[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: VE Day

[Shaun Hately]

On 11 May 2005 at 6:15, Ladi lyndi wrote:

> 
> I'm sorry I missed the Shrine when I was in Melbourne.  If I had known
> about it, I would have made sure it was on my itinerary.  There was so
> much to do and so little time it do it in.  However, it is certainly
> on my itinerary for my next visit.

If you get a chance and such things interest you, as they seem to, 
the Shrine is worth seeing - and it's only a short tram trip from 
Flinders Street station.
 
> I was aware that the anniversary of Gallipolli was a big focus.  I
> didn't realise that it was for the reason you state, I thought it was
> due to the high number of casualties.  

Well, casualties certainly were quite significant.

7818 Australians were killed at Gallipoli.

But there were far more significant casualty lists - Australia lost 
23,000 at the Somme a year later. 10,000 at Bullecourt in 1917.

On 7th June, 1917, Australia lost 7,000 - nearly as many as in the 
eight months of Gallipoli - in a single day at Messines. We suffered 
38,000 casualties during the Ypres offensive.

Now bear in mind - that in all the above cases, Australian troops 
were only a relatively small proportion of the numbers involved - 
these battles were massive. 

The thing is - while Gallipoli was bad, it pales compared to what 
came later. Gallipoli is important here because it represents 
Australia's baptism in blood. The first time, Australians, as 
Australians, had done anything significant on the world stage. For 
New Zealand, it was somewhat similar - but even though New Zealand 
had only recently achieved status as an independent dominion, it had 
been a united colony for quite a while (Australia was a collection of 
colonies until 1901 - not one entity).

Actually, Australia had become independent during the Boer War - and 
the Australia Commonwealth Horse were sent to fight in that war - but 
virtually all units had started out as colonial units. And, in all 
honesty, the only story most Australians know about our involvement 
in the Boer War is that of Breaker Morant - it's a great story, but 
it's not exactly a stirring one - depending on how you look at it, 
Morant was either a war criminal, or a scapegoat, sacrificed to try 
and secure peace (personally, I think he was a bit of both - and I 
commend his story to anyone who finds history interesting).

So Gallipoli was really the first.

And it inspired one of the great Australian ballads:

Now when I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover
>From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback,
Well, I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in 1915, my country said, "Son,
It's time you stop ramblin', there's work to be done."
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun,
And they marched me away to the war.

And the band played "Waltzing Matilda"
As the ship pulled away from the quay,
And amidst all the cheers, the flag waving, and tears,
We sailed off for Gallipoli.

And how well I remember that terrible day
How our blood stained the sand and the water
And of how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk, he was waitin', he primed himself well
He showered us with bullets, and he rained us with shell
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"
When we stopped to bury our slain
Well, we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs,
Then we started all over again

And those that were left, well, we tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
Though around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I woke up in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead
Never knew there was worse things than dying

For I'll go no more "Waltzing Matilda"
All around the green bush far and free
To hump tents and pegs, a man needs both legs
No more "Waltzing Matilda" for me

So they gathered the crippled, 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 sailed into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve, to mourn and to pity

But the band played "Waltzing Matilda"
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then they turned all their faces away

And so now every April, I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reviving old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
And I ask meself the same question.

But the band plays "Waltzing Matilda"
And the old men still answer the call
But as year follows year, more old men disappear
Someday, 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 they march by the billabong,
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia