LEST WE FORGET

[Carlos & Siran]

I thought it would be nice if each of us listed our Grandparents and Great Grandparents who have fought for our country.

Carlos

My Great Grandfather John Francis Callagher who fought in WW1 in Gallipoli and trained NZ solders in NZ for WW2.

My Grandfather Bernard Francis Long who fought in WW2 in South East Asia.

My Grandpop Arthur Winston Smith who fought in WW2 in the Pacific.

Siran

My Grandfather Ernest Coxshall who fought in WW2.

My Father Russell Paul Ward who was the in the fire services for the Air Force in the South Pacific, Borneo, and in Vietnam during the Vietnam war.

Let us remember their bravery and valor on this day of the ANZACs

And the band played Waltzing Matilda.

By Eric Bogle.

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?

[Barrie]

I strongly recommend doing your family tree at some stage and see the amount of your past that went to all of our wars and those that didn't return

far too many to list... At times like this, I have a look through the tree

[Carlos & Siran]

Is no one prepared to list their Grandparents or is no one proud of the sacrifices they made for this country?....it is ANZAC day people.....

how disappointing :-?

[MarkLB]

William John L B, fought in the Pacific.

William Raeburn White, fought in Egypt.

They both came home but many of their friends didn't.....

We shall remember them

[ryanjury]

No point in naming family members as there will as Barrie said be lots of them, let us just remember those that have served our country and those that have lost their lives in doing so..

Also condolences to the families and friends of the people who died today in the huey crash in Wellington I am not looking forward to work tomorrow..

[aquaplod]

Yes our condolences to all your colleagues and their families too Ryan, Charles just read it on the news. It is shattering news.

Jill and Chas

[Southerrrngirrl]

Is no one prepared to list their Grandparents or is no one proud of the sacrifices they made for this country?....it is ANZAC day people.....

how disappointing :-?

I was going to post earlier, but then decided against it because I don't alot about who of my family was involved in WW2. I know my Grandad (Robert Martin) was involved, stationed in Egypt (I learned this only just yesterday) but I have no idea what he did.

Hubby's Grandad (Edward Heenan) was also in WW2, had something to do with communications in the trenches in Egypt. He apparently wrote a book about it, but does not like to talk about it at all. Hence I guess why my husband knows very little about it.

My husband has just told me that his Great Uncle was a spotter on an island in the Pacific. Him and his company were beheaded when the island was taken over by the Japanese because they were treated as spies.

[elusive_fish]

Here are the service people I know of in our family:

Uncle - served in merchant navy on the Queen Mary (I have his ID)

Uncle's uncle- shot down and killed flying a bristol beaufort in belgium

Grandad (wife's side) - served with the Canadian army. Not sure how, but the wife thinks he was in the airborne.

Opa (wife's side) - served in the wermacht on the eastern front. Apparently met Hitler once.

Great uncle - killed serving on a canadian destroyer trying to save other crew

Apparently my wife's two grandads got on great, despite serving on either side of the war. They NEVER talked about it.