- 24 Apr 2013 23:42
#14221095
It is time for my annual ANZAC day thread. As in the past, I will appeal for people to reflect on the meaning of ANZAC day.
The most simple meaning of ANZAC day is for Australians and New Zealanders to remember those who of us have fallen in war.
Here is 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."
Beyond this central meaning, there is no consensus on how to explain this meaning in relation to our attitude to war. I see two main schools of thought, those who appeal to the sacrifice made by soldiers in the past as a way of fostering a martial spirit in the current generation of young people, and there is another school of thought that sees a message of the futility and waste of war that we ought reflect on before thinking about getting involved in more wars.
I have previously shared some stories of my own ancestors involvement in the ANZAC militray history. Today I will add two more that my uncle has brought to my attention through family history reearch.
The first story is about an uncle of my father's mother. I will leave his name annonymous. The records we have show he went to Egypt in 1915 along with many other young men for training. By 1916, he had been moved to southern France and then up to the western front. Within two weeks he was amongst the causulties at the battle of the Somme. There was no identifiable remains to be recovered from him or his comrades. This was typical of the situation on the western front. Dense infantry formations were met with concentrated artillary which resulted in the soldiers being obliterated and the remains buried under successive barrages. It is hard to imagine the slaughter at battles like the Somme. My grandmother's uncle was only 21 years old. The rest of the documentation related to the efforts of his mother to find out his fate, where his remains were and what personal effects might be recovered. That corespondence continued to 1921.
The second story, about a brother of my father's grandfather. This fellow survived until 1917, but was killed by an artillary round while blazing away with a Lewis gun in support of his unit. At least he lived long enough to become a real soldier and went out in fighting (he was 27 at the time of his death). The remainer of the records were of the same narure as the first story, letters of corespondence with the army administration by the mother to find out his fate, the location of his remains and what effects, if any, might be recovered. The corespondence ended in 1921.
A previous years' story I related was that of my mother's grandfather who fought at Galipolli and the western front, who was a casuality of a gas attack and died from the gas damage in the 1920's. All three stories are typical of the stories of the men who fought in the 'Great War'.
Given the apparent lack of purpose in world war I and the great slaughter of young lives that went with it, there was a strong movement in the 1920's to reject war (eg: the war to end all wars). There were many at the time who reflected on how Australians and New Zealanders had been caught up in war hysteria at the out break of WWI and had marched off proudly, to be back by Christmas. The horrors they suffered and the men that were lost lead them to form the veiw that we ought avoid being caught up in jigoism and hysteria lest we send our young people through the same thing that genreation went through in WW1.
I wonder if this way of seeing things has fallen out of favour these days. Our policial leaders speak of remembering the sacrifice but there seems to be an implication that our current young people ought to be ready to do the same thing without question. The hard earnt wisdom of the 1920's seems to have been forgotten.
Anyway, what does ANZAC day mean to you?
The most simple meaning of ANZAC day is for Australians and New Zealanders to remember those who of us have fallen in war.
Here is 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."
Beyond this central meaning, there is no consensus on how to explain this meaning in relation to our attitude to war. I see two main schools of thought, those who appeal to the sacrifice made by soldiers in the past as a way of fostering a martial spirit in the current generation of young people, and there is another school of thought that sees a message of the futility and waste of war that we ought reflect on before thinking about getting involved in more wars.
I have previously shared some stories of my own ancestors involvement in the ANZAC militray history. Today I will add two more that my uncle has brought to my attention through family history reearch.
The first story is about an uncle of my father's mother. I will leave his name annonymous. The records we have show he went to Egypt in 1915 along with many other young men for training. By 1916, he had been moved to southern France and then up to the western front. Within two weeks he was amongst the causulties at the battle of the Somme. There was no identifiable remains to be recovered from him or his comrades. This was typical of the situation on the western front. Dense infantry formations were met with concentrated artillary which resulted in the soldiers being obliterated and the remains buried under successive barrages. It is hard to imagine the slaughter at battles like the Somme. My grandmother's uncle was only 21 years old. The rest of the documentation related to the efforts of his mother to find out his fate, where his remains were and what personal effects might be recovered. That corespondence continued to 1921.
The second story, about a brother of my father's grandfather. This fellow survived until 1917, but was killed by an artillary round while blazing away with a Lewis gun in support of his unit. At least he lived long enough to become a real soldier and went out in fighting (he was 27 at the time of his death). The remainer of the records were of the same narure as the first story, letters of corespondence with the army administration by the mother to find out his fate, the location of his remains and what effects, if any, might be recovered. The corespondence ended in 1921.
A previous years' story I related was that of my mother's grandfather who fought at Galipolli and the western front, who was a casuality of a gas attack and died from the gas damage in the 1920's. All three stories are typical of the stories of the men who fought in the 'Great War'.
Given the apparent lack of purpose in world war I and the great slaughter of young lives that went with it, there was a strong movement in the 1920's to reject war (eg: the war to end all wars). There were many at the time who reflected on how Australians and New Zealanders had been caught up in war hysteria at the out break of WWI and had marched off proudly, to be back by Christmas. The horrors they suffered and the men that were lost lead them to form the veiw that we ought avoid being caught up in jigoism and hysteria lest we send our young people through the same thing that genreation went through in WW1.
I wonder if this way of seeing things has fallen out of favour these days. Our policial leaders speak of remembering the sacrifice but there seems to be an implication that our current young people ought to be ready to do the same thing without question. The hard earnt wisdom of the 1920's seems to have been forgotten.
Anyway, what does ANZAC day mean to you?