I don't think it can be summed any better than this...
___________________________________________

Now when I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover.
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback,
Well, I waltzed my Matilda all over.
Then in 1915, my country said, "Son,
It's time you stop ramblin', there's work to be done."
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun,
And they marched me away to the war.

And the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As the ship pulled away from the quay,
And amidst all the cheers, the flag waving, and tears,
We sailed off for Gallipoli.

And how well I remember that terrible day,
How our blood stained the sand and the water;
And of how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk, he was waitin', he primed himself well;
He showered us with bullets, and he rained us with shell --
And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all to hell,
Nearly blew us right back to Australia.

But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
When we stopped to bury our slain,
Well, we buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,
Then we started all over again.

And those that were left, well, we tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
Though around me the corpses piled higher.
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me [auto-censored] over head,
And when I woke up in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead --
Never knew there was worse things than dying.

For I'll go no more "Waltzing Matilda,"
All around the green bush far and free --
To hump tents and pegs, a man needs both legs,
No more "Waltzing Matilda" for me.

So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed,
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane,
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And as our ship sailed into Circular Quay,
I looked at the place where me legs used to be,
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me,
To grieve, to mourn and to pity.

But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As they carried us down the gangway,
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared,
Then they turned all their faces away.

And so now every April, I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
Reviving old dreams of past glory,
And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore,
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
And I ask meself the same question.

But the band plays "Waltzing Matilda,"
And the old men still answer the call,
But as year follows year, more old men disappear
Someday, no one will march there at all.

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda.
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong,
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?

(c) 1972 Eric Bogle, 'And the band played Waltzing Matilda'

More info here...

We shall remember them.

acav out

Hi ACAV

The Pogues do a very good version of this song.

Long live the ANZACS.

I do remember them.

Cheers acav!

A Trans-Tasman War Hero;

NANCY WAKE: Born in NZ, family moved to Australia when she was young. Married a French businessman; joined French Resistance group in 1940 and helped hundreds of Allied servicemen escape. On the Gestapo's most wanted list. Most decorated woman of WW2. It took decades before her courage and contribution was recognised.
http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/wake.html
http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-heroes/white_mouse.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Wake

Age shall not weary them...

Simpson and his donkey.
http://www.anzachouse.com/simpson.shtml
(Sorry, not hotlinked.)

A great (the best?) example of those working 'behind' the scenes of their own device, and the fact that so many constant acts of bravery denied him the VC twice, as they could not determine a single "signal" act of bravery...

Such a beautiful day here for the ANZAC march to the shrine of remembrance.
22C and not a cloud in the sky.

Jeff, hello,...
my grand daughter last year did as a school project Nancy Wake,as my grand daughter is a Aussie/Kiwi and very proud of it....we recived a phone call from my grand daughter from school on her mobile.....her teacher asked who was Nancy Wake, as she had not heard of her before, my grand daughter spat the dummy big time,insult to injury she was given detention for making a phone call in class time...

its a hard life, Phil.. ps this was at high school!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.comics.com/comics/frazz/archive/frazz-20070424.html

You might appreciate this cartoon (or not).

Gday Tom
Knowing nothing of Frazz, I assume he is an American creation.
Surprised that ANZAC made it into the strip for this reason!
Was as good a day as could be here. There was a live cross to the dawn service at ANZAC cove in Gallipoli, Turkey and there were many moving speeches from Aussies Kiwis and Turks.

Huge Parade in Brisbane, they reckon 10000 past and present service men and women marched with a crowd of more than 60000 watching on. the pride and determination of some of the old diggers is amazing. Many had a wheelchair behind or beside them but they MARCHED. The parade took over 2 hours to pass the spot where my family was.

My 13 year old son came home disgusted on Tuesday - his English teacher (a Vietnam veteran - 2 tours) had prepared a quality power point presentation on Anzac Day for all the Year 9 students. The majority of the kids paid absolutely no attention to what he had to say and just played up for the whole time. So much so that it has been decided that there will be no presentation to them next year.

Overall I consider 25 April to be an extremely important day for 3 countries, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey because it was a defining time for each country in its own infancy.

It is a day that all 3 countries should (and do) pause to remember their losses, but at the same time feel proud.

Rant off, and apologies to the Brits, French and Indians who were there on the day as well but I have not mentioned.

Brian