That Visit to The National ANZAC Centre, Albany, continued...

As I commented in the recent post about this place, DH and I went back the next day to go through the building.

( Source for the photos above ; National ANZAC Centre website)

After paying our entry fees we were each given a card. These cards represented a person who served in some way in WW1. ( as well as soldiers and nurses there was a war correspondent/journalist included as well). The personnel selected by the museum represented a cross section of Australians at that time.
 We were also given the little gadget for the audio tour.

In the photo I'm holding up both these items for the camera. Behind me is one of the large screens throughout the complex on which images from the war are projected. 

At 4 points in the museum were machines where you could place your card and the screen would give you details about 'your' defence personnel. I was able to find out when 'my soldier' Private Gordon Naley, joined up, where from, where he was sent and what ship he went on. And best of all, at the 4th point, I found that he survived the war, came home in 1919. Sadly he did die in 1929; so he was still young.

On the website the biographical and service information on Gordon from the museum exhibits, is available. http://www.nationalanzaccentre.com.au/story/gordon-charles-naley

The next photo was taken near the entry to all the exhibition rooms. The video is footage of WW1 soldiers marching...the sound of the marching going non stop is quite a sombre experience...people ( the visitors) whisper in hushed tones. 

We walked around the displays reading boards and listening to the relevant audio tour items. The rooms are quite dark, so I didn't take many photos.

Uniforms...

Nurses' uniforms...this outfit was not the work uniform, but the 'going out' uniform. I read the info board which stated that the nurses complained that this uniform was out of date and, as well as being old fashioned, the nurses said it was impractical...especially the bonnet! 🙁

The back of the bonnet! 

A pith helmet...

A collapsible canvas bucket for the horses' water. 

A room with places to sit and listen to the audio being played through speakers...and what a view while visitors sat and contemplated. 

And in another room there was a marvelous sculpture of a soldier with his horse...

What a wonderful experience we had walking through this  tribute to those who took part in WW1.
DH's card was Lieutenant Colonel Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott and if you would like to check out more about him and the others, the link is here. Just click on the photos, and each will flip over. And then click again and screens will come up with more information about that person.

ANZAC Day...

The other day I asked DH whether he had any photos of his grandfather, George, who served in WW1. So that's how, still dressed in his PJs, DH went through a case and box of his mother's memorabilia of her father. 

The little bundle of items soon piled up...I scanned documents and photos...

Despite the repair with sticky tape, what a find is this? DH's grandfather received a note from George v after winning the Military Medal. 

I took photos...

Not all these are DH's grandfather's medals...some are badges collected by my MiL... 

The medal in the left foreground is from the Boer War; DH's grandpa served in the Tasmanian Army during the Boer War. Note the badge celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Gallipolli Landing...

The medal on the left is the British War Medal and the one on the right is the Victory Medal. No one knows where the Military Medal is.  

We've consequently shared these photos and scanned documents with other family members,who were thrilled to get them. Some had not been aware of their great grandfather's war record. 

Yesterday I happened to be at Greenslopes Hospital which used to be the Repatriation Hospital. This private hospital also cares for veterans which was part of the conditions of sale of the hospital. In the Reception Lobby there were all these giant poppies which were for sale...made by volunteers at the hospital.

Lastly, a photo from social media showing Federation Square in Melbourne which is just a sea of red poppies to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Gallipolli Landing. 

 Lest We Forget...

ANZAC Day 2014...

This day, April 25, is like the Aussie and New Zealand version of Memorial Day in the US, where service men and women are paid tribute for their efforts in times of war...and especially those who died while serving. Services, marches, and ceremonies honour these people. This year DH and I were fortunate in that we were able to join some friends of ours at 2 ANZAC ceremonies in France. In France...you may wonder?? 

I had heard over the years of French villagers who continued to honour the Australian soldiers who, during the First World War helped save these villages from the enemy...I had read articles of how these villagers came to idolise the Aussie soldiers...and this was passed on to the subsequent generations. One such village was Villers Bretonneux. They have never forgotten...each year there would be wreathe laying ceremonies on ANZAC Day. Just outside the village there is a war cemetery where Allied soldiers are buried. 

There is also a huge Australian War Memorial which is the scene of an ANZAC Dawn service each year, attended by dignities from government ( Australian, NZ, Canadian, British, French etc) and all 3 military services plus thousands of ordinary Australians (and some NZ ers)  and many employees from the Department of Veterans' Affairs in the Federal government. 

My friend Carmen's great uncle lost his life in this area and is buried in one of the war cemeteries, and we teamed up with her family and another friend, to be there. ( I also saw another friend who was also there among the 6000...she knew DH and I would be there from Facebook but we didn't know she was even in France...lovely surprise) 

It was the most awe inspiring and emotional experience to have! 

Our alarm was set for 2 am but none of us had gotten much sleep after we had said goodnight at 10pm after meeting up for dinner the night before in Amiens...

We had to meet at the square near the Carlton Hotel in Amiens at 2.55 am to catch our shuttle buses which would take us out to Villers Bretonneux...it was a five minute stroll from our hotel. There were hundreds of people already there when we arrived at 2.45 am...

The buses start to arrive...

We were on the B series of shuttle buses so we had a little longer to wait. My friend had brought over some wreaths made with sprays of wattle (artificial of course) which she would place at the 2 ceremonies.

The drive to the war memorial took approximately 30 minutes. When we arrived we saw the huge numbers if people making their way up the hill to the memorial. It was eerie...people walked silently in the dark...plastic matting made temporary pathways thus avoiding the muddy wet ground.

The Australian flag and the French flag at half mast...

An army officer who served with Carmen's son stops to have a word with him and his family...

The camera crews at the side rush to get footage of a French soldier who was obviously very important...

Before the service, music and vocalists were provided by the Australian Army Band and choirs from The Hutchins School and St Michael's Collegiate School of Hobart. And images from WW1 were projected on the wall of the tower of the memorial.

Near the end of the service was the wreath laying...governments first and finally families...Carmen and her son laid the wreath of wattle sprays...

By the end of the service the sun was up and it was very very cold...

The names of the dead are on the wall you can see in this photo above...they are grouped by battalion and battlefield of the Western Front as it was known in WW1.

I said it was cold didn't I?

Some of the war graves of Commonwealth soldiers who died in battles here in World War 1

After a very welcome hot drink in one of the hospitality tents we headed to where we had to meet B4 shuttle bus which would take us to the village for the next ceremony.

The banner on the village hall building...

The Town Hall was decorated with green and gold bunting and sported 'kangaroos' grazing on the lawn!

Three of the ladies in the centre of the photo are employees of the Dept of Veterans Affairs in the Australian Government and they were organising before the ceremony began... 

A representative of the NZ military hands in a wreath to be presented during the ceremony...

More last minute organising...

Part of the lovely memorial in the village...

The second ceremony was much shorter and of course had more speeches in French from the local dignitaries.the Australian government was against represented by Julie Bishop...the Foreign Minister.

Carmen gets instructions from the paparazzi before she lays the wreath...she ended up having to do it twice ...

And just a few more photos in this lovely village in the Somme district...

We'd seen 2 ladies with glittery Stetson like hats with Aussie flag scarves the day before...sure enough we saw them at the smaller ceremony...here's one of the ladies talking to our bus organiser...

Even though we were exhausted by the time we got back to Amiens...we wouldn't have missed that opportunity for anything!