Why we should remember not to forget

Biteme says:

05:44am | 11/11/10

One of the sad things on this day, was that Commanders of troops knew the Armistice would come into effect at 11am were but still sending troops over trenches into machine gun fire just minutes before the ceasefire. Lest We Forget.

Poppy F says:

08:12am | 11/11/10

Amen to that, Macca. The two are different. Although think there’s plenty of room for both. Seems a bit tight for folk who died for their country to only get one day a year we think about them?

ImaWestie says:

08:57am | 11/11/10

No list of the fallen from Afghanastan? We’re still fighting that one you know.

Phil says:

09:01am | 11/11/10

I agree Macca.
But also, to me, ANZAC day is about bouh wars. While there is the name change, I still think of Remembrance day or Armistice day as just WWI.
To me, the devastation and effects of WWI are more significant. There is nothing more emotive then being at Tyne Cot, seeing all those graves that read ‘A soldier known only onto God’ on Remembrance day.

@Biteme
I know, which just goes to highlight the futility of the First World War. Nothing but mass butchery on the Western Front. General Sir Douglas Haig should be considered a war criminal

Seanaldo says:

09:07am | 11/11/10

Evidently ANZAC Day helps everyone to remember the sacrifice of war more effectively than Remembrance Day because there are special cookies made?  That’s pretty naive’..  Dan you hit the nail on the head and I think that the ‘11 o’clock pause’ has been translated to the time that we do consider what those conditions and events would have been like.  Surely that is good acknowledgement and is more effective that standing silently on the train at a precise time.  Hopefully more people have these quiet and personal acknowledgements on a scale that exceeds our expectations.  Nothing deserves more thought and consideration.

Raguel says:

11:27am | 11/11/10

A bit of history for the day… worth the read.

COL McCrae’s “In Flanders’ Fields” remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915.

In Flanders’ Fields

In Flanders’ Fields the poppies blow
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.

COL McCrae was wounded in May 1918 and taken to hospital on the coast of France. On the third evening he was wheeled to the balcony of his room to look over the sea towards the cliffs of Dover. The verses were obviously in his mind, for he said to the doctor ““ell them, if ye break faith with us who die we shall not sleep.” That same night COL McCrae died. Each Remembrance Day the British Legion lays a wreath on his grave – a tribute to a great man whose thoughts were always for others.
The wearing of the poppy to keep faith began when an American, Miss Moira Michael, read the poem “In Flanders Field” and was so greatly impressed that she decided always to wear a poppy to keep the faith. Miss Michael wrote a reply after reading “In Flanders Field” entitled “We Shall Keep the Faith”:

Oh! You who sleep in Flanders’ fields,
Sleep sweet – to rise anew;
We caught the torch you threw;
And holding high we kept
The faith with those who died.
We cherish, too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valour led.
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders’ Fields.
And now the torch and poppy red
Wear in honour of our dead
Fear not that ye have died for naught
We’ve learned the lesson that ye taught
In Flanders’ Fields.

Miss Michael worked for the YMCA in America and on Saturday 9 November 1918 hosted a meeting of YMCA wartime secretaries from other countries. When several of the secretaries presented her with a small gift of money to thank her for her hospitality, she said she would spend it on poppies and told them the story of McCrae’s poem and her decision to always wear a red poppy.
The French secretary, Madame Guerin, conceived the idea of selling artificial poppies to raise money to help needy soldiers and their families, and she approached organisations among the countries of the world that had fought as allies in Europe to promote the concept.
In England in 1919, the British Legion was formed to foster the interest of ex-servicemen and their dependants, and the late Field Marshal Earl Haig, the first Grand President, sought an emblem which would honour the dead and help the living. He adopted the Poppy as that emblem, and since then the Red Poppy has been accepted as the Emblem of Remembrance. The day chosen for the wearing of the emblems was 11 November, now a Day of Remembrance to honour the dead of both World Wars, Korea, Malaya and Vietnam.
The League adopted the idea in 1921, announcing, “The Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia and other Returned Soldiers Organisations throughout the British Empire and Allied Countries have passed resolutions at their international conventions to recognise the Poppy of Flanders’ Fields as the international memorial flower to be worn on the anniversary of Armistice Day.
‘In adopting the Poppy of Flanders’ Fields as the Memorial Flower to be worn by all Returned Soldiers on the above mentioned day, we recognise that no emblem so well typifies the Fields whereon was fought the greatest war in the history of the world nor sanctifies so truly the last resting place of our brave dead who remain in France’.
‘The Returned Sailors and Soldiers of Australia join their comrades of the British Empire and Allied Countries in asking people of Australia to wear the poppy; firstly in memory of our sacred dead who rest in Flanders’ Fields; secondly to keep alive the memories of the sacred cause for which they laid down their lives; and thirdly as a bond of esteem and affection between the soldiers of all Allied nations and in respect for France, our common battle ground.’

Gallipoli says:

09:55pm | 28/12/10

ANZAC & Gallipoli was like a dream. It was a fantastic place with its history and incredible natural surroundings and also entertainment. I spent 3 unforgettable days in there with my family. I would like to special thanks for the company TTG Travel They provided us a very professional and comfortable vacation http://www.toursingallipoli.com my trip was wonderful in Gallipoli .The program was planned by Gallipoli daily city tours and i vanna thank you to them because of perfect tours We joined the half day city tour and i can just say it was great.