For New Zealand and Australian Armed Services personnel today, (the 25th of April), is a significant public holiday marking the bond formed by fighting together against a common foe, (whether is be against the sky, the sea, the land or more commonly some other bloke with a dirty great big rifle).
People from other countries may find it strange to note that the anniversary is the day the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp, (ANZAC), invaded Turkey during World War One. Dropped off at the wrong beachhead by a British Naval Officer the Kiwis and Aussies climbed treacherous cliffs and fought inland over 8 months before getting their arses kicked back into the sea by the Turkish Army.
It wasn't a very successful invasion. Tens of thousands of lives were lost on both sides. Families lost entire generations of sons and all they have to remember them by are fields of tombstones standing like rows of broken teeth or a small marble monument in the center of the town, to which later even more names were carved because the "War to end all wars" failed to teach the following generations about the basic stupidity of their predecessors.
As a child I read the pulp magazines like Commando and Warlord. I believed that if you were on the right side bullets would never hurt you and if you did get killed it was always gallantly saving a friend.
As I grew older I learned about teamwork and comradeship when serving in the New Zealand Army. You learn about pain and suffering and just how many plastic bags you need to scrape a human body into. You learn that the people higher up the chain of command are not necessarily smarter, stronger or better fit to lead you in battle. You learn that mistakes cost lives and that the people who made decisions about our safety, (the politicians who decide if it is politically expedient to cut the Defense budget or increase taxes), are actually only counting the number of dollars they think my life is worth and if that can sway their conscience against serving another 3 year term in parliament.
Incidentally the Turkish people celebrate the occasion as a successful defense of their homeland.
My thoughts are with the New Zealand troops on Peacekeeping duties around the world and specifically those in East Timor, Bouganville Island, Bosnia, the Middle East, Sierra Leone, Sinai, Egypt, Korea and the Solomon Islands.
The poem below by John Macrae is recited at some ANZAC day celebrations as well as the Lament. I like to think that it serves as a reminder of the horror of warfare and the efforts needed to maintain what we currently call peacetime.
In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
by John Macrae [1872-1918]
Spotcha in the Air
Aaron Stone aka raxx
