What does ANZAC Day mean to you?

[die4pies]

A day of reflection for me. It does not mean much to my dad though. Chief Petty Officer on two tours of Vietnam with HMAS Perth (DDG38). He was also part of the commissioning crew that took Perth straight into battle from her building yards in the US.

My Grandfather, Frederick Eales Brown, the son of the guy that gave Collingwood Victoria Park, was a medic in France and discharged from the AIF after taking shrapnel to his shoulder on the Somme. He never quite recovered from his injuries and become a staunch advocate of the conscientious objectors during WW2 and strongly opposed conscription. Despite his injuries and ongoing health problems he passed away in '74 at the ripe old age of 81. He was born the same year as our beloved club in 1892. He used to enjoy ANZAC day though as it was time to catch up with old mates, but he never joined the RSL.

Our family lost three cousins in the European theatre of conflict in WW2. All were RAAF tail gunners.

I have a very slim connection to the service as I worked for a few months as a civilian kitchen hand at RAAF base Williams in Laverton when we used to have a full squadron of FA18 Hornets and C-130 Hercules. It was always an experience preparing the breakie in the airmen's mess at 0600 with everything shaking as a Hornet was warming up its engines just 500m away.

The day is not one of nationalistic pride for us, but one which we reflect on as a family and what our family needed to do in a time of crisis. Good men and women heard the call of their country when other agressive nationalist/emperialist forces were threatening our way of life. What governments and major corporations did to get good men and women to make the ultimate sacrifice is for a debate on another day. ANZAC day is for the diggers, lest we forget.

[Proud Pies]

Reading this, and i can't help but fill with pride in what Anzac Day means to you all and feel pride in your families and their sacrifices/commitments.

Thank you for sharing these with us, and jmcp, thanks for the topic.

[die4pies]

[Piesnchess]

[Proud Pies]

[Piesnchess]

[rocketronnie]

It means my father who patrolled the Atlantic in flying boats in WW2 and spent the rest of his life still fighting elements of his war.

It means my laughing uncle who spent his war in a tank at El-Alamein to Tunisia and then in New Guinea, who loved his beer, his mates and the Magpies in almost equal measure.

It means my Grandfather and his brother who spent the Great War in the trenches, humble ordinary strong men who rarely spoke of their experiences. My other Great Uncle who was in the Light Horse and loved us to wear his plumed slouch hat before the annual march, and who was chaffed by the others for being "a bloody Light Horse lair".

It means my English grandfather who fought from 1915-1918 on the Western Front in all the worst battles, and who I never knew because he died too young from the side effects of gas.

And it means my mother who, though she never served officially anywhere, spent the Battle of Britain and The Blitz in a unprotected telephone exchange building with bombs falling around and directing emergency services to fires and bomb strikes. She never talked about that until after my father died. But of all my family's stories, I think it is hers I admire the most.

On the day, my mum and I will get together and share a pot of tea and some Chocolate Teddy Bear Biscuits. It will be a good day.

Its funny, I've always lived with the stories and effects of those wars but it is only as I get older that I understand the far reaching effects of those conflicts that reach out to us now. Not just the sacrifices, the bravery, the preservation of democracy - though these are all important enough - but the massive changes these wars brought in their wake and the waves of trauma and loss that have reached out to shape many of us who have no direct connection with any of it.

These are the things that are important to me and which I shall remember and reflect on again as ANZAC Day passes.

[die4pies]

22 Squadron RAAF

22 Squadron’s first assignments of the Second World War were as a training unit covering army support and towing targets for anti-aircraft practice. In 1941 the unit was equipped with Anson and Wirraway aircraft and flew seaward patrols along the eastern seaboard. By November 1942 the unit had moved to Port Moresby in New Guinea and was equipped with Boston light bombers and Beaufighters. The squadron attacked enemy targets and shipping in the Buna–Gona area. During an attack on the foreshores of Salamaua, Flight Lieutenant W.E. Newton and his crew were shot down and forced to land at sea. Newton and Flight Sergeant Lyon swam ashore only to be captured by waiting Japanese troops. They were both killed on 29 March 1943. Newton received a posthumous award of the Victoria Cross for his attacks on Japanese positions, making him one of only two awarded to RAAF Squadron members.

In August 1943, the squadron moved to Goodenough Island and continued to search for Japanese barges and vessels used in increasing numbers to supply troops in New Guinea. The unit moved briefly to Noemfoor airfield in August 1944 and bombed targets on Ambon Island and Suli village in preparation for the Allied attacks on Sansapor and Morotai before relocating to Morotai to assist in the attacks on Japanese targets in the Celebes and the Philippines.

Japanese defences and counter-attacks left the squadron with so few serviceable aircraft that it was forced to move to Noemfoor to rearm for operations with Beaufighters under the control of 1st Tactical Air Force. Aircraft used rockets to destroy radio and radar stations, supply dumps, and attack troop concentrations and enemy shipping.

The unit moved, yet again, to the Southern Philippines to support attacks on Tarakan and also Australian landings at Labuan and Brunei Bay. In June 1945 22 Squadron returned to Moratai until the end of the war, when it moved to Deniliquin in New South Wales before being disbanded on 15 August 1946.

Taken from the Australian War Memorial website.
Full article: http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_11057.asp


Why is this relevant to me, ANZAC day and the Collingwood Football Club?

22 Squadron CO, John 'Jack' Hickey DFC.

Also known as President of the Collingwood Football Club 1976-1982.

Coming into the presidency halfway threw the season in '76 Jack was the recipient of our first spoon, a spoon that was really Ern Clarkes. In '77 a draw then second, '79 the Escort Cup win followed by a heart breaking second to Carlton, '80 emabarrassed and robbed in the night final and '81 brides maids again.

Jack had a distiguished flying career with the RAAF in WW2 and was one of 13 men in 22SQN to recieve the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service to his country.

I had the privilege to sit with Jack at some of our VFL games last year and we discussed a lot of things Collingwood and in particular Victoria Park. Jack passed away suddenly on the 3rd of January this year aged 88 and we will name the renovated Victoria Park boardroom The Jack Hickey Memorial Boardroom in his honour upon its completion and it will be available for hire for anyone seeking a nostalgic Magpie setting for their meetings.

Vale Jack Hickey DFC

[John Wren]

[die4pies]

This is a great thread Lasalle.

I hope all Nicksters take the time to read all the postings.

I added a new page to victoriapark.net.au the other day in time for ANZAC day.

http://www.victoriapark.net.au/75_squadron_35.html

Special thanks to Nickster Wombat42 for the copy of the photo and the background info for the story.

[fan4collingwood]

My Grandfather was in the 6th Battalion, and was on the second wave on April 25th all those years ago. I remember as a kid watching the Anzac Day march, to see Pa, and Uncle John, sometimes Uncle Graham too (Uncles from WWII)

As long as I can remember it was the march in the morning (on TV) then off to the footy, Collingwood have always played on ANZAC DAY!

The days leading up to ANZAC Day are very emotional, and I always think of Pa, telling stories of how lucky he was that a doctor was near by when he was shot in the groin a few days after landing on the cove.

[Dragme]

It really means nothing to me. This year it falls on a Saturday and it has even less meaning.

I hate wars and all it may bring. The whole kit and caboodle sucks.

Sorry.... But thats how I feel.

I understand that many have lost their lives...... But many will die this year as well. What makes their death less noble?

[Proud Pies]

[Magpie Camo]

Fantastic thread this, well done!!

ANZAC Day is an amazing day for me. Having 6 family members who are Returned Servicemen means that I have a bit more knowledge, than the average Australian, of the meaning of this special day.

Leo Carr Moore - My Great Grandfather on Mum’s side.
51st Battalion 1st AIF
Served in France and Belgium `in WWI 1915 - 1918.

Arthur James Thompson - My Grandfather on Dad’s side.
2/5th Infantry Battalion, 2nd AIF
Served in Greece and Crete in WWII 1939 - 1943.

Leo Joseph Moore - My Grandfather on Mum’s side .
2/14th Infantry Battalion, 2nd AIF
Served in the Middle East and New Guinea in WWII 1941 - 1946.

David John Thompson - My Father.
C Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment
Served in Vietnam 1968 – 1969

Peter Joseph Moore - My Uncle (Mum’s Brother)
A Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment
Served in Vietnam 1969 – 1970

Graeme David Thompson – My Brother.
United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC)
Served 1992 – 1993

For me, ANZAC day is the one opportunity I / we have to say thanks. It’s a chance to shake a diggers hand and show them how much we appreciate the sacrifices that they, and those who didn’t return, made for our country in times of conflict. It’s a solemn Day when Returned Service Men and Women remember those who didn’t return from the battlefield. I haven’t served so for me it’s simply being with My Grandads (both deceased now), My Dad, My Uncle and My Brother and sharing the day with them.

I will never truly understand what these men and women went through, the mud, the blood, the fear, the loss, and I hope I never have too.
But I’m thankful for their sacrifice, thankful that they put their lives on the line for our country. They were tough, strong and resilient. And I’m proud to know them.

I too start the day at the Dawn Service at the Shrine. I have only missed 1 in 30 years. (The one I missed was in 2006. I was at a wedding in Mooloolaba on the 24th April, but managed to do the Dawn Service up there then next morning. I flew back and made it to the game at half time.)

The Dawn Service at the Shrine is an amazing and moving experience and I truly recommend it to those who have never been.

I normally wear my Grandfather’s (Arthur) medals on the day, he passed away in 1997. But this year I will wear my other Grandfather’s (Leo) medals as he passed away on 7th October 2008 and this is the first ANZAC Day that he will not be with us. (Tears).

Pre 1995 (the first Coll v Ess game) we used do the Dawn and then head to the Melbourne RSL, Duckboard House, in Flinders Lane for some breakfast and a beer. I know it sounds early for a beer but by 8am we’ve been up for 4 hrs and it feels like midday.

We would stay there for a few hours listening to the old Soldiers relive stories of their deeds, and the deeds of their mates. I would be captivated. I would marvel at, and appreciate, the emotional connection these men have with each other on their one special day of the year.

At about 10.30am, my Dad and Uncle would head down to Swanston Street to form up for the March. Me, My Brother, My Grandfather (Leo) and Mark Dillon (Dillo_09 to fellow nicksters) would grab some travellers and find a place on Swanston St to watch the parade. We would watch my Grandad’s unit, the 2/14th march past, he would call out to his old buddies and they would wave back, it was beautiful. Then my Dad and Uncle would march past and I would rush out in Swanston Street to hand them some cold amber liquid refreshments to see them through to the shrine. They would take a couple of sips each and pass the can back to the next fellow, laughing and smiling all the way.

My brother and I used to march with Dad and our Uncle, when we were kids. We would always carry the unit’s banner which allowed all the men to march together.

Now days, with the game on at the MCG, after the Dawn Service we head down to the Yarra to have a BBQ breakfast. The beer still flows very early in the morning and by 1pm we normally have a very large group for lunch and then head on to the footy together.

My Dad and Uncle still march.

I would always try to catch and have a beer with old Harry in the Social Club Bar; he served in the Middle East with the 2/48th Infantry Battalion. Sadly, old Harry has also passed on, he had a stroke in the Ponsford Stand at Geelong game back in 2006 and passed away the following Monday.

We never miss the Service at the MCG and this is when the emotion of the day really starts to rise, The Last Post always gets me.

To all of you, if you have medals, wear them, and wear them proudly. If they are not yours, wear them on the right side and honor the person they belong to.

To all Returned Service Men and Women I say “thank you”, and to all those who paid the ultimate price, with a hand over my heart I say “Lest We Forget”.

Here are some pics of my Grandad - Leo

[pietillidie]