gambeling.

[charliezulu 0]

Come on man - if you're gonna be a Marine, you gotta be up on all that 20th century military history! Can't just go memorizing the ballad of the Alamo.

CZ

[jtval 0]

last year this time I won
$70 australian dollars. AND drank for 5 hours(thats alot) for free!!!
Australian
New
Zealand
Army]
Corp


In case you were wondering....


TWO-UP anyone!!

My photos

My Videos

[Guest]

Quote

Dave your into choonz and stuff....
This one is about Gallipoli.
Its traditional song, but if you fancy busting that geetar out of an evening, the Pogues did a nice version of it. "The band played waltzing matilda"


Now when I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover.
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback,
Well, I waltzed my Matilda all over.
Then in 1915, my country said, "Son,
It's time you stop ramblin', there's work to be done."
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun,
And they marched me away to the war.

And the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As the ship pulled away from the quay,
And amidst all the cheers, the flag waving, and tears,
We sailed off for Gallipoli.

And how well I remember that terrible day,
How our blood stained the sand and the water;
And of how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk, he was waitin', he primed himself well;
He showered us with bullets, and he rained us with shell --
And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all to hell,
Nearly blew us right back to Australia.

But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
When we stopped to bury our slain,
Well, we buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,
Then we started all over again.

And those that were left, well, we tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
Though around me the corpses piled higher.
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head,
And when I woke up in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead --
Never knew there was worse things than dying.

For I'll go no more "Waltzing Matilda,"
All around the green bush far and free --
To hump tents and pegs, a man needs both legs,
No more "Waltzing Matilda" for me.

So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed,
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane,
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And as our ship sailed into Circular Quay,
I looked at the place where me legs used to be,
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me,
To grieve, to mourn and to pity.

But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As they carried us down the gangway,
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared,
Then they turned all their faces away.

And so now every April, I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
Reviving old dreams of past glory,
And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore,
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
And I ask meself the same question.

But the band plays "Waltzing Matilda,"
And the old men still answer the call,
But as year follows year, more old men disappear
Someday, no one will march there at all.

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda.
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong,
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?

copyright © Eric Bogle

Outstanding song. One of the simple yet profound songs that communicates to all who listen the terrible personal cost of war. I have the tabs for it if anybody wants them. Also, here is a link to an MP3 version of the song. It isn't done the way I like it, but at least you'll hear the melody.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[AggieDave 6]

Cool, thanks guys.

Yeah, I could have googled it, but I figured I'd get some cool stories or some cool insight if I asked here.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Guest]

Quote

'In 1915 on the 25th of April
Far away across the sea our soldiers fought so bravely in a place called Galipolie
These soldiers were the anzacs who fought for you and me
They gave there lives all fighting so that we could all be free
Lest we forget'
^A poem I learnt in primary school

Basically its the day we honor all of our war vertans, notably the Anzacs.

It's "Gallipoli" and is dramatized in at least one movie: "Gallipoli", featuring a very young Mel Gibson; and in one miniseries: "ANZACS: The War Down Under", featuring Paul Hogan.

"...fought so bravely..." more like slaughtered with hardly even a chance to fight. Stupid British commanders sent the Anzacs charging right into entrenched Turkish machine guns. Didn't work, so they tried it again and again and again. Sickening and wasteful, and I can't help but wonder (as many from Oz no doubt do today) whether the British commanders would have been so careless of the lives they were squandering on those beaches if said lives had been British...

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[AggieDave 6]

Paul Hogan was in more then some dumb ass angel movie and the two Crocidile Dundees? Damn.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Guest]

Yeah, and he's only a supporting character, not the star, so he does well in it. I only mentioned Hogan because he's the best-known actor appearing in the series, and it was before he was "made" with "Dundee".

It's a pretty good miniseries, I recommend it highly.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[happythoughts 0]

Quote

I can't help but wonder (as many from Oz no doubt do today) whether the British commanders would have been so careless of the lives they were squandering on those beaches if said lives had been British

Charge of the Light Brigade comes to mind. Of course, a lot of American operations in VN involved taking hills that nobody wanted at an expensive cost. Somehow, the headquarters company that makes the decision to attack is rarely involved in the attack.

Ever heard of "recon by fire" to locate the enemy? Walking around until someone shoots at you. The people who came up with that strategy and the people walking around are probably not the same people.

[Guest]

Quote

Quote

I can't help but wonder (as many from Oz no doubt do today) whether the British commanders would have been so careless of the lives they were squandering on those beaches if said lives had been British

Charge of the Light Brigade comes to mind. Of course, a lot of American operations in VN involved taking hills that nobody wanted at an expensive cost. Somehow, the headquarters company that makes the decision to attack is rarely involved in the attack.

Ever heard of "recon by fire" to locate the enemy? Walking around until someone shoots at you. The people who came up with that strategy and the people walking around are probably not the same people.

I've seen "recon by fire" described as the probing / attacking force firing on likely locations of bad guys in an effort to flush them out, performed by the folks on location, as opposed to headquarters. But I digress.

The fact is that the Anzacs paid a terrible price at Gallipoli for British stupidity, yet in hindsight, it's not hard to understand why they screwed up. The devastation that machine guns could inflict on massed troops wasn't understood or taught at Sandhurst. WWI was where all the modern tools of death first came into widespread play, and I believe it was in Gallipoli where the machine gun acquired the nickname "Devil's paintbrush", but I could be mistaken.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"Sickening and wasteful, and I can't help but wonder (as many from Oz no doubt do today) whether the British commanders would have been so careless of the lives they were squandering on those beaches if said lives had been British..."

Well the same tactics were being deployed on the western front around about the same time at the Somme, Verdun, Ypres, Flanders etc with an equal, if not greater, wastage of human life. So I doubt if it was a nationality thing, just plain, pig headed, ignorant outmoded commanders.
Somebody else mentioned the charge of the light brigade, different war, different era, but still a futile waste of life. It prompted one French commander who witnessed it to comment..
C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre.
However infamous, the charge itself 'only' consisted of about 673 men. Not a lot compared to the carnage of WW1.

Anyway, to get back on track, there's a good Gallipoli page here...http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/gf.htm

Lest we forget.

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[Guest]

Quote

Well the same tactics were being deployed on the western front around about the same time at the Somme, Verdun, Ypres, Flanders etc with an equal, if not greater, wastage of human life. So I doubt if it was a nationality thing, just plain, pig headed, ignorant outmoded commanders.

Truth. Thanks for pointing that out. In my remarks, I didn't do enough to emphasize that, and in fairness, you're most likely right - it was just stupidity that happened to be visited on Anzacs because they were there, not because they were Commonwealth. There were some nasty suprises in WWI for all sides when that monster, warfare, finally became fully mated with its ugly sister, the Industrial Age. No wonder they called it "The War to End All Wars"...with the equivalent of all our losses in Vietnam being experienced in a single day in places like the Somme!

Quote

Anyway, to get back on track, there's a good Gallipoli page here...http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/gf.htm

Lest we forget.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[suz 0]

I can answer that Aggie.
Basically when the Aussie troops were sent to Gallipoli, they landed on a beachfront, and unbeknown to the troops, the enermy was waiting for their arrival and fired at them as they were getting off the boat. Very sad and devastating.
That's my gist of it anyway.
I went to the dawn memorial service today. biggest turn out ever, because of troops currently in Iraq and all.
It's also a mates birthday today. He was marching in a Anzac parade today. I wish I was there to see him, but he was about an hour away!!!!

Don't bother me, I'm living happily ever after

[kiltboy 0]

Quote

It's a pretty good miniseries, I recommend it highly.

I'd second that recommendation.

David

[kallend 2,027]

Quote

Stupid British commanders sent the Anzacs charging right into entrenched Turkish machine guns. Didn't work, so they tried it again and again and again. Sickening and wasteful, and I can't help but wonder (as many from Oz no doubt do today) whether the British commanders would have been so careless of the lives they were squandering on those beaches if said lives had been British...

I expect so - read about 1st July 1916 on the Somme.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[kiltboy 0]

Wan't it Ypres in '15, the Somme in '16 and Passchendale in '17?

Similar tactics in the same place producing the same results?

David