One week ago we held our Dawn Service for Anzac day. It was an incredible sunrise and service. Every year Graeme writes a very special speech which I have included at the end of this post.
Thankyou to everyone for taking the time this morning to join us for the ANZAC service. It is great to be able to have you here on such a special commemorative occasion.
The order of service will be reading of the Ode, The Last Post will be played followed by a minutes silence, raising of the flag to Rouse and to end the service the National Anthem will be played.
Every year Australians gather in a day of remembrance for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in times of war. The ANZAC day tradition was established after the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the beaches of Gallipoli Turkey on the 25th of April 1915. The Australian servicemen and women have forged a legacy of courage, endurance, mateship and determination throughout many campaigns. The Boer War, WW 1 campaigns such as Villers-Bretonneux, Palestine, the Somme, Pashendale to WW2 campaigns of Tobruk, El Alamein, Kokoda, and conflicts to follow in Korea, Vietnam, Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 102,000 men and women sacrificed their lives for this country, they gave up their dreams, their hopes, and loved ones in a fight for their beliefs of a better world.
For younger generations, it is sometimes difficult to understand why it is with gratitude that we should remember, we have enjoyed the benefits of the peace and easy existence which was purchased at the cost of many lives. Few of us have ever had to risk everything or chance our loved ones to the dangers of war. For the older generations of Australians, remembering such things is easier. We as a generation need to ensure our children and children’s children remember, respect and learn of the services of Australian men and women in wartime and peace. It is not to glorify war but educate in hope that these dark times in our country’s past will never be replayed in the future. I found a small passage that brings it home why we must remember and share their stories:
The beautiful marble monuments we chisel will eventually erode.
The grand iron statues we cast will eventually rust.
So let us carve them from our stories, and let them live eternal in our collective memory.
These are the people and the stories of our nation.
Air Marshal Hupfeld
We are reminded with the war in Ukraine, about the importance of strong political leaders with the ability to overcome disagreements peacefully with the conflict in Ukraine unfolding. The cost of civilian lives, their way of life and untold hardship placed on them during times of conflict must be at the forefront of leaders’ decisions. When all avenues are lost to peace we then need to turn to our own military personnel as we have done in the past to restore balance, as confronting and disturbing to many as it is, we need good men to do bad things. We need personnel to uphold what is right and ensure that they are supported in doing so, as written in the ode.
I would like to call forward Mark Duperuzal To recite In Flanders Fields. This poem was written on May 3 1915 by Lt Col John Mcrae after presiding over the funeral of his friend and fellow soldier killed in the second battle of Ypres Belgium. It references the red poppies that grew over the graves of fallen soldiers on the western front and thus becoming one of the most recognized symbols for soldiers who have died in conflict.
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.
John McCrae
The ode is a selection taken from the poem written by Laurence Binyon in 1914 called “The Fallen” A few verses of this poem I believe embodies the huge loss and overwhelming sacrifice made by the fallen in battle. I will read the poem in full and would really like you to join in with me to recite the ode at the end for one more time.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that 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. They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables at home; They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; They sleep beyond England’s foam. But where our desires are and our hopes profound, Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the Night; As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain, As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain.
Laurence Binyon
Please join in with me:
They shall grow not old, as we that 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.
I will now read the ANZAC Prayer of remembrance.
God of Love and Liberty, We bring our thanks this day for the peace and security we enjoy, which was won for us through the courage and devotion of those who gave their lives in time of war. We pray that their labour and sacrifice may not be in vain, but that their spirit may live on in us and in generations to come. That the liberty, truth and justice which they sought to preserve may be seen and known in all the nations upon earth.
We will now play the last post, observe a minute’s silence, raise the flag to rouse, and sing the national anthem.
Thank you again for taking the time to be here with us on this special day of remembrance for all service personnel both past and present.
It is important for us to uphold and pass on these ANZAC traditions that were formed to show respect and gratitude for men and women who paid the ultimate price and of those that lived with the burden of war.
Please enjoy this amazing day. That concludes the service.
