Anzac Day....me I plan to attend the dawn service in my local area as I have done for many years...my dad was a WW2 vet and I have been privilaged to know WW1 vets Ted Smout and my good friend Carl Howard (who incidently was 103 when he passed)...I have watched many parades with them proudly marching and in their later years being jeeped around...they did not miss an Anzac Day and nor will I...we will remember them...

So glad the new bridge is being named after him. Well deserved.

And I'll be on night work....

The statistics for Anzacs are amazing. For both WWI and WWII, Anzacs had very high casualty rates - meaning they were in the thick of it...l

Don, my Great Uncle spent some time in Malaysia, Borneo and Singapore before they were ambushed by the Japanese in the Battle of Singapore on Feb 11, 1942 and he was killed in action. It's still debated that he's one of the lucky ones as survivors from his batallion spent time in Changi. A very amazing detail about the Battle of Singapore invasion by the Japanese was that it started on December 8 1941. If you allow for the time zones, it aligns perfectly with the attack on Pearl Harbour - December 7, 1941. We're very fortunate that Uncle Stan has a true grave site in Kranji cemetary in Singapore. We were there to see him and Changi with my dad a few years ago and planned to be there for Anzac Day this year but dad's heart condition and waiting lists kept us here. We'll be there next year.

I've got a letter of his sent to my grandfather outlining the new "light weight" uniform they were issues due to the heat, soldiers from other countries that he met and the strange foods that he was eating. Makes me smile to read it... Who would think that you can be so close to someone that dies nearly 30 years before you were born. I've got his letter, his plaque, his medals and dad's memories of him. It'll never make up for not meeting him, but I was friends with his great mate and got to "know" him a bit more through that.

Wendy wrote:
A very amazing detail about the Battle of Singapore invasion by the Japanese was that it started on December 8 1941. If you allow for the time zones, it aligns perfectly with the attack on Pearl Harbour - December 7, 1941.


Yes, aside from Pearl Harbor and Malaya (Singapore) They also attacked the Philippines, Wake Island, Guam, Thailand, Shanghai and Midway - all on Dec 7,8.

I'm glad you read up on your great Uncle - they were very trying times. The outcome of WWII was not certain at the start, and it was a clear case of good vs evil. In a sense I feel cheated about having served in Vietnam, where it is not clear that there was a real reason for a war there.

War needs to be an absolute last resort...

QuicksilverDon wrote:


War needs to be an absolute last resort...[/quote]

True. So true.