May 2

Last week we attended the Anzac parade. This year was the 100 year celebration, so it was a big deal. We went to this parade last year and it poured down rain throughout the parade. This year we'd been having torrential rains for days, but lo and behold, the day of the parade dawned bright and beautiful. We took the train downtown with friends and got a great spot on the sidewalk right next to the street. This year commemorated the 100 year anniversary of the ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) troops and the slaughter they met at Gallopoli. Anzac Day--April 25th-- is one of Australia's most important national holidays. It commemorates the anniversary of the first major military action fought by the ANZAC troops during the First World War. The pride both countries took in the name still endures today. When war broke out in 1914, Australia had only been a federated nation for 13 years. When Britain declared war in August 1914, Australia became involved because they were part of the British Commonwealth. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldier made up part of the expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in order to open the Dardanelles to the allied Navies. Their ultimate goal was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. What they thought would be a quick way to knock Turkey out of the war ended up becoming a stalemate which drug on for 8 months. Finally, at the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated. The Australian troops lost 8,000 soldiers, this made a significant hole in the Australian population when the war ended. If you are interested in learning more you can find more in-depth information here: http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/

In Australia, it is traditional for a riderless horse known as the 'Lone Charger' to lead the annual Anzac parade. The custom apparently dates back to the time of Genghis Khan when a horse was sacrificed to serve the fallen warrior in the next world. Later on, the riderless horse with the backward facing boots came to symbolize a warrior who would ride no more.

I love to see the WW II Vets being honored. Australia is very proud of its veterans.

HMAS stands for Her Majesty's Australian Ship

This is Elder Roger Williams who works in the mission office. He marched in the parade wearing his father's WW II medals, his grandfather's WW I medals, and his wife's father's WW II medals. I recorded him talking about the medals and the family history related to those men. The video is below.

Here is a closeup of the medals, the large one is Elder Williams for his service in the Australian Army, the others belong to his father, grandfather, and his wife's father. 

This is a copy of the hand sketch of Elder William's father's tank when he was captured in Italy in WWII. In those days units were often accompanied by artists who sketched war scenes. In this case, his father was sent into a village (sorry, I can't remember the name) that ended up being full of Germans. His tank was soon overtaken and his father was taken prisoner. The Germans shot all the POWs in the ankle to prevent them from running away. His father was also shot in the leg. Due to the lack of medical help and sanitation, the leg soon became infected and gangrene set in. In order to save his life, the doctors amputated his leg. Because it was late in the war and Germany by this time was functioning on very little support, there were no antibiotics or pain killers, so his father's leg was amputated with nothing to numb the pain. They just sawed it off while he was awake and could feel everything. He eventually passed out from the pain. Once it healed, he was sent home because he was of no more use as a soldier. His tank was just left on the street where he was captured and remained there for many years. This picture is of his father's tank, a copy of the original by the artist.

If the video does not play, this happens most often when using an iPad, follow this link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9nimc4dyDk&feature=em-upload_owner

I was happy to see the US showed up for the parade:)  

Nice to see the Stars and Stripes so far from home.

It wouldn't be an Australian parade without the bagpipes, or without the 'almost' national anthem song of 'Waltzing Matilda'. I've learned to love that song!

Check out this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AKvIeifF58&feature=em-upload_owner

A little background on the traditional Australian 'slouch' hat. It was first used for the Victorian Mounted rifles troops. The left side is traditionally turned up and secured with a rising sun badge. The left side is turned up to allow for a rifle to be slung over the soldier without damaging the hat. It is decorated with an emu plume. The plume originated in WW I when the soldiers used to chase down emus and steal their feathers as a mark of their riding skill.

I'm finding myself becoming a little more Aussie everyday. We go home in two months and I'm going to miss this country and all it stands for. I will especially miss the people. We've had the opportunity to meet so many different people of many different nationalities. Next post I will write about that. Today, I'd like to end with a thought from our service center meeting this morning. Jared, the building maintenance manager from the Sydney office just returned from spending time at the service center in Papua New Guinea. He showed a picture from a pick up basketball game he set up with some of the employees of the service center. He said that the people who work at the center there are very representative of native Papua New Guineans, most live in homes constructed of corrugated steel and anything else they can find to protect themselves from the elements and pretty much live hand-to-mouth. PNG is the poster-child nation for third world nations. When they set up the basketball game, no one on either team had shoes, so they scrounged up some socks and they played outside on the blacktop in nothing but socks. Everyone had a great time though and the picture is full of smiling people. Jared said visiting Papua New Guinea always makes him realize that happiness is not about what kind of possessions people have, it's about serving people. By in large, the poor people of the world are often much happier on a day to day basis, than many people from well-to-do nations. They give and share what they have with one another and serve one another. Happiness comes from helping others, not from the material possessions we possess.