Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: -tronski- on April 24, 2003, 01:04:01 PM
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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.[/b]
To the Kiwis and Aussies I hope you have a great Anzac day, going to dawn service, watching the marches, or even spend it like me having a beer with your mates playing two-up.
For anyone who isn't aware of what Gallipoli is, or why Anzac day is so special I'd recommend the movie Gallipoli by Peter Weir.
The most significant part of the film is the charge at the Nek, by the 8th and 10th Light Horse on the 7th of August 1915.
Just as the film shows, the attack was to begin at 4:30am but the supporting barrage finished 7mins early allowing the Turks time to fill their trenches and resight their guns. The Nek was only about 40m wide and only 18m separated the Australian and Turkish trenches. It was only wide enough so 4 waves of only 150 each could assault the turkish lines defended by 5 machine guns.
At 4:30 the first line, all Victorians went over the top, and were cut down within metres. The second went exactly 2 minutes later and were butchered.
The 10th, all West Australians filed into the trenches. Attempts were made to call off the attack, but by some miracle a marker flag had made it to the Turkish trenches, and the order to continue was made. The 3rd line's commanding officer Lt Col J.W. Springthorpe told his men "Boys you have ten minutes to live and I'm going to lead you".
Even though all knew they faced certain death not one hesitated when the went over at about 4:45am.
The fourth line filed into the firing steps and by now frantic attempts were made to call off the attack, but the right of the line rose up and so the the rest went.
The historian CW Bean remarked the Turkish gunfire (the Australians went in with only bayonets) was a single continuous roar, and he could not hear single shots, until there was nothing but sudden silence.
Hundreds of Australians were killed in the space of a couple of tennis courts. Their bones would turn the ridge white as they lay unburied till 1919.
A rollcall afterwards only counted 47 men out of nearly 600.
The Nek
(http://www.macknortshs.qld.edu.au/ANZAC/thenek.jpg)
Those heroes that shed their
blood and lost their lives...you are now lying of the soil
of a friendly country, therefore rest in peace. There is
no difference between the Johnies and the Mehmets to
us where they lie side by side here in this country of
ours...You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far
away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are
now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having
lost their lives on this land they have become our sons
as well. Kemal Ataturk
Tronsky
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ANZACs :)
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Such a waste of fine men. :( Thank God the mistakes of the past aren't being repeated.
Aussies
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Gallipoli,an example of how not to fight a war, what a waste of brave men, sounds like many of the battles fought in the american civil war.
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Incredible heroism...
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Wow...
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:(
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Incredibly brave.. and incredible sad.....
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And the Band it Played Waltzing Matilda
When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli
How well I remember that terrible day
How the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells
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
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again
Now those that were left, well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me
So they collected the cripples, 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 pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then turned all their faces away
And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men answer to the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day 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 you pass the Billabong
Who'll come-a-waltzing Matilda with me?
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Happy ANZAC day, if you know what I mean.
WW1 was a just one set of disasters after another. Gallipoli has the dubious priviledges of being one of the worst, along with the Somme, Verdun, Ypres etc.
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ANZACs and Tronski.
Did my share of ANZAC Parades as a cadet, early morning services, honour guard, rum, and talking to old diggers, I've never been to war but ANZAC day always brings tear to my eye seeing those old diggers remembering fallen comrades.
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to the men.
to the generals/politics (as usual in WWI)
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Very sad indeed. I know that it was WW1, but the late historian Stephen Ambrose remarked that one of the things that made the G.I. such a versatile fighting man was his ability to question commanding officers orders.
Those Austrialians were very brave. I am sure they were very scared but they followed orders.
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the technology of war had outpaced the minds of its leadership
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Originally posted by davidpt40
Very sad indeed. I know that it was WW1, but the late historian Stephen Ambrose remarked that one of the things that made the G.I. such a versatile fighting man was his ability to question commanding officers orders.
Those Austrialians were very brave. I am sure they were very scared but they followed orders.
During 1916, Haig wrote to Billy Hughes, the Australian Prime Minister, complaining about the "lack of disipline" within the Australian divisions serving on the western front. He demanded that Hughes allow Australian troops be given the death penalty, for Australia was the only commonwealth country that refused the British high command the right to shoot Australian soldiers for displinary matters.
Haig also complained about Australian soldiers of all ranks openingly questioning and complaining about the British high command and their running of the war.
After Australian soldiers were butchered at the Somme, Pozieres, and the like, following WW1 it became policy that Australian commanders will only command Australian formations, and that these commanders would have a final say how these troops were ultimately deployed to prevent the British using Australian (and other Dominion soldiers) as cannon fodder.
Tronsky