I am

[Bill Cameron]

I am not a badge of honour,
I am not a racist smear,
I am not a fashion statement,
To be worn but once a year,
I am not glorification
Of conflict or of war.
I am not a paper ornament
A token,
I am more.

I am a loving memory,
Of a father or a son,
A permanent reminder
Of each and every one.

I'm paper or enamel
I'm old or shining new,
I'm a way of saying thank you,
To every one of you.

I am a simple poppy
A Reminder to you all,
That courage faith and honour,
Will stand where heroes fall.

Paul Hunter 2014

[happy daze john in oz]

Thank you Bill for that, most opportune today being Anzac Day here in Australia.

Watched the dawn service from he Melbourne Shine of Remembrance, then the march of thousands from all of the armed forces along the road to the shrine.

Then the dawn service live from Anzac Cove, a most moving ceremony that would bring a tear to the strongest eye. As the NZ PM said it is not about the term of 'lest we forget' I is the matter of 'we remember' we remember those who gave so we may live as we do today.

The horrors of that battlefield and others of WW1 are hard to imagine, the conditions and to some extent the futility of it all brings to mind the statement that war is not about who is right but who is left
It is hard to comprehend the numbers killed in some of the battles, in some as many as 3,000 in one day according to some records of the Western Front.

[Richard Quartermaine]

This came to me today on this special 100th Anniversary of the Galllipoli landing ANZAC day. The ABC broadcast of the Dawn Memorial Service at Gallipoli and the routing of the Nazis at Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918. I know not the name of the author.

"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A DIGGER DIED TODAY

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the R.S.L.,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his mates;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbours
His tales became a joke,
All his mates listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Jack has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Digger died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Digger died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

The Media tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young,
But the passing of a Digger
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some smoothie who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician's stipend
And the style in which they live,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that they give.

While the ordinary Digger,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever-waffling stand?

Or would you want a Digger
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Digger,
Who would fight until the end?

He was just a common Digger,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his likes again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Digger's part,
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honour
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days."

Anzac Day 2015: Hundreds of thousands attend dawn services to mark 100th anniversary of Gallipoli landings - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Richard

[Captain Kong]

There was a Big Remembrance Day Parade at the Cenotaph in Whitehall London with the Queen. Very similar to the one on Armistice Day 11 November. with representatives from the old Empire.
Military and people from Australia and New Zealand were there.
Also on at Hyde Park Corner Memorial at Dawn with Princess Anne in attendance.
Brian

[Captain Kong]

There was a Big Remembrance Day Parade at the Cenotaph in Whitehall London with the Queen. Very similar to the one on Armistice Day 11 November. with representatives from the old Empire.
Military and people from Australia and New Zealand were there.
Also on at Hyde Park Corner Memorial at Dawn with Princess Anne in attendance.
Brian
.
.
.
.Just read this disgusting news......
Print Email Facebook Twitter More

Anzac Day 2015: Vandals target Australian war cemetery in English village of Harefield

Updated about 10 hours ago


Graffiti on information board in Harefield Anzac cemetery
Photo: The newly erected information board in the main Australian war cemetery in the village of Harefield was painted with graffiti.

Related Story: London's Harefield Hospital to remember Anzac patients


Video: UK village school keeps Anzac memory alive (ABC News)


Map: United Kingdom


The main Australian war cemetery in the UK has been targeted by vandals who sawed through a flagpole and spray-painted a memorial on the eve of Anzac Day.

The attack took place at St Mary's churchyard in Harefield in Middlesex, outside London.

More than 100 Anzacs and one Australian nurse, treated at the nearby Harefield Hospital during WWI, are buried on the site.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), which looks after the graveyard, said today's Anzac Day service would still go ahead, after repairs had taken place.

"Disgusting, absolutely disgusting, for what these lads gave up for us - to be treated like that is just shocking," the commission's Barry Rushton said.

The graves at Harefield have a unique scroll design which was chosen by Anzac patients brought to Harefield - then known as Australian Auxiliary Hospital No. 1 - for treatment from Europe and the Middle East.

Earlier this year the CWGC restored the graves of the Australian servicemen buried at Harefield.

"Ahead of the ceremony, we will either make a clean cut through the pole and have it erected at a lower height, or we will support the pole with brackets," a CWGC spokesman said.

"It will be safe and usable for the ceremony.

"The vandalism is very upsetting for the Commission after all the work that has taken place over the last three months."

Harefield's annual Anzac Day service, which features local school children laying flowers on every grave, started in 1921.

A new visitor information panel featuring smartphone technology revealing the personal stories of some of those buried on the site was also targeted by the vandals.

The CWGC said it was not yet known if the panel unveiling will go ahead.

[Richard Quartermaine]

May they be covered in pig shite and buried in a pig stye.
Wretched.

[Charlie Hannah]

Should be horse whipped,then ten years in the clink hard labor.Probably louts.