Showing posts with label ANZAC Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ANZAC Day. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

ANZAC DAY today

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Today is ANZAC Day, which Wikipedia explains as
 a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served".
But the ANZAC troops are also remembered in other countries, and especially at the Commonwealth War Cemeteries in Israel and nearby Gaza.


Here in the Negev we have the beautiful Beersheba War Cemetery.
Some of the graves are of Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soldiers.  
The administering Commonwealth War Graves Commission says that 
The cemetery was made immediately on the fall of the town [Oct. 1917], remaining in use until July 1918, by which time 139 burials had been made. It was greatly increased after the Armistice when burials were brought in from a number of scattered sites and small burial grounds. The cemetery now contains 1,241 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 67 of them unidentified.

 A Jewish officer's tombstone says
FAR FROM HOME, CLOSE IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO LOVED HIM. 
The pebbles on top are left as a traditional sign of respect by visitors to his grave.



Written in Welsh.
And a little LEST WE FORGET cross.


The traditional red poppy on the cross and one stuck in the ground.
HIS DUTY DONE.


A trooper from New Zealand.
Someone added the Kiwi's photo.


An Australian from the famous Light Horse brigade.


A New Zealander from the Mounted Rifles.


The unidentified ones are the saddest.
AN AUSTRALIAN SOLDIER OF THE GREAT WAR
KNOWN UNTO GOD



"In memory of a Ballarat boy.  Trooper Thomas Bell was aged just 16 when he died of wounds received in the charge*.
All gave some, some gave all."

[* i.e. the mounted charge on the Turkish trenches, to liberate Beer Sheva.]



The tall white structure is the Cross of Sacrifice, standard for all Commonwealth War Cemeteries around the world.

The Visitors Book, with lots of information, in the wall near the always-open entrance gate.


In the background is Beer Sheva's new and wonderful ANZAC Memorial Centre.
More on that in a future blog post.


One of the dedicated and caring Arab gardening team planting more flowers. 
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Thank you, brave ANZAC soldiers, for turning the tide of World War I down here in the Negev desert that I now call home.   Your memory will live on! 
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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.
-- fourth stanza from Laurence Binyon's poem For the Fallen, 1914
(See more about this cemetery and about commemorations in Beer Sheva in 3 previous posts.  See also my posts about ANZAC Day in Jerusalem.)
More about this and other Australia places in Beer Sheva:  http://www.kkl-jnf.org/tourism-and-recreation/israeli-heritage-sites/anzac-trail/sites/anzac-sites-beersheba/
How the Australian army talks about ANZAC Day:  https://www.army.gov.au/our-history/traditions/anzac-day
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(Linking to inSPIREd SundayOur World Tuesday and to  ABC Wednesday -- p is for poppy.)
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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Happy Waitangi Day to New Zealand

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City Daily Photo bloggers are helping our New Zealand members celebrate their national day, Waitangi Day.
You can see what connections different bloggers have to New Zealand at the CDP portal
My own fondness for NZ is based on Middle-earth and Hobbits and such . . . .


 But Jerusalem's big link to New Zealand is, sadly, in the [British] Jerusalem War Cemetery on Mt. Scopus.
Every April I attend the ANZAC Day Commemoration Service there.

(The photos here can be much enlarged with two clicks.) 

The World War I Australian and New Zealand Army Corps soldiers were welcomed by the Jewish population as liberators in Jerusalem in 1917, having fought their way from Egypt, through the Sinai, Gaza,  Beersheva, up to Jerusalem.

The Memorial Chapel was erected by men of the Egyptian Expeditionary Forces "to the honoured memory of their comrades who fell in the Palestine Campaign 1914-1918.


Above the lintel quoting the Apocrapha Book of Maccabees, it says "The interior has been decorated by NEW ZEALAND in honour of the members of the NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITIONARY FORCE who took part in the operations in Sinai and Palestine 1916-1918."


"From the uttermost ends of the earth" -- yes, how true.
Represented are Hope, Humanity, Faith, and Patriotism.
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Happy Waitangi Day, Kiwi friends.
We thank your ancestors who died fighting here in the Holy Land.   May you never know war again.
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To learn more about ANZAC Day in Jerusalem and about the lovingly-tended big  cemetery of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on Mt. Scopus, please see my posts here, here, here, and here.
Or click on my label ANZAC Day. 
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Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Three together in life and in death

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An unusual grouping of tombstones from World War I.
The reason for it: the three men died together when their vehicle was blown up.
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Please enlarge (click once and then again on the photo that opens) and see and say the names of the British soldiers who died fighting a war far from home.
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To see more of the [British] Jerusalem War Cemetery (of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) please click on my ANZAC Day label.
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A post for Taphophile Tragics.
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Saturday, April 28, 2012

Why?

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Right after the annual ANZAC Day ceremony last week in the Jerusalem War Cemetery, I walked alone between the graves, taphophile that I am.

If you like to wander around cemeteries and read headstones and wonder about the human history below them, you too are a taphophile. In fact you could contribute a post to our new meme, Taphophile Tragics, which Julie in Australia started and graciously hosts.

But wait--actually this post is for Shadow Shot Sunday 2, with a question for the shadow folks there.
You see the crows looking for food in the photo above?

I am curious, in the second photo why is the bird in flight blurred while its shadow on the grass is sharp?

You might have to enlarge the photo to even find the bird.
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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

ANZAC Day in Jerusalem today

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Many photos today, but I want you to feel as if you were with me at Jerusalem's ANZAC Day Commemoration Service this morning.

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
Aussies and Kiwis observe the day on April 25.

But this year the 25th is also the date of Israel's Day of Remembrance for fallen soldiers and victims of terror, so ANZAC Day was commemorated today instead of tomorrow.

Come, enter the Jerusalem War Cemetery on Mount Scopus.

It is one of many many cemeteries around the world for which the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible.

In the Jerusalem War Cemetery are 2,515 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 100 of them unidentified.
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On the wall on the sides of the chapel are engraved the names of 3,366 Commonwealth servicemen who fought and died in Egypt and Palestine during the Great War and who have no known grave.

At today's ceremony Rabbi Dr. Raymond Apple, a former chaplain and the rabbi emeritus of Sydney's Great Synagogue, read the 23rd Psalm.
To see his medals please enlarge the photo.

After Ambassador of Australia Ms. Andrea Faulkner gave the ANZAC Day address, Lt. Col. Steer of the MFO (Multinational Force and Observers) Australian Contingent read
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
. . .

As H.E. the Ambassador laid the first wreath, one normally strong and motionless-standing-at-attention member of the catafalque party began flexing his limbs and was led away . . .

. . . to be replaced by a nice sailor girl, as a Turk laid another wreath.

The Last Post on the bugle, silence, and The Rouse followed the reading of the "Ode to the Fallen"
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, not the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
The national anthems of Australia and New Zealand and a benediction prayer ended the moving ceremony.

Many groups and institutions had come up to the catafalque to place their wreath.

This year's program featured an old photo of diggers standing in the sand near a row of sabras.
The Ambassador said the one who took the World War I snapshot had written just "Pals" on the back and that this was the beginning time of the Aussie spirit of mateship.

After the official ceremony, Rabbi Apple led many of us over to the 24 Jewish graves for Kaddish and a Psalm.
A second rabbi sang El Malei Rachamim.

All were surprised to find that fresh flowers, a memorial candle, and a black-ribbon-draped Israel flag had been placed at each Jewish grave.

People visited each Jewish grave, read the names, and some put a little stone on the marker in respect.

Then we all walked to the far side of the big and beautiful cemetery to come together near tables of refreshments.

I went back to visit the empty chapel and found this wreath from previous years.
The message stays the same.
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For more about the Jerusalem War Cemetery and for previous ANZAC Days, please see my earlier posts here.
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This post is dedicated to the Sydney-based cemetery meme Taphophile Tragics.
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Thursday, April 28, 2011

From Fiji Islands to Sinai to Jerusalem

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Shalom dear reader. I hope you saw yesterday's post about the ANZAC [Australian and New Zealand Army Corps] Day commemoration because this is a continuation, on a more personal level.

Presenting Lance Corporal Etuate Kori, MFO Fijian Contingent.
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I arrived at the Jerusalem War Cemetery an hour before the 10:00 ceremony was to start.
Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, the bugler you see here had found a corner outside the chapel, near the memorial wall, to play some "scales" and warm up his horn.
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The printed program indicated he would be sounding The Last Post and The Rouse.
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It would have been a great photo of his back but I chickened out when he suddenly stopped and turned. I continued my walk up and down the many rows of tombstones.
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The nice outdoor commemoration service contained much but lasted less than an hour.
Then guests and soldiers and ambassadors walked over to a shadier place and chatted over refreshments.
Well, they chatted. Everyone was with their mates (Australian for friends or co-workers) and I suddenly was aware of my aloneness and my shyness.
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OK, I had a sandwich, boreka, brownie, and coffee. Can't complain.
People were getting their picture taken with the Australian and New Zealander soldiers in their crisp uniforms, some pinned with many medals. Oh yeah, and with one man wearing a kilt.
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Then for a minute the soldier from Fiji was standing alone. I asked if I could take his picture. Finally, a human being to talk to!
And so human "Eddie" was!
He was so full of gratitude and marveled that he could be here in Jerusalem!
He wanted to drive now to the city center with his MFO mates and purchase a Bible, as a souvenir of the Holy City.
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He asked why I was at ANZAC Day and I said simply because I have three born-in-Australia grandchildren and have lived with them for extended times and love Australia.
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Etuate is probably back now at his MFO base in the Sinai desert.
I thank him and his fellow peacekeepers. God bless and keep them safe and sound.
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From the interesting (with photos and maps!) MFO website:

"The Multinational Force & Observers (MFO) is an independent international organization, headquartered in Rome, with peacekeeping responsibilities in the Sinai. The origins of the MFO lie in Annex I to the 1979 Treaty of Peace between Egypt and Israel, in which the parties undertook to request the United Nations to provide a force and observers to supervise the implementation of the treaty. When it did not prove possible to obtain Security Council approval for the stationing of a UN peacekeeping force in the Sinai, the parties negotiated a Protocol in 1981 establishing the MFO “as an alternative” to the envisioned UN force. "

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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

ANZAC Day commemoration in Jerusalem


An Aussie or a Kiwi soldier stood with head bowed at each of the four corners of the catafalque.
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This morning ANZAC Day was commemorated for the 96th time.
A time to honor the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
Here are some pictures from the Jerusalem War Cemetery on Mt. Scopus.
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The Australian flag with its stars of the Southern Cross constellation.
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The cemetery, begun in 1917 by the Imperial [now Commonwealth] War Graves Commission, overlooks a Jerusalem much larger than it was during World War I.
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With today's modern technology for making war, it is hard to imagine these men going to battle as "light horse brigades" and, like on this tombstone, even the Imperial Camel Corps.
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The flag of New Zealand in front of the memorial chapel.
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A book with information was in the chapel.
You can read this page and/or learn more at my previous posts about this beautiful cemetery.
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Some of today's invited guests.
I like the Embassy of Turkey next to the Israel Defense Force representatives.
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Following the prayer of remembrance by Pastor Evan Thomas and Psalm 23 recited by Rabbi Dr. Raymond Apple, the ANZAC Day Address was given by Ms. Andrea Faulkner, Ambassador of Australia.
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Everything said was short and to the point, moving but not overly sentimental.
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The poem "We shall keep the faith (1918)," by Moina Michael, "the poppy lady," was read, followed by the laying of wreaths.
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland brought the small wreath looking like poppies.
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It is nice that UNTSO, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, adds "In the service of Peace."
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The always tear-producing "Ode to the Fallen" was read. All repeat: We will remember them.
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A soldier from Fiji (more about him tomorrow) played The Last Post.
After we stood for one minute of silence, he played The Rouse.
And all said "Lest we forget."
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The national anthems of Australia and New Zealand.
Benediction Prayer.
Catafalque Party dismounts.
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After the official ceremony, those who wished followed Rabbi Apple (Rabbi emeritus of Sydney's Great Synagogue) to the graves of 24 Commonwealth Jewish soldiers.
He read a Psalm and El Maleh Rachamim and we all said Kaddish.
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Everyone gathered for refreshments and conversation.
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In the Jerusalem War Cemetery are 2,515 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 100 of them unidentified.
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On the wall on the sides of the chapel are engraved the names of 3,366 Commonwealth servicemen who fought and died in Egypt and Palestine during the Great War and who have no known grave.
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Who can comprehend such great numbers!
We remember them.
And those who continue to serve in the ANZAC spirit, in our region and around the world, we thank them too.
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