ANZAC 2018

General conversation and chit chat - The place for non-shooting specific topics. Introduce yourself here.

ANZAC 2018

Post by Daddybang » 25 Apr 2018, 4:47 am

Lest We Forget!! :drinks:

20180425_044027.jpg
20180425_044027.jpg (549.44 KiB) Viewed 2387 times
This hard living ain't as easy as it used to be!!!
Daddybang
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
 
Posts: 2012
Queensland

Re: ANZAC 2018

Post by Bent Arrow » 25 Apr 2018, 8:35 am

Lest we forget.
Bent Arrow
Staff Sergeant
Staff Sergeant
 
Posts: 753
South Australia

Re: ANZAC 2018

Post by Oldbloke » 25 Apr 2018, 10:14 am

I went to the local RSL. Pretty big gathering and good to see.

They shall grow not old as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them

Lest we forget
The greatest invention in the history of man is beer.
https://youtu.be/2v3QrUvYj-Y
Member. SFFP, Shooters Union.
SSAA, the powerful gun lobby. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Hunt safe.
User avatar
Oldbloke
Field Marshal
Field Marshal
 
Posts: 11192
Victoria

Re: ANZAC 2018

Post by SHEFFO » 25 Apr 2018, 11:22 am

I was sent this today, It's a bit long, but worth a read.

The Anzac on the Wall

I wandered through a country town ‘cos I had time to spare,
And went into an antique shop to see what was in there.
Old bikes and pumps and kero lamps, but hidden by it all,
A photo of a soldier boy – an Anzac on the Wall.

“The Anzac have a name?” I asked. The old man answered “no,.
The ones who could have told me mate, have passed on long ago".
The old man kept on talking and, according to his tale,
The photo was unwanted junk bought from a clearance sale.

“I asked around,” the old man said, “but no one knows his face,
He’s been on that wall twenty years, deserves a better place.
For some one must have loved him so, it seems a shame somehow.”
I nodded in agreement and then said, “I’ll take him now.”

My nameless digger’s photo, well it was a sorry sight
A cracked glass pane and a broken frame – I had to make it right
To prise the photo from its frame I took care just in case,
“Cause only sticky paper held the cardboard back in place.

I peeled away the faded screed and much to my surprise,
Two letters and a telegram appeared before my eyes
The first reveals my Anzac’s name, and regiment of course
John Mathew Francis Stuart – of Australia’s own Light Horse.

This letter written from the front, my interest now was keen
This note was dated August seventh 1917
“Dear Mum, I’m at Khalasa Springs not far from the Red Sea
They say it’s in the Bible – looks like Billabong to me.

“My Kathy wrote I’m in her prayers she’s still my bride to be
I just can’t wait to see you both you’re all the world to me
And Mum you’ll soon meet Bluey, last month they shipped him out
I told him to call on you when he’s up and about.”

“That bluey is a larrikin, and we all thought it funny
He lobbed a Turkish hand grenade into the Co’s dunny.
I told you how he dragged me wounded in from no man’s land
He stopped the bleeding closed the wound with only his bare hand.”

“Then he copped it at the front from some stray shrapnel blast
It was my turn to drag him in and I thought he wouldn’t last
He woke up in hospital, and nearly lost his mind
Cause out there on the battlefield he’d left one leg behind.”

“He’s been in a bad way mum, he knows he’ll ride no more
Like me he loves a horse’s back he was a champ before.
So Please Mum can you take him in, he’s been like my brother
Raised in a Queensland orphanage he’s never known a mother.”

But Struth, I miss Australia mum, and in my mind each day
I am a mountain cattleman on high plains far away
I’m mustering white-faced cattle, with no camel’s hump in sight
And I waltz my Matilda by a campfire every night

I wonder who rides Billy, I heard the pub burnt down
I’ll always love you and please say hooroo to all in town”.
The second letter I could see was in a lady’s hand
An answer to her soldier son there in a foreign land

Her copperplate was perfect, the pages neat and clean
It bore the date November 3rd 1917.
“T’was hard enough to lose your Dad, without you at the war
I’d hoped you would be home by now – each day I miss you more”

“Your Kathy calls around a lot since you have been away
To share with me her hopes and dreams about our wedding day
And Bluey has arrived – and what a godsend he has been
We talked and laughed for days about the things you’ve done and seen”

“He really is a comfort, and works hard around the farm,
I read the same hope in his eyes that you wont come to harm.
Mc Connell’s kids rode Billy, but suddenly that changed
We had a violent lightning storm, and it was really strange.”

“Last Wednesday just on midnight, not a single cloud in sight
It raged for several minutes, it gave us all a fright
It really spooked your Billy – and he screamed and bucked and reared
And then he rushed the sliprail fence, which by a foot he cleared”

“They brought him back next afternoon, but something’s changed I fear
It’s like the day you brought him home, for no one can get near
Remember when you caught him with his black and flowing mane?
Now Horse breakers fear the beast that only you can tame,”

“That’s why we need you home son” – then the flow of ink went dry –
This letter was unfinished, and I couldn’t work out why.
Until I started reading the letter number three
A yellow telegram delivered news of tragedy

Her son killed in action – oh – what pain that must have been
The Same date as her letter – 3rd November 17
This letter which was never sent, became then one of three
She sealed behind the photo’s face – the face she longed to see.

And John’s home town’s old timers – children when he went to war
Would say no greater cattleman had left the town before.
They knew his widowed mother well – and with respect did tell
How when she lost her only boy she lost her mind as well.

She could not face the awful truth, to strangers she would speak
“My Johnny’s at the war you know, he’s coming home next week.”
They all remembered Bluey he stayed on to the end
A younger man with wooden leg became her closest friend

And he would go and find her when she wandered old and weak
And always softly say “yes dear – John will be home next week.”
Then when she died Bluey moved on, to Queensland some did say
I tried to find out where he went, but don’t know to this day

And Kathy never wed – a lonely spinster some found odd
She wouldn’t set foot in a church – she’d turned her back on God
John’s mother left no will I learned on my detective trail
This explains my photo’s journey, that clearance sale

So I continued digging cause I wanted to know more
I found John’s name with thousands in the records of the war
His last ride proved his courage – a ride you will acclaim
The Light Horse Charge at Beersheba of everlasting fame

That last day in October back in 1917
At 4pm our brave boys fell – that sad fact I did glean
That’s when John’s life was sacrificed, the record’s crystal clear
But 4 pm in Beersheba is midnight over here ……

So as John’s gallant sprit rose to cross the great divide
Were lightning bolts back home a signal from the other side?
Is that why Billy bolted and went racing as in pain?
Because he’d never feel his master on his back again?

Was it coincidental? Same time – same day – same date?
Some proof of numerology, or just a quirk of fate?
I think it’s more than that, you know, as I’ve heard wiser men,
Acknowledge there are many things that go beyond our ken

Where craggy peaks guard secrets neath dark skies torn asunder
Where hoofbeats are companions to the rolling waves of thunder
Where lightning cracks like 303’s and ricochets again
Where howling moaning gusts of wind sound just like dying men

Some Mountain cattlemen have sworn on lonely alpine track
They've glimpsed a huge black stallion – Light Horseman on his back.
Yes Sceptics say, it’s swirling clouds just forming apparitions
Oh no, my friend you cant dismiss all this as superstition

The desert of Beersheba – or windswept Aussie range
John Stuart rides forever there – Now I don’t find that strange
Now some gaze at this photo, and they often question me
And I tell the a small white lie, and say he’s family.

“You must be proud of him.” They say – I tell them, one and all,
That’s why he takes the pride of place – my Anzac on the Wall.


Poem by Jim Brown
Rossi Puma .22 [] Rem 7615 .223 [] Rem 700 .308 [] Chiappa 1892 44RM [] Pardus LAX [] Springfield 1903A3 30-06
SHEFFO
Recruit
Recruit
 
Posts: 6
Queensland

Re: ANZAC 2018

Post by JimTom » 25 Apr 2018, 11:40 am

Well said Gents.

Lest we forget.
User avatar
JimTom
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
 
Posts: 2130
Queensland

Re: ANZAC 2018

Post by Baz460 » 25 Apr 2018, 7:19 pm

Great to see that the Anzac spirit lives on.

Lest we forget.
Baz460
Lance Corporal
Lance Corporal
 
Posts: 130
Queensland

Re: ANZAC 2018

Post by Bent Arrow » 25 Apr 2018, 8:46 pm

SHEFFO wrote:I was sent this today, It's a bit long, but worth a read.

The Anzac on the Wall

I wandered through a country town ‘cos I had time to spare,
And went into an antique shop to see what was in there.
Old bikes and pumps and kero lamps, but hidden by it all,
A photo of a soldier boy – an Anzac on the Wall.

“The Anzac have a name?” I asked. The old man answered “no,.
The ones who could have told me mate, have passed on long ago".
The old man kept on talking and, according to his tale,
The photo was unwanted junk bought from a clearance sale.

“I asked around,” the old man said, “but no one knows his face,
He’s been on that wall twenty years, deserves a better place.
For some one must have loved him so, it seems a shame somehow.”
I nodded in agreement and then said, “I’ll take him now.”

My nameless digger’s photo, well it was a sorry sight
A cracked glass pane and a broken frame – I had to make it right
To prise the photo from its frame I took care just in case,
“Cause only sticky paper held the cardboard back in place.

I peeled away the faded screed and much to my surprise,
Two letters and a telegram appeared before my eyes
The first reveals my Anzac’s name, and regiment of course
John Mathew Francis Stuart – of Australia’s own Light Horse.

This letter written from the front, my interest now was keen
This note was dated August seventh 1917
“Dear Mum, I’m at Khalasa Springs not far from the Red Sea
They say it’s in the Bible – looks like Billabong to me.

“My Kathy wrote I’m in her prayers she’s still my bride to be
I just can’t wait to see you both you’re all the world to me
And Mum you’ll soon meet Bluey, last month they shipped him out
I told him to call on you when he’s up and about.”

“That bluey is a larrikin, and we all thought it funny
He lobbed a Turkish hand grenade into the Co’s dunny.
I told you how he dragged me wounded in from no man’s land
He stopped the bleeding closed the wound with only his bare hand.”

“Then he copped it at the front from some stray shrapnel blast
It was my turn to drag him in and I thought he wouldn’t last
He woke up in hospital, and nearly lost his mind
Cause out there on the battlefield he’d left one leg behind.”

“He’s been in a bad way mum, he knows he’ll ride no more
Like me he loves a horse’s back he was a champ before.
So Please Mum can you take him in, he’s been like my brother
Raised in a Queensland orphanage he’s never known a mother.”

But Struth, I miss Australia mum, and in my mind each day
I am a mountain cattleman on high plains far away
I’m mustering white-faced cattle, with no camel’s hump in sight
And I waltz my Matilda by a campfire every night

I wonder who rides Billy, I heard the pub burnt down
I’ll always love you and please say hooroo to all in town”.
The second letter I could see was in a lady’s hand
An answer to her soldier son there in a foreign land

Her copperplate was perfect, the pages neat and clean
It bore the date November 3rd 1917.
“T’was hard enough to lose your Dad, without you at the war
I’d hoped you would be home by now – each day I miss you more”

“Your Kathy calls around a lot since you have been away
To share with me her hopes and dreams about our wedding day
And Bluey has arrived – and what a godsend he has been
We talked and laughed for days about the things you’ve done and seen”

“He really is a comfort, and works hard around the farm,
I read the same hope in his eyes that you wont come to harm.
Mc Connell’s kids rode Billy, but suddenly that changed
We had a violent lightning storm, and it was really strange.”

“Last Wednesday just on midnight, not a single cloud in sight
It raged for several minutes, it gave us all a fright
It really spooked your Billy – and he screamed and bucked and reared
And then he rushed the sliprail fence, which by a foot he cleared”

“They brought him back next afternoon, but something’s changed I fear
It’s like the day you brought him home, for no one can get near
Remember when you caught him with his black and flowing mane?
Now Horse breakers fear the beast that only you can tame,”

“That’s why we need you home son” – then the flow of ink went dry –
This letter was unfinished, and I couldn’t work out why.
Until I started reading the letter number three
A yellow telegram delivered news of tragedy

Her son killed in action – oh – what pain that must have been
The Same date as her letter – 3rd November 17
This letter which was never sent, became then one of three
She sealed behind the photo’s face – the face she longed to see.

And John’s home town’s old timers – children when he went to war
Would say no greater cattleman had left the town before.
They knew his widowed mother well – and with respect did tell
How when she lost her only boy she lost her mind as well.

She could not face the awful truth, to strangers she would speak
“My Johnny’s at the war you know, he’s coming home next week.”
They all remembered Bluey he stayed on to the end
A younger man with wooden leg became her closest friend

And he would go and find her when she wandered old and weak
And always softly say “yes dear – John will be home next week.”
Then when she died Bluey moved on, to Queensland some did say
I tried to find out where he went, but don’t know to this day

And Kathy never wed – a lonely spinster some found odd
She wouldn’t set foot in a church – she’d turned her back on God
John’s mother left no will I learned on my detective trail
This explains my photo’s journey, that clearance sale

So I continued digging cause I wanted to know more
I found John’s name with thousands in the records of the war
His last ride proved his courage – a ride you will acclaim
The Light Horse Charge at Beersheba of everlasting fame

That last day in October back in 1917
At 4pm our brave boys fell – that sad fact I did glean
That’s when John’s life was sacrificed, the record’s crystal clear
But 4 pm in Beersheba is midnight over here ……

So as John’s gallant sprit rose to cross the great divide
Were lightning bolts back home a signal from the other side?
Is that why Billy bolted and went racing as in pain?
Because he’d never feel his master on his back again?

Was it coincidental? Same time – same day – same date?
Some proof of numerology, or just a quirk of fate?
I think it’s more than that, you know, as I’ve heard wiser men,
Acknowledge there are many things that go beyond our ken

Where craggy peaks guard secrets neath dark skies torn asunder
Where hoofbeats are companions to the rolling waves of thunder
Where lightning cracks like 303’s and ricochets again
Where howling moaning gusts of wind sound just like dying men

Some Mountain cattlemen have sworn on lonely alpine track
They've glimpsed a huge black stallion – Light Horseman on his back.
Yes Sceptics say, it’s swirling clouds just forming apparitions
Oh no, my friend you cant dismiss all this as superstition

The desert of Beersheba – or windswept Aussie range
John Stuart rides forever there – Now I don’t find that strange
Now some gaze at this photo, and they often question me
And I tell the a small white lie, and say he’s family.

“You must be proud of him.” They say – I tell them, one and all,
That’s why he takes the pride of place – my Anzac on the Wall.


Poem by Jim Brown



Ripper poem mate. Brought a tear to the corner of my eye. My great grandfather was in D company 10th battalion and was amongst the first on the beach early on the first day, and took serious gunshot wounds to his legs on the 30th. He was transferred to the 50th when the battalions were split and then transferred to the 51st. He returned to his unit and we believe he was at Mouquet farm. On my wife's side of the family they lost two brothers at Gallipoli. Obviously any of these sort of stories of personal experiences tug at the heart.....

Is Jim Brown a friend/family member ?
Bent Arrow
Staff Sergeant
Staff Sergeant
 
Posts: 753
South Australia

Re: ANZAC 2018

Post by bigrich » 25 Apr 2018, 9:01 pm

my grandfather grew up during the great depression during the 1930's and enlisted to fight in ww2. he fought in retaking the island of rabaul in new guinea .made the army his carrer and reached the rank of regimental sargent major .got a education in the australian army and ended up a top teacher in history and english at the exclusive church of england school in brisbane (churchie) in the 1960's. i haven't forgotten , he suffered PTS after WW2 which impacted my mothers and uncles and aunts childhood. his generation didn't talk about the horror's they saw, they just bottled it up and got on with their lives. i have inherited his service medals and i haven't forgotten his and others sacrifice. he and the others are not forgotten. lest we forget
User avatar
bigrich
Brigadier
Brigadier
 
Posts: 4483
Queensland

Re: ANZAC 2018

Post by GLS_1956 » 25 Apr 2018, 11:09 pm

[quote="SHEFFO"]I was sent this today, It's a bit long, but worth a read.

The Anzac on the Wall

Thank you, SHEFFO.
I've been asked: "How many guns do you need to have?" My answer remains the same: "One more."
GLS_1956
Sergeant
Sergeant
 
Posts: 541
United States of America

Re: ANZAC 2018

Post by darwindingo » 26 Apr 2018, 1:34 am

I try to spend a few minutes every day of my life to think about all those that have gone into harms way to give us the lives and freedoms we enjoy...

They are what we are made of and should all aspire to be like..... There will never be words to express how grateful I am to those that have or are willing to venture into harms way to preserve our freedom..

They will (all) always be in my heart and my thoughts...
“Accidental Discharges” DO NOT OCCUR !!

An "Unintended Discharge" is nothing more than the lack of appropriate safety procedures or the failure to follow them..!

I love my country, but fear my government.
User avatar
darwindingo
Sergeant
Sergeant
 
Posts: 596
-

Re: ANZAC 2018

Post by Heckler303 » 26 Apr 2018, 6:47 am

I was very happy to see so many young people akin to myself at the dawn service. Great to have such a gathering even though the morning was bitterly cold.
If something doesn't work, apply rule .303!
Title_II wrote:If you carry a fun in Australia you will go to jail.
User avatar
Heckler303
Staff Sergeant
Staff Sergeant
 
Posts: 824
Tasmania

Re: ANZAC 2018

Post by Daddybang » 26 Apr 2018, 8:02 am

GLS_1956 wrote:
SHEFFO wrote:I was sent this today, It's a bit long, but worth a read.

The Anzac on the Wall

Thank you, SHEFFO.


+1 thanks for posting sheffo. :drinks:

Heckler303 wrote:I was very happy to see so many young people akin to myself at the dawn service. Great to have such a gathering even though the morning was bitterly cold.


Yeah heck it seems every year there's more youngsters getting to the dawn services. Great to see :thumbsup: :drinks:

darwindingo wrote:I try to spend a few minutes every day of my life to think about all those that have gone into harms way to give us the lives and freedoms we enjoy...

They are what we are made of and should all aspire to be like..... There will never be words to express how grateful I am to those that have or are willing to venture into harms way to preserve our freedom..

They will (all) always be in my heart and my thoughts...


Bloody well said DD :drinks:
This hard living ain't as easy as it used to be!!!
Daddybang
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
 
Posts: 2012
Queensland

Re: ANZAC 2018

Post by SHEFFO » 26 Apr 2018, 12:43 pm

Is Jim Brown a friend/family member ?[/quote]


No mate, no connection to him at all.
Rossi Puma .22 [] Rem 7615 .223 [] Rem 700 .308 [] Chiappa 1892 44RM [] Pardus LAX [] Springfield 1903A3 30-06
SHEFFO
Recruit
Recruit
 
Posts: 6
Queensland


Back to top
 
Return to Off topic - General conversation