In the next few minutes in NZ and Australia it will be the 25th April or ANZAC Day. From a Pom I wish to thank and Remember all the Aussies and Kiwis who fell in all the Wars since that first ANZAC Day in 1915.
In Australia the country is abuzz and there has never been such comraderie and open pride in our Anzacs. The release of the movie Kokoda and a number of Kokoda walks by Australians and media personalities has raised the bar of awareness to a new level. There was also an expose on the Sandakan death march perpetrated by the Japanese on Australian and British POW's .........story below will make you cry! After the fall of Singapore and Borneo to the Japanese, a Prisoner of War Camp was established just outside of Sandakan to house approximately 750 British and more than 1650 Australian prisoners who were sent to the camp during the period 1942-43. In 1945, when the Japanese started to realise that the war may have been lost, and the Allies were closing in, the emaciated prisoners were force marched, in three separate marches, to the village of Ranau in the jungle, 250 km away, under the shadows of Mount Kinabalu. On 28 January, 1945, 470 prisoners set off, with only 313 arriving in Ranau. On the second march, 570 started from Sandakan, but only 118 reached Ranau. The third march which comprised the last of the prisoners from the Sandakan camp contained 537 prisoners. Prisoners who were unable to walk were shot. The march route was through virgin jungle infested with crocodiles, snakes and wild pigs, and some of the prisoners had no boots. Rations were less than minimal. The march took nearly a year to complete. Once the surviving prisoners arrived in Ranau, they were put to work carrying 20 kg sacks of flour over very hilly terrain to Paginatan, over 40 km away. By the end of July, 1945, there were no prisoners left in Ranau. Only six Australians of the 2400 prisoners survived the "death march" - they survived because they were able to escape from the camp at Ranau, or escaped during the march from Sandakan. No British prisoners survived. This part of the war is considered by many to be the worst atrocity ever suffered by Australian soldiers, and compares to the atrocities of the Burma Railway, where fewer Australian POW's lost their lives. Those that survived the ordeal of the march, did so only because they escaped into the jungle where they were cared for by local natives. Rest in Peace.
In the next few minutes in NZ and Australia it will be the 25th April or ANZAC Day. From a Pom I wish to thank and Remember all the Aussies and Kiwis who fell in all the Wars since that first ANZAC Day in 1915. I'll add my thanks and thoughts to those Anzacs who fell in wars since the first world war.
I want to second that opinion. For all of the ANZACS and everything they have ever done for us. We are truly thankful to call you our friends.
Grim tale Spidge. Here's to your Anzacs day. And I hope those that are left remember as many good things as bad. Do you commemorate the 11th of the 11th as well?, assume so but I can only guess that Anzacs day is the main Ceremonial for Australia and NZ??
Salute to the 103 000 Australians who never returned home. I don't know the number of New Zealanders.
Salute to the 103 000 Australians who never returned home. I don't know the number of New Zealanders. According to CWGC site. New Zealand in both world wars lost. 29980
Grim tale Spidge. Do you commemorate the 11th of the 11th as well?, assume so but I can only guess that Anzacs day is the main Ceremonial for Australia and NZ?? Most certainly. A very sombre time remembered with a minutes silence across the land.
According to CWGC site. New Zealand in both world wars lost. 29980 Let us not forget that of the 100,000 New Zealanders of WW1 18,000 were killed and 41,000 injured. Of their landing at Gallipoli a staggering 88% were killed or injured. This ranked only second in proportion to the British contribution. We will remember them.
Thanks to all of them still serving in harm's way. http://www.pogues.com/Releases/Lyrics/LPs/RumSodomy/Waltzing.html And now every April I sit on my porch And I watch the parade pass before me And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march Reliving old dreams of past glory And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?" And I ask myself the same question And the band plays Waltzing Matilda And the old men answer to the call But year after year their numbers get fewer Some day no one will march there at all
Australians on CWGC records number 102390 For Australia, as for many nations, the First World War remains the most costly conflict ever in terms of deaths and casualties. From a population of fewer than five million, 300,000 men enlisted, of which over 60,000 were killed and 156,000 were wounded, gassed or taken prisoner. A staggering 72% Lest we forget
For Australia, as for many nations, the First World War remains the most costly conflict ever in terms of deaths and casualties. From a population of fewer than five million, 300,000 men enlisted, of which over 60,000 were killed and 156,000 were wounded, gassed or taken prisoner. A staggering 72% Lest we forget Staggering indeed!. (I apologise in advance as this is the wrong place to bring this up but I believe the second war was actually much 'bloodier' despite popular perceptions? though i'm not sure in relation to population or Australia. For the UK our bloodiest wars statistically were the Civil Wars of the 1640's, Time for a thread maybe.)
Australia WW1 61927 http://www.cwgc.org/search/SearchResults.aspx?surname=&initials=&war=1&yearfrom=1900&yearto=2000&force=&nationality=1&send.x=31&send.y=9
Staggering indeed!. (I apologise in advance as this is the wrong place to bring this up but I believe the second war was actually much 'bloodier' despite popular perceptions? though i'm not sure in relation to population or Australia. For the UK our bloodiest wars statistically were the Civil Wars of the 1640's, Time for a thread maybe.) Well WW2 killed over 5 times as many people as WW1. However, for our population of 5 million in WW1, Australia had 60 000 killed. In WW2 with our population of 7 million we had 40 000 killed.
Australia WW2 40462 http://www.cwgc.org/search/SearchResults.aspx?surname=&initials=&war=2&yearfrom=1900&yearto=2000&force=&nationality=1&send.x=37&send.y=12