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Lest we forget |
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acacia alba
Champion Joined: 30 Oct 2010 Location: Hunter Valley Status: Offline Points: 41547 |
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Remembrance Day - 11th hour, of the 11th Day of the 11th Month In Flanders Fields 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. By Dr John McCrae, 1915 Lest We Forget |
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animals before people.
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acacia alba
Champion Joined: 30 Oct 2010 Location: Hunter Valley Status: Offline Points: 41547 |
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animals before people.
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acacia alba
Champion Joined: 30 Oct 2010 Location: Hunter Valley Status: Offline Points: 41547 |
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Next Sunday on ABC TV Landline will be a tribute story of Bill The Bastard, the hero horse of the second war. The book is worth a read, and I reckon the program should be worth a look.
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animals before people.
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Gay3
Moderator Group Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Location: Miners Rest Status: Offline Points: 52023 |
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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acacia alba
Champion Joined: 30 Oct 2010 Location: Hunter Valley Status: Offline Points: 41547 |
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The painting is by Sandi Lear and if you google her you can see her latest work , of a war horse, called The Veteran, along with this moving tribute. "The Veteran" 1140mm x 730mm on Arches 300gsm rough. "The veteran, has survived, not without scars....sometimes visible...sometimes not. Out of the darkness and into the light, life refreshed but burdens remembered, as if filling a well, some of the life giving moisture is taken out, the light dimmed; and then a refreshing change starts to fill it again, for some never to be quenched. Whilst our incredibly brave men and women of the forces are repatriated, (although many lie in foreign graves or remain missing) our brave animal troops are too often left behind. Horses have always been a willing sacrifice for our forces overseas, rarely to return; and still, those remaining at home, now see service in helping our injured veterans learn to live with PTSD. Their gift keeps on giving....and yet, as with our own kind, do we say thank you twice a year and then turn away? As with our own kind, when we look in their eyes do we see their stories? Do we feel their pain? Do we acknowledge the anguish of being torn from their mates, their band, their brothers & sisters? Do we understand that their trust remains steady even as we leave them behind? Together our veterans of all the forces, as with our Lighthorse, forged unbreakable bonds, ties so deep as to be unfathomable, only to say goodbye. So, as the Lighthorseman gave his best mate his last drink, he gave him the final gift, sending him to greener pastures, forever young. At last the broken-hearted men returned home, heavy hearts, mourning. How is it possible to thank a veteran, man or beast, for a service we cannot hope to comprehend? We NEVER forget, we will EVER say thank you, we bow our heads in grief but with a camaraderie that all those who served, brought to us, taught us. This is what unites us as a nation, the expression of deep gratitude and a promise Lest We Forget. " ©2021 Sandi Lear, all rights reserved. |
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animals before people.
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acacia alba
Champion Joined: 30 Oct 2010 Location: Hunter Valley Status: Offline Points: 41547 |
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© Provided by ABC NEWS
The deeds of Tasmania's Victoria Cross recipients range from service in the Boer War to Afghanistan. (Supplied)
Feeling as though Tasmania's 15 Victoria Cross recipients were being increasingly forgotten, Kerri Statton embarked on what she was told was an impossible task getting all the families together in one place. Her constant phone calls and messages will pay off on Tuesday when two descendants from each family sit down for lunch at the Tasmanian Club in Hobart. "Ringing these descendants, finding them to be told I couldn't find 15 and to have found them all, I was so excited," she said. "This event is a once-in-a-lifetime event it's never happened in Australia and it hasn't happened anywhere." "The recipients have had reunions, the descendants have never had a reunion, and from what I've been told that is Australia-wide I'm even hearing it as far as Canada." Mrs Statton is the great-granddaughter of Sergeant Percy Statton, who was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for rescuing two badly wounded men while under heavy fire near Proyart in France, in August 1918. She said she found it "sad" that Tasmania's VC recipients were rarely talked about and wanted to spark conversations about them.
"I'm hoping out of tomorrow's luncheon that we all stay connected. "We're all getting older, but [I hope] the 13 that are 100-odd years old start to get remembered again, bring them back into history again." Family members attending the luncheon range from children of recipients to cousins, great-grandchildren and even a father, with six families travelling from interstate for the event. Thirteen of the 15 Tasmanian Victoria Cross recipients were awarded the honour for deeds during World War I, one for service in Afghanistan and another for his heroism in World War II. Ordinary Seaman Edward , 78 years after his death in World War II, while Burnie-born Corporal Cameron Baird was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2013. 'He'd be proud we came'Caroline Gee, daughter of Lance Corporal Bernard Sidney Gordon, has flown from Queensland to Tasmania with her daughter Judith to attend the luncheon. Lance Corporal Gordon was born in Launceston and worked as a cooper's machinist in Beaconsfield, before moving to Queensland, where he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1915. He was awarded the VC for attacking a German machine-gun post, where he captured 29 prisoners single-handedly. Lance Corporal Gordon captured 63 enemy troops and six machine guns in total during World War I. He died in 1963, at the age of 72. Caroline Gee said the luncheon was a "wonderful idea" and said she was thrilled to be able to attend after COVID-19 cancelled three previous attempts to hold the event.
"They [were] very brave, wonderful men and this is why we live under this beautiful sky. "I think it's going to be a great occasion and we'll be able to talk to one another about our ancestors and the people that have done these wonderful acts." Mrs Gee said her father "had the most influence on my life of anybody". "He did believe that every man that stepped off the shore to fight for this country deserved a VC. In his mind he wasn't famous for what he did," she said. "He'd be proud that we came." Judith Gee said it was important to remember the stories of the people who risked their lives for their country. "I think it's really important, because how easy would it be [for] all of that to be forgotten and not acknowledge why we have the great country that we do right now," she said. Elaine Jarvis, the great-niece of Captain Percy Cherry, has been friends with Ms Statton for almost 20 years. She said she was delighted to have the opportunity to meet the families of other Tasmanian VC recipients. "I've got all these questions and notes to bring out and show them," she said.
Captain Cherry was born in Victoria but moved to Cradoc in the Huon Valley as a child, joining the Cygnet cadets and the army band there. He died in Lagnicourt-Marcel, France in 1917, after his company was overwhelmed by enemy troops. Captain Cherry organised machine-gun and bombing parties, sent back reports of progress and refused to leave his post after being wounded during battle. Ms Jarvis agreed more should be done to recognise the VC recipients. |
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animals before people.
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acacia alba
Champion Joined: 30 Oct 2010 Location: Hunter Valley Status: Offline Points: 41547 |
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animals before people.
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