Coincidence and memory triggers can be odd. On TV tonight a bloke at Gallipoli quoted a line from a poem I had not heard for fifty years. Then an American asked about Waltzing Matilda tonight and it led to a search. This was written during the Gallipoli period. Federation was only fifteen years earlier and the unity was still pretty fragile before the war.
Posted Feb 16, 2013, 10:30 AM UTC
Thank you.
A little more info:
So now we'll toast the Third Brigade,
That led Australia's van,
For never shall their glory fade
In minds Australian.
From First to Fall
The first group ashore landed at dawn; they were the so-called 'covering force' whose task was to drive the Turkish defenders into the hills. After that the main force would come ashore.
The dawn 'Landing' was carried out by the four infantry battalions of the 3rd Brigade, First Australian Division. These men came from what Charles Bean, Australia's official historian, called the 'outer states' – Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland.
Thank you for this.
Compare this with the rubbish spoken on TV these days (about anything at all) and weep for our Australian widescreen-less past.
Am I supposed to be proud that my ancestors were used as pawns in a suicidally stupid attempt to invade Turkey by the British Empire?
Despising those who used and abused them does not make me less proud of the men who served.
That sentiment applies for every Aussie soldier since the Boer war.
In the case of Gallipoli though, why?
I mean, it's not like they were fighting for a decent cause or anything.
Being proud of the men who served has to do with how and why they served, not how and why their politicians and monarchs sent them to war or their generals sent them to battle.
Why would the lack of a cause worthy in your eyes diminish their bravery at Lone Pine any more than at Long Tan?
I was lucky. Despite being in the RAAF at the time I was never sent to Vietnam. That war should never have occurred and our troops should never have been sent, but that did not diminish my respect for my mates who went. Nor did it diminish my disgust for the way they were treated when they returned.
The treatment of the Vietnam vets is a shameful episode in our history; far too many young people who had attitudes just like yours led to that.
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Why would the lack of a cause worthy in your eyes diminish their bravery at Lone Pine any more than at Long Tan?
I believe in fighting for a cause. I don't believe in fighting for fighting's sake (however brave you are for doing it).
No, you're supposed to be proud that they succeeded.
This is irony, isn't it? The whole purpose of the Gallipoli campaign was to gain control of the Dardanelles, so Britain and France could get supplies through to Russia. Tens of thousands of people died (mostly Irish and British, just fyi) and it was all for nothing, as they ended up having to withdraw.
This is beautiful. Banjo's certainly earned his place on the $10 note.