Who ever thought that having a silly old flag flying was boring does not know what we do!

Things we have done  and learned about flags

• Flags can be incorporated into games.
• Chosen the colour of different meeting times flags
  • Churchill Guide Unit Flag (now the flag for the 5 to 8’s [Purple])
  • Hazelwood Guide Unit Flag  (now the flag for the 8 to the 13 Guides)
  • Churchill Guide Unit Flag (now the flag for the 13 to 17 Guides [ mid blue with light purple trim])
• Raising the Flag,
• Protection of Flag.
• Why a flag. World Guide Song has our Guiding flag unfurling.
• Carrying our Flag.
• Ceremonial flag preperations.
• Colour Party
• Giving instructions.
• Different games and challenges.
• Different Cermonies attended

1. Melbourne Guide Parade through Elizabeth Street….for B.P and Queens Guide reciepents.
2. Australian Day Celebrations at Morwell and Churchill
3. A.N.Z.A.C. Day celebrations at Morwell and Yinnar.
4. Victory in the Pacific (VP) 50th Birthday Celebrations.
5. The return of the Hazelwood Roll of Honour to the Hazelwood South Hall.
6. Camp Flags.
7. Parade
8. Presentations.
9. Where the Units all meet together at District Functions.

• .

Marshall George (Liam),

Hamish Patrick (Jacob, Campbell & Hannah),

Makaire Gregory,

Anzac William (Stanley),

Paddy Eric Russell,

Gaine (Bon),

Rhiley (Neveah),

Bartholomew Terence (Ben),

Franco Edward (Macauley),

David Maurice (Annalise),

Cory Jay (Chloe),

Kingston Graeme,

Freddie & Monty (Findlay & Lachlan),

Niko Fabian (Talia),

Angus & Charlie,

Cooper Joseph (Fletcher, Spencer & Sebastian).

Alexys  Jordan (Chiyanne & Markhus),

Lucy Anna (Kate, Cameron, Tom, Emily & Hamish),

Ruby Anahera Nooroa Julia,

Penny Rose (Jodie & Molly),

Tilly Kate (Sam & Emma),

Lara Maria (Guy),

Honor Amelia (Angus & Lucy),

Lexi Sophia,

Bessie May (Franklin, Honor, Bodeen & Shoshanna),

Amelie Pamela (Oscar, Rosa & Grace),

Julianne Isla (Caroline),

Martha Olive (Emily),

Saffron Mary (Sam),

Hazel Belle (Scarlett),

Sofia Adele (Theo),

Zana Rose (Claudia & Oliver),

Zanthia Anne Ruby,

Cassara Jane (Corey & Sienna),

Annabel Henrietta (Charlie & George),

Trelise Mae (Georgia & Alex),

Clara Mary Jane

Arwyn Myra

Juliet Prudence

Eilish

Elle Frances (Nell, Thomas & Molly)

Billy Susan (Tane)

Holly Anne & Cameron Maree

L’un de mes quatre cours ce semestre à la fac était consacré à la Nouvelle-Zélande depuis 1940. Dans une tentative périlleuse, j’essaye ici de vous en proposer une synthèse, en dix points…

1. Tableau de la Nouvelle-Zélande en 1940

Alors que la Seconde Guerre mondiale commence, le Dominion de Nouvelle-Zélande fête son centième anniversaire dans les rangs de Sa Majesté. Ses liens avec le Royaume-Uni restent extrêmement forts : considérée comme le plus petit mais aussi le plus loyal des dominions de l’Empire britannique, la Nouvelle-Zélande s’appuie sur des institutions politiques copiées sur le modèle de Westminster, son économie repose sur le principe de préférence impériale (d’où des exportations à 80% vers le Royaume-Uni) et sa société vit dans une culture so British. Il faudra même attendre 1948 pour la création de la nationalité néo-zélandaise ! De 1935 à 1949, les Kiwis (dont la population est estimée à 1,6 million en 1940) sont dirigés par le premier gouvernement travailliste, avec comme grands axes le keynésianisme et le progrès social (Social Security Act 1938).

2. Le tournant de la Seconde Guerre mondiale

La Nouvelle-Zélande entre dans le conflit le 3 septembre 1939 par une déclaration de son Premier ministre, Michael J. Savage. Il s’agit avant tout de suivre le Royaume-Uni : “Avec à la fois gratitude pour le passé et confiance dans le futur, nous nous rangeons sans peur derrière la Grande-Bretagne. Où elle va, nous allons ; où elle se tient, nous nous tenons. Nous ne sommes qu’une petite et jeune nation, mais nous marchons [...] vers une destinée commune”. Pour autant, la Nouvelle-Zélande doit rapidement revoir ses plans : en février 1942, la base britannique de Singapour tombe aux mains des Japonais, et c’est toute la sécurité du Pacifique qui se retrouve menacée. Le Royaume-Uni ne pouvant plus garantir la sécurité de ses dominions, la Nouvelle-Zélande se tourne vers les Etats-Unis, s’en remettant pour la première fois à une puissance extérieure au Commonwealth. Pour autant, les troupes néo-zélandaises restent sur le front européen et nord-africain, combattant notamment l’Afrika Korps de Rommel et s’illustrant parfois à titre individuel, à l’image de Keith R. Park, sauveur de Londres dans les rangs de la RAF pendant la bataille d’Angleterre. Sur les 250 000 hommes et femmes néo-zélandais mobilisés, 12 000 perdront leur vie durant le conflit.

Des avions d'entraînement néo-zélandais

3. La Nouvelle-Zélande dans la Guerre froide

Selon l’historien Ian McGibbon, la Seconde Guerre mondiale aura été l’événement décisif du XXe siècle pour la Nouvelle-Zélande. Principale raison : ce nouveau positionnement dans l’ordre mondial, à mi-chemin entre le Royaume-Uni, protecteur de toujours mais en déclin, et les Etats-Unis, protecteur indispensable mais loin d’être aussi intime. En janvier 1944, l’Australie et la Nouvelle-Zélande, tous deux confrontés à ce dilemme UK/USA, se serrent les coudes et signent le Pacte de l’ANZAC, pour s’affirmer comme acteurs majeurs dans le Pacifique. Dans la foulée, la Nouvelle-Zélande, guidée par sa théorie idéaliste et son rêve de sécurité collective, participe activement à la naissance de l’ONU, en 1945. Mais l’espoir ne dure pas, bien vite déçu par la réalité de la Guerre froide… Il faut choisir son camp, et les Kiwis rejoignent sans surprise le bloc occidental, mené par les Etats-Unis contre l’Union soviétique. En échange de la normalisation de leurs rapports avec le Japon, l’Australie et la Nouvelle-Zélande obtiennent des Etats-Unis le traité ANZUS (Australia-New Zealand-United States), en 1951. Ce traité va être le principal accord de défense pour la Nouvelle-Zélande pour les 35 années suivantes et va donner à ses dirigeants une voix lors d’échanges réguliers avec les Etats-Unis. Sur le terrain, la Nouvelle-Zélande envoie 2 000 hommes en Corée (1950-1953), en soutien des Américains… mais au sein de la division Commonwealth ! Autre ambiguïté, lors de la guerre du Vietnam (1962-1973) : les Kiwis s’y rendent pour honorer leur alliance avec les States, mais ils le font à reculons, avec un maximum de 600 hommes, et vont en ressortir avec une foi altérée en l’Oncle Sam.

La mère patrie tenue à l'écart de l'ANZUS

4. Être Kiwi pendant les Trente glorieuses

Comme dans le reste du monde occidental, l’après-guerre en Nouvelle-Zélande est marqué par une longue période de prospérité économique. Durant ces trois petites décennies de golden weather, c’est le National Party qui est aux manettes du pays, quasiment sans discontinuer. Les restrictions de guerre sont levées et la Nouvelle-Zélande entre dans l’ère de la société de consommation. La croissance est soutenue, l’Etat-providence s’affirme, de nouvelles villes sont créées, d’importants projets hydro-électriques sont lancés, la modernisation bat son plein. Pour autant, la Nouvelle-Zélande ne profite pas de cette période aussi bien que d’autres : de 5e pays de l’OCDE en termes de PIB par habitant en 1950, elle n’est plus qu’à la 11e place en 1975. D’un point de vue social, l’après-guerre est le temps du clash : à ma gauche, la Nouvelle-Zélande version Grande-Bretagne victorienne, faite de musique classique et de services à thé ; à ma droite, la Nouvelle-Zélande version American way of life, à base de rock’n'roll, de Coca Cola et de sex-appeal. L’influence de la culture américaine se fait de plus en plus visible au pays du long nuage blanc, et les élites puritaines s’en inquiètent : voilà la culture de gentlemen britannique menacée par une culture populaire de caniveau ! Mais le combat du salon contre le saloon est perdu d’avance… L’après-guerre est aussi une période de panique morale concernant la jeunesse néo-zélandaise. En 1954, le rapport Mazengarb est envoyé par le gouvernement dans tous les foyers, mettant les parents en garde contre les comportements sexuels immoraux de leurs enfants, accusant notamment les jeunes filles de ne plus toujours attendre les avances des garçons et même de corrompre ces derniers. (Pour l’anecdote, cette panique morale est née à Christchurch après un fait divers dont Peter Jackson s’est inspiré pour son film Créatures célestes.)

Old school?

5. L’ère des protestations

Sans atteindre le retentissement de mai 68 en France, divers mouvements sociaux ont lieu en Nouvelle-Zélande au cours des années 60 et 70. Le principal est probablement l’opposition à la guerre du Vietnam : inspiré par les exemples étrangers, le mouvement organise de premiers “sit-in” en 1965 devant le Parlement à Wellington, ainsi que des manifestations réclamant une politique étrangère indépendante. Petit à petit, une contre-culture s’organise, composée d’acteurs parfois très divers, de la jeunesse contestataire aux activistes communistes en passant par des groupes religieux. Helen Clark, qui sera Premier ministre travailliste de 1999 à 2008, est de cette génération, et participe également à la seconde vague du féminisme néo-zélandais : près de 80 ans après avoir obtenu le droit de vote, les femmes se battent encore contre la patriarchie et pour l’égalité entre les sexes dans la société (à titre d’exemple, en 1966, le salaire médian des femmes est moitié moins élevé que celui des hommes). Elles se mettent à porter des t-shirts, des jeans et à abandonner leurs soutien-gorges, et s’organisent à travers des associations comme le Mouvement de libération des femmes. Dans le même temps, des mouvements environnementaux se développent, sur la question du nucléaire notamment, ainsi que des mouvements maoris (voir plus bas).

Convaincue ?

6. 1975-1984 : Robert Muldoon, ce tyran

Leader du National Party, Robert Muldoon devient Premier ministre et Ministre des finances en 1975, dans un contexte rendu difficile par la crise économique mondiale et par l’entrée du Royaume-Uni dans la CEE. Personnage de petite taille, rondouillet, Bob Muldoon n’a pas sa langue dans sa poche et sa conception du pouvoir est simple : s’entourer de seconds couteaux et diviser pour mieux régner. Les caricaturistes le dessinent en Napoléon, en Roi Soleil et en personnage double-face, à la fois dictateur et sauveur de la Nouvelle-Zélande. Il va même donner son nom à cette période : le muldoonism, “synonyme d’un abus de pouvoir exécutif et d’une dictature  auto-proclamée” à en croire ma professeur Philippa Mein Smith. Au cours de ses deux mandats, Muldoon régule fortement l’économie et la société, fixant les taux d’intérêts, gelant les prix et les salaires, contrôlant les médias ; bref, selon certains observateurs, faisant de la Nouvelle-Zélande “la Pologne du Pacifique sud”. Ce tableau est toutefois à nuancer car c’est lui qui finit aussi par lancer le mouvement de dérégulation, en signant un accord de libre échange avec l’Australie en 1982. Si la situation économique ne s’arrange pas, c’est surtout sur le plan social que la Nouvelle-Zélande fait parler d’elle, lors du Springbok Tour de 1981 : à l’occasion de la tournée de l’équipe de rugby sud-africaine, les Kiwis se déchirent entre opposants au régime de l’apartheid et amoureux du rugby avant tout, jusqu’à briser des familles et des amitiés. C’est la plus grande campagne de désobéissance civile de l’histoire du pays, et selon Ian Borthwick le “Mai 68 version néo-zélandaise”.

Et Muldoon créa la Nouvelle-Zélande

7. Nuclear-free New Zealand

Muldoon chute en 1984 sur un coup de roulette, après avoir organisé – et perdu – des élections anticipées. Le Labour Party revient au pouvoir et l’un de ses principaux dossiers est le nucléaire. Depuis les années 50, les mouvements anti-nucléaire se développent en Nouvelle-Zélande, du fait de l’inquiétude générée par les essais atomiques américains, britanniques et surtout français dans le Pacifique. De 1972 à 1974, le gouvernement travailliste de l’époque avait planté de premières banderilles, avec l’envoi de frégates d’observation à Mururoa et la condamnation de la France par la Cour Internationale de Justice. En 1985, c’est le Premier ministre David Lange qui reprend le combat interrompu par Muldoon. Il refuse l’entrée du navire militaire américain USS Buchanan dans le port d’Auckland, au motif que les Etats-Unis ne veulent ni confirmer ni nier l’équipement nucléaire du bateau. Ce refus provoque la fureur de Washington (la Nouvelle-Zélande se retrouve exclue de facto de l’ANZUS, rétrogradée du statut d’”allié” à celui de “pays ami” et privée de l’accès aux services de renseignement US), mais il est aussi accompagné d’un énorme soutien populaire, dans un combat à la David (Lange) contre Goliath. L’affaire du Rainbow Warrior, du nom de ce navire de Greenpeace coulé en juillet 1985 à Auckland par les services secrets français, sera la goutte de trop dans la le vase. Dans la foulée, la Nouvelle-Zélande signe le traité de Rarotonga établissant une zone dénucléarisée dans l’ensemble du Pacifique sud et, en 1987, par le Nuclear-Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act, la Nouvelle-Zélande devient véritablement nuclear-free. C’est un tournant majeur dans l’histoire du pays, une déclaration d’indépendance pour certains, en tout cas un pilier de l’identité néo-zélandaise encore aujourd’hui.

Le prix de l'indépendance

8. Le libéralisme en fête

Sur le plan économique, les années Lange correspondent à un espoir post-Muldoon. Avec un gouvernement particulièrement jeune (Lange lui-même n’a que 41 ans), la Nouvelle-Zélande prend un virage à 180° et devient le laboratoire mondial du libéralisme. Les réformes sont lancées comme une guerre éclair et il ne faut pas moins de trois ministres des Finances au même moment pour mener cette  révolution. Le plus influent de ces ministres, Roger Douglas, va donner son nom à cette politique : les Rogernomics. Dans un mélange de Reaganism et de Thatcherism, les Rogernomics font de la Nouvelle-Zélande le paradis du consommateur et l’enfer du travailleur. La finance est dérégulée, les taxes et les subventions réduites au maximum, et le secteur public dynamité : la concurrence fait son entrée dans l’éducation et la santé, et les entreprises publiques sont privatisées (Telecom, Air New Zealand, etc.). Tout ceci a un coût social considérable, la Nouvelle-Zélande devenant pour deux décennies le pire pays de l’OCDE en matière d’augmentation des inégalités riches/pauvres. Pourtant, les résultats sont loin d’être à la hauteur des espérances, et le PIB par tête relatif de la Nouvelle-Zélande continue à plonger dans les classements de l’OCDE.

1951-2002 : Du statut de bon élève de l'OCDE... à celui de cancre

9. La question maorie

Autant l’histoire de la Nouvelle-Zélande depuis 1940 peut ressembler à l’histoire du monde occidental moderne en général, autant la question maorie est propre à ce pays et s’avère parfois difficile à comprendre. Je l’ai largement abordée dans un précédent article ; je vais ici essayer d’y apporter quelques compléments. Du point du vue du mode de vie des Maoris, la deuxième moitié du XXe siècle est marquée par une forte urbanisation : population à 75% rurale en 1945, les Maoris délaissent progressivement leur habitat traditionnel, pour devenir urbains à 80% en 1986. Cet exode, plus ou moins forcé, est dû à la perte des terres maories, à la mécanisation des campagnes et au besoin de main-d’oeuvre dans les villes. L’un des rares “mérites” de l’urbanisation maorie aura sans doute été d’amener sur la place publique la question de l’intégration sociale des indigènes, à une époque où la Nouvelle-Zélande était encore considérée par ses élites comme “blanche à 99%”. Face au racisme persistent et aux inégalités entre Maoris et Pakehas (blancs), de nouveaux mouvements de protestation maoris apparaissent dès les années 60, avec à l’extrême le gang Black Power. Parmi les principales actions du mouvement modéré, on retiendra la Maori Land March de 1975, traversant l’Île du Nord pour arriver devant le Parlement à Wellington, et l’occupation de Bastion Point près d’Auckland en 1977 et 1978. Le film Once Were Warriors (L’Âme des Guerriers) offre un aperçu intéressant sur l’urbanisation maorie :

10. Et aujourd’hui ? Et demain ?

Depuis l’année dernière, le National Party est de retour au pouvoir, emmené par le Premier ministre John Key. Pays encore très libéral, la Nouvelle-Zélande a été durement touchée par la crise économique et sort tout juste de la récession. Deux défis majeurs l’attendent déjà pour ce XXIe siècle. D’une part, l’évolution de l’identité kiwie, devant non seulement prendre en compte les Maoris et les immigrés du Pacifique mais aussi la population asiatique, de plus en plus importante. En 2026, on estime en effet qu’il y aura 780 000 Maoris, 480 000 Polynésiens et… 788 000 Asiatiques en Nouvelle-Zélande ! C’est donc tout le modèle d’intégration biculturaliste qui semble à revoir, d’autant plus que l’Asie est désormais le principal partenaire économique de la Nouvelle-Zélande. D’autre part, la question du modèle politique néo-zélandais reste en suspens. A l’heure actuelle, la Nouvelle-Zélande est une monarchie, avec pour chef d’Etat la Reine Elisabeth II. Pour certains, le passage à une république est incontournable, et il est vrai que cela permettrait à la Nouvelle-Zélande d’affirmer son indépendance une fois pour toutes. Enfin, un troisième défi, à plus court terme : l’organisation de la Coupe du monde de rugby en 2011 s’annonce comme un défi très coûteux pour les Kiwis…

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of going to an Australian themed food party. The lovely hostess served a crazy amount of delicious food and I have to admit, I stuffed myself to the point where I felt a little sick. I couldn’t help myself, everything was so good! It was also the first time I ever tried kangaroo and camel meat. I believe she bought those meats at St. Lawrence Market, for those who are curious.

At this party there was a plate of cookies that were so chewy and yummy. All I could taste was coconut and that was enough for me to fall in love with them. I must have eaten about six of those cookies that night. The hostess was kind enough to send me the link for the recipe.

As soon as I finished scanning through the list of ingredients I didn’t think twice before turning on my oven and pulling out ingredients. I had to use shredded coconut in my version. It’s all I had in my fridge but it made no difference; the cookies are fantastic and super easy to make.

If you tell a taxi to take you to the Beirut neighborhood of Gemmazeh, they’ll drop you at the start of the Rue Gouraud – the main bar, restaurant and club packed street running through this noisy neighborhood, which somehow manages to be grungy and upscale chic at the same time. I love it! You can spend entire nights hopping from cafe to bar, from bar to club, and never get bored or run out of new places to try.

General Gouraud

But anyway, I’ve been curious for awhile now about the street’s namesake ‘Gouraud.’ I wikipedia-ed that shit and here’s what I found: Henri Joseph Eugene Gouraud was born in France in 1867.  For one of the plethora of reasons that inspire young men to take up arms for their country, he joined the French army and began to bump his way up the ranks.  He actually lost his right arm while he was commanding French forces during the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915. Like Cervantes in the Battle of Le Panto! Although, that was his left arm. Ha! History NERD in the house.

You know the Battle of Gallipoli – World War I, fought on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. British and French trying to capture Istanbul from the Ottomans and failing miserably. Tons of people died on both sides – honestly doesn’t sound like it was worth it. Oh,  and they made a movie about it in 1981 – which in today’s pop culture world is probably more well known than the battle itself. The film was directed by Peter Weir and stars a very young Mel Gibson and Mark Lee as two hopeful, promising young Australians who join ANZAC (The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – a branch of the British Army during WWI) and then get butchered in Gallipoli. It’s a great film but obviously very depressing.

ANYWAY, I digress.  So the reason why they care about this General in Lebanon is that from 1919-1923 he was a commander of the French army of the Levant (Levant = the eastern Mediterranean countries in general – specifically, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Israel and sometimes Iraq and Saudi Arabia) and played an important role in the creation of the French Mandates of Syria and Lebanon.  From what I’ve read, the locals in the region had mixed opinions of Gouraud and the French presence, but apparently he had enough of an impact to merit a street being named after him!

I actually found an article in the archives of the the NY Times, written in 1922, entitled ‘Gouraud Doubts Turks Want Syria: French Policy, the General Says, Is Merely to Carry Out Mandate Helpfully.’ I love the internet

Some background info: So in 1916, you get the Sykes-Picot Agreement (s0 called because it was negotiated by François Georges-Picot of France and Mark Sykes of Britain) between France and the UK that defined who would get control of the different territories in the Middle East after the Ottoman Empire fell.  But this agreement was secret and didn’t become official (although it was enforced all the while) until after the end of WWI, in the 1920s by the League of Nations. So in 1920, in the Treaty of Sevres (peace treaty between the Ottomans and the Allied forces), France was official granted control of Syria. The Syrians were pissed, understandably and actually from 1919 (French presence already in Syria but yet to be officially granted power by the League of Nations) until 1921 you get the Franco-Syrian War, with the Syrians trying to oust the French. The Syrians lost and the French remained in control. Quelle surprise.

So when this NY Times article was written in 1922, the French presence in Syria (Lebanon had yet to be created as it’s own country and was just a state in Syria – in fact the article is written from Beirut, Syria not Beirut, Lebanon) was established but Gouraud and his troops were still facing small attacks from different groups in Syria who hadn’t given up on their goal of evicting the French.  Syrian grievances against the French included French suppression of Syrian newspapers, political activity, and civil rights and the division of Greater Syria into six different states (Gouraud actually headed this division of Syria, one of the states being that of Greater Lebanon, which eventually became the country).

In the article, the author interviewed Gouraud who was trying to set the record straight about the French influence in Syria, explaining that the French were trying to restore stability in the region, reduce their presence in Syria and were generally liked in the region despite the recent attacks – “He was sure the Syrian people were beginning to realize the generous motives behind the French mandate and the elevating influence of French efforts in Syria, and he was happy to be able to say that the French were now meeting with ready and cordial cooperation.”  He also explained that he felt the Ottoman’s would not try to retake Syria and insisted that the French were “…on excellent terms with the Turkish authorities.” So interesting. Wish I had a Syrian article written at the same time on their perspective, but given that the French were suppressing Syrian papers, that might be more difficult to come by.

Gouraud returned to Paris the year after this article was published, in 1923, where he worked as Military Governor until his retirement in 1937, and eventually died in 1946.

Well, anyway, there you go. A brief sum up of the man behind the street name in the party district of Beirut.

From the Official Site:

The Shrine of Remembrance was built between July 1928 and November 1934 in remembrance of the 114,000 men and women of Victoria who served and those who died in the Great War of 1914-1918 – 89,100 of them served overseas and 19,000 did not return. The people of Victoria felt that their debt to these volunteers, who had defended them at such great costs to themselves and their families, should be recognised by a worthy permanent monument of remembrance. Although the country was faced with frightful unemployment and financial difficulty in the late 1920s and the 1930s, so great was the gratitude of the people that the huge amount required to build the Shrine was raised or promised within six months from the opening of the appeal in 1928. The design for the Shrine of Remembrance was selected by competition among Australian artists and architects. Eighty-three designs were submitted and the winning design was by two Melbourne returned-soldier architects, Philip Hudson and James Wardrop. The inspiration for the external outline came from one of the seven wonders of the ancient world – the mausoleum at Harlicarnassus to Mausolus, King of Caria in South West Asia Minor. Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester and son of King George V, officially opened the Shrine before a crowd of 300,000 people in November 1934. Since then, it has been a growing monument, with other memorials added to the site to mark the service of successive generations, such as the Second World War Forecourt and the Remembrance Garden Post 1945 Memorial.

Details:

• Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mk II
• Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
• Exposure: 13 exposures (-2,-1.66.-1.33,-1,-.66,-.33,0,+.33,+.66,+1,+1.33,+1.66+2 EV)
• Aperture: f/18
• Focal Length: 22 mm
• ISO Speed: 200
• Accessories: Manfrotto 190XB Tripod, Manfrotto 322RC2 Heavy Duty Grip Ball Head, Canon RC1 Wireless Remote
• Date and Time: 14 July 2009 6.41am

Post Processing:

• Imported into Lightroom
• Exported 13 exposures to Photomatix
• Tonemap generated HDR using detail enhancer option
• Re-imported back into Lightroom
• Exported HDR and 0 EV exposure to CS3 and layered HDR on top of 0 EV
• Brush tool to even out the sky
• Noise reduction layer
• Magic wand tool to select the monument
• Unsharp mask on selection
• Re-imported back into Lightroom
• Vibrance adjustment in Lightroom
• Added keyword metadata
• Exported as JPEG

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From Wikipedia:

The Shrine of Remembrance, located in St Kilda Road, Melbourne, is one of the largest war memorials in Australia, and resides in Kings Domain. It was built as a memorial to the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I. It now serves as a memorial for all Australians who served in war and it is the site of annual observances of ANZAC Day (25 April) and Remembrance Day (11 November).

Beneath the Sanctuary is the Crypt containing a bronze statue of a father and son, representing the two generations who served in the two world wars. Around the walls are panels listing every unit of the AIF, down to battalion and regiment, along with the colours of their shoulder patch. The Crypt is hung with the standards of various battalions and regiments, listing their battle honours.

Details:

• Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mk II
• Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
• Exposure: 13 exposures (-2,-1.66.-1.33,-1,-.66,-.33,0,+.33,+.66,+1,+1.33,+1.66+2 EV)
• Aperture: f/8
• Focal Length: 16 mm
• ISO Speed: 200
• Tripod: Manfrotto 190XB Tripod & Manfrotto 322RC2 Heavy Duty Grip Ball Head
• Accessories: Canon RC1 Wireless Remote
• Date and Time: 16 July 2009 1.30pm

Post Processing:

• Imported into Lightroom
• Exported 13 exposures to Photomatix
• Tonemap generated HDR using detail enhancer option
• Re-imported back into Lightroom
• Exported HDR and 0 EV exposure to CS3 and layered HDR on top of 0 EV
• Hues/Saturation Layer (yellows)
• Curves layer for contrast
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From Wikipedia:

The Shrine of Remembrance, located in St Kilda Road, Melbourne, is one of the largest war memorials in Australia, and resides in Kings Domain. It was built as a memorial to the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I. It now serves as a memorial for all Australians who served in war and it is the site of annual observances of ANZAC Day (25 April) and Remembrance Day (11 November). Designed by architects and veterans of World War I, Phillip Hudson and James Wardrop, the Shrine is designed in a classical style, being based on the Tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus and the Parthenon in Athens.

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• Date and Time: 14 July 2009 6.27am

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The majority of Australians have family roots in the UK, and it is always interesting to trace them back from hot southern sun to rainy fileds in Britain where their ancestors may have toiled since before the Norman Conquest.   To get an idea of the kind of things that can be discovered, take a look at the excerpts from an Australian Family Tree below.   Although not the complete Family Story, it will give you an idea of what can be achieved.  I hope you enjoy the story.

The Godding Family From England to Australia

The research of the name Godding itself showed that it is derived from an Old English name “Goding” meaning Goda’s child.   The original “Goding” spelling of the name coincides with the early family distribution around the Gloucestershire/Somerset borders.   Given that the name is not associated with a particular profession or craft, and we discovered through research that the family worked the land for many generations at the humblest level of society in future centuries, we can be confident that in the 11th  Century we would have found Goding (Goda’s son) also working the land but as a serf for the lord of the Manor.    

From the Norman Conquest to the 14^th century Goding and his descendants would have toiled the land never leaving their home Parish except for the occasional Market Day or Saints Day celebration.   Even during the 14^th century with the upheavals of the Black Death which wiped out nearly half the population of England, and the subsequent Peasants’ Revolt which almost overthrew the king in London, made little difference to the lives of the Godings.   Perhaps they gained a little more mobility, and slightly better wages due to the shortage of able bodied workers due to the plague, but it is unlikely that they moved more than a few miles from their home Parishes, given that they were still there some centuries later.   One thing is sure, this part of the family actually survived the Plague and lived to pass on their genes to future generations.

Centuries passed, Civil Wars came and went, as did Kings Queens, Catholicism, and a Cromwellian Republic, but still the Godings toiled in the earth for the Lord of their Manor, scraping a living and living long enough to produce the next generation.   Eventually we find them in the 1700s having gained an extra “d” in their name, courtesy of the local Vicar’s whim, given that most of his flock were unable to read and write, he decided on the spelling of their names, and these became set, and so we find William Godding born in 1793 in the Gloucestershire market town of Thornbury.  

This was the age of enclosures, landowners now started to turn their land back to cereal cultivation, which required more man power.   In order to meet the higher demand for grain crops the big landowners would seek permissions from Parliament to carry out “Enclosures”, not just the taking of uncultivated waste land, but also land that was communally farmed by the agricultural population for each person to keep a cow, or for raising of vegetable crops.   The peasant farmers who previously had rights to this land,   lost their opportunity to make a living from farming, so, having robbed them of their livelihood, the Lord would take them on as paid labourers to work the land they previously had rights over.   The Lord would also decide what he would pay them.   If they didn’t like the wages, they could always decide not to work for the Lord, in which case they would loose their cottage, would have to leave the village to look for work elsewhere as they would not be entitled to poor relief from the Parish, or, of course they could choose to starve to death in a ditch.     The landowners had worked out how to control their local populations via wages and rents rather than through the sword and gibbet.   In the words of one MP who railed against the plight of the rural poor;

“The poor in these Parishes may say; Parliament may be tender of property; all I know is I had a cow, and an act of Parliament has taken it from me.”

So this is how William Godding came to be working for wages on local farms dependant on large tenant farmers and the Lord of the Manor, rather than owning a small holding of his own.  Then surprisingly when in his twenties around 1816 William takes the bold step of moving, not just from his home town of Thornbury, but out of the County of Gloucestershire to Keynsham in Somerset where he meets and marries a local girl called Isabella.   Such a move was a major decision for an unskilled Agricultural Labourer, so we needed to see if we could find the cause of it. 

Trouble at Thornbury 

The enclosure acts had caused resentment between the Lords who took the land and the Peasants who lost it.   But the lords had the law on their side and penalties could be harsh for Agricultural Labourers who weren’t prepared to cow tail to the local Lords.

To take back some of their lost assets, and as an act of defiance local people would poach animals for the pot from the Lords’ lands, which was illegal and violently resented by the Gentry.   The penalties were drastic, one member of the Godding family being transported in a prison ship to Australia for offences in 1810.    

At Thornbury in 1815, a man called Thomas Till had been legally killed on the Estate of Lord Ducie by a Spring Gun,   a firearm booby trap left in the woods by game keepers,   Thomas Till had tripped one such wire and been shot and killed by the device when out looking for a rabbit for the pot. This legally sanctioned killing heightened tensions between the common people and the Gentry in Thornbury which would eventually spilled over into an act of defiance.    

On a cold and frosty moonlit night on 18^th January 1816 a group of young labourers gathered at a house in Thornbury, with blacked faces to aid camouflage and avoid recognition, they set out on an act of civil disobedience to poach on the lands of Colonel Berkeley at Berkeley Castle.   Undoubtedly this was a political move, rather than a pure poaching for the pot exercise, as the leaders of the participants were from middleclass backgrounds, indeed one of the organisers was a lawyer, and guns had been provided, something no peasant would have owned.

However by the time they reached the Berkeley Estate word had leaked, and ten gamekeepers lay in ambush for them.   The poachers were challenged by the keepers, and realising that they had been betrayed, decided to make a fight of it, at least some among them were ex-soldiers, and they formed up in a double line, advanced on the keepers and   fired a volley killing one keeper, William Ingram, instantly and wounding several others. It then seems that after some confused fighting the poachers made their escape.

Over the following weeks Two of the group lost their nerve, gave themselves up and turned King’s Evidence in return for a dropping of charges, the less well off were apprehended over the following weeks, their fates were mixed; two were hanged for the murder of Ingram, nine were transported to Van Dieman’s Land (Tasmania) for life, and probably another eight (who had the money and connections to facilitate it) fled to America, Ireland, and the Caribbean. No doubt there were many other men involved in the fight that night, but not important enough to warrant a prolonged pursuit.  Adding up the facts and timing of William Godding’s move, it does look like he may well have decided to flee as a result the Thornbury Poacher’s Battle.  

It seems that fleeing one county away was enough as William and Isabella set up home in Keynsham and raise a family there.

We followed William and his family through the archives decade upon decade from 1841, we find them in Keynsham with six of their children, five sons and a daughter, William eventually gives   up work on the land when in his fifties to work as a Labourer on the newly arrived Railway, his daughter Elizabeth found work as a domestic servant at the tender age of fourteen with a Railway Contractor, times were hard, the children left home and William continues to work as a labourer into his eighties after the death of his wife.

Vines Godding and the move to Australia

Vines was often misrepresented as “Fines” due to his West Country accent, and the name would stick.   The son of William and Isabella Godding born in Keynsham Somerset. Like his father and brothers he was a Labourer at a time in England when life was very tough for the working man and his family.   He had married Sophia Palmer in 1854, and by 1861 they were living in a working class area of Bristol with three children under of five years and under, so life was   hard for them with five mouths to feed on a labourer’s income.

During the middle years of the nineteenth century in England there was a big drive to “assist” paupers and the working poor to emigrate to Australia, some times this was a wholely voluntary process, and sometimes there was something close to coercion involved.   In the case of Vines, given how adventurous the family was prepared to be in order to find work; it seems likely that a mixture of poverty and daring fuelled their move.  

What we do know is that their move was “assisted” i.e. the costs were   covered by a local emigration scheme.     We found that they left in 1862 aboard the ship the Lady Milton.   With Vines and Sophia were their daughters Elizabeth five and Emily three, plus their one year old son Charles. They must have been fairly desperate, because Sophia was also pregnant when they undertook the trip, and gave birth during the voyage to Louisa.     But times could be hard in Australia as well, and both Bessy and Louisa died in 1868, with Elizabeth following in 1888.   The rest of the children survived to adulthood. Sophia lived till 1896, and Vines till 1901, they both lived out their lives in Australia.

Charles James Godding    

Times may have been hard, but with Imperial Wars to fight Vines’ eldest son Charles James, joined the Army as a Gunner in the Artillery on 26^th January 1881, he was listed as a Baptist, the first confirmation we have of the Godding family’s religious beliefs. By 3^rd of March 1885 he was shipped out to the Sudan during the war with the Mahdi, and General Gordan’s siege at Khartoum. The force left Sydney amid much fanfare, generated in part by the holiday declared to allow the public to bid farewell to the troops; the send-off was described as the most festive occasion in the colony’s history.

The NSW contingent arrived and anchored at Sudan’s Red Sea port Suakin on 29^th March 1885, and were attached to a brigade composed of Scots, Grenadier and Coldstream Guards. Shortly after their arrival they marched as part of a large “square” formation – on this occasion made up of 10,000 men – for Tamai, a village some 30 kilometres inland. Although the march was marked only by minor skirmishing, the men saw something of the reality of war as they halted among the dead from a battle which had taken place eleven days before. Further minor skirmishing took place on the next day’s march, but the Australians, now at the rear of the square, sustained only three casualties, none fatal. The infantry reached Tamai, burned whatever huts were standing and returned to Suakin.

After Tamai, the NSW contingent worked on the railway line which was being laid across the desert to the Nile.     Far from the excitement they had imagined, the Australians suffered mostly from the enforced idleness of guard duties. When a camel corps was raised, fifty men volunteered immediately. On 6 May they rode on a reconnaissance to Takdul, 28 kilometres from Suakin, again hoping for an encounter with the Sudanese, but the only action that day involved two newspaper correspondents who had accompanied the patrol before leaving the cameleers to file their stories in Suakin. They soon found themselves surrounded by enemy forces, and one was wounded as they fled. The camel corps made only one more sortie – on 15 May, to bury the bodies of men killed in fighting the previous March.

The artillery saw even less action than the infantry. They were posted to Handoub where, having no enemy close enough to engage, they drilled for a month. On 15 May they rejoined the camp at Suakin. Not having participated in any battles, Australian casualties were few: those who died fell to disease rather than enemy action.   By May 1885 the British government had decided to abandon the campaign and left only a garrison in Suakin. The Australian contingent sailed for home on 17 May 1885 arriving in Sydney on 19 June. They were expecting to land at Port Jackson and were surprised to disembark at the quarantine station on North Head near Manly as a precaution against disease. One man died of typhoid there before the contingent was released.

Five days after their arrival in Sydney the contingent, dressed in their khaki uniforms, marched through the city to a reception at Victoria Barracks where they stood in pouring rain as a number of public figures, including the Governor, the Premier, and Colonel Richardson the commandant of the contingent, gave speeches. It was generally agreed at the time that, no matter how small the military significance of the Australian contribution to the adventure, it marked an important stage in the development of colonial self-confidence and was proof of the enduring link with Britain.

The Grandsons of Vines Godding

 The family having seen action in the Sudan, their then settled down to civilian life until the next generation were called upon to serve the Empire in The Great War.

Clarence Sydney Godding 1898 – 1917

Clarence was working as a Farm hand on a Dairy Farm, before joining the 19^th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in 1916 as a Private, and had been living with his parents.   On his shipping papers his religion is stated as C of E, but his brother was a Baptist, perhaps he didn’t consider it an important detail.  In any case he was shipped out probably initially to Egypt where the Battalion was reorganised and new recruits were trained, before being shipped to France. The first major action for the Battalion was Pozieres, where the German shelling was the most intense ever experienced by the AIF during the war and was accompanied by nearly continuous German counter attacks to recover their vital ground.   In this battle 19th Battalion created a record by holding its sector for a period of 12 days. The most notable action that Clarence would have taken part in was the capture and defence of the notorious ‘Maze’ defence system at Flers on 14th November 1916. Clarence and his mates captured and held a salient deep within the German Lines, but their support battalions failed to reach their objectives on the flanks of the 19^th, and so the 18 year old Clarence and his unit were cut off deep inside the German lines.

For two days and nights Clarence held his position against counter attacks and intense shelling, almost running out of ammunition Charles and his mates picked up the rifles and ammo of the Germans they had killed and used them, so that their own ammunition could be saved for their Lewis machine guns to stop the German Infantry counter attacks. Of the 451 all ranks who went into the attack, 381 became casualties.

Clarence survived, and his next big battle was at Lagincourt in 1917 where his battalion was involved in the follow-up of German forces after their retreat to the Hindenburg Line.   The Germans counter attacked to try to halt their pursuit by the Australians, and Clarence was faced with an attack by a German force that outnumbered them five to one, they made their stand at Lagincourt and managed to defeat the German advance.  

On the 3^rd of May 1917 Clarence and his friends were thrown into “The Blood Tub” as the second battle of Bullecourt would be called by the Aussies.   General Gough had sent his troops to assault the fortress village of Bullecourt using the new wonder ‘tank’ and the Anzacs, it ended in disaster.   This was the first battle of Bullecourt, on the 3rd of May Gough launched a second attack on Bullecourt which dominated the British action on the Western Front for two weeks, and was the battle that Clarence fought in.     It was the excessive brutality and ferocity of the hand-to-hand fighting that earned Bullecourt the name ‘The Blood Tub’.

At a quarter to four in the morning of 3^rd of May 1917 two Australian and one British Brigade went over the top to attack Bullecourt.   The Australians penetrated the German line but met determined opposition which stop the force surrounding and cutting off the Germans.   It was during this fighting on the first day of the battle in fierce hand to hand combat in the German trenches that Clarence, at the tender age of nineteen was killed.     By the end of the battle the village was held by the Allies; the locality turned out to be of little or no strategic importance, and cost the Australians 7,482 in dead and wounded.

Below you have the Roll of Honour application made out by Charles James Godding, Clarence’s father, to have his son’s name added to the memorial and list.   It is a very sad document filled out by a proud but grieving father, the careful but inexpert nature of the writing in a time of grief, contrasts starkly with the bureaucratic and clinical nature of the form; it highlights the gulf in attitude between a statistic and a young man’s life.  

Sadly Clarence’s body was never found, but he did not return from the battle, and he was not taken prisonner, so it was beyond doubt that   he was   killed in action alongside hundreds of others from his Battalion, and by   July 1918 his status was changed from missing to killed in action.   To the credit of the Australian authorities, they were still investigating right up till October 1919, when they checked to see if he was among Australian prisoners of war released in Germany at the end of the war, but there was no trace of him.   All of this was recorded in the archives that we researched.

The Poppy marks the spot where his name is engraved on the Australian National War Memorial in Sydney.  

Although it is not known what happened to his body, he is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France.

Fines Henry Godding 1896 – 1918

 Fines had worked as a labourer until 26^th February 1915, aged 19, Fines joined the Australian Imperial Force as a Private in the Infantry.  He shipped out with the 17^th Battalion on the troop ship Themistocles in May 1915. He trained in Egypt from June until mid-August 1915, and on 20 August landed at ANZAC Cove.

At Gallipoli Fines fought in the last action of the August Offensive; the attack on Hill 60, before settling into defensive routine in the trenches. For the rest of his time in Turkey Fines was part of the garrison of Quinn’s Post, one of the most contested positions along the entire ANZAC front.   Eventually he was evacuated from Gallipoli in December 1915.

After further training in Egypt, Fines   was sent to France, landing on 22 March 1916.   He took part in his first major battle at Pozières between 25 July and 5 August.   After a spell in a quieter sector of the front in Belgium, he was sent back into France again in October, where he spent the freezing winter of 1916-17 rotating in and out of trenches in the Somme Valley but was spared from attacking across the quagmire the Somme.   It was during this winter that his battalion earned the nickname “the Whale Oil Guards” after their Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Oswald Croshaw, ordered the troops to polish their helmets with the whale oil that had been issued to them as a foot rub to prevent Trench Foot.  Trench Foot is caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to damp and cold, it can occur with only twelve hours of exposure, the first signs are numbness in the feet followed by a change in color to red or blue. As the condition worsens, the feet swell, followed by blisters open sores which lead to fungal infections. If not treated it results in gangrene and requires amputation of the foot. Unfortunately for Fines, Croshaw considered a smart turn out on parade more important than his mens’   health.   They were Lions lead by Donkeys.

In 1917 Fines took part in the pursuit of German forces after their retreat to the Hindenburg Line, and fought in the battle of Lagincourt where a counter stroke by a German force, almost four times as strong, was defeated. Fate then bequeathed that he would fight in the blood bowl at the second battle of Bullecourt (3-4 May), he would have known that Clarence his brother was fighting in the same battle, and no doubt would have had that on his mind during the action.   At the end of the Battle, he heard that his brother was missing, and tried desperately to find out what had happened to him sending letters to the authorities to try to find out as the excerpt   below show.

  “…his name was in the list of missing last evening, and now it has upset me a great deal.   I don’t know how my parents at home will take it when they hear the news, it will be a great blow to them, but still we must of hope for the best.   I am giving you his address and if you hear anything different please communicate with me as soon as possible.”

This letter was written from Perham Down, Andover, which was a Convalescent Depot. These were half way houses for casualties returning to the front – men who no longer required hospitalisation but were not yet fit to rejoin their units.  Fines had also been wounded at Bullecourt, seriously enough to have been shipped back to England for treatment.  At the end of his treatment in July 1917 he wrote another letter to make sure the Department of Wounded and Missing Soldiers would know where to contact him should they get news, as he had been temporarily moved out of the front lines. On the 3^rd of September he was still trying to find out the fate of his brother, writing again to the authorities on his return to his battalion.  Not knowing his brother’s fate he was shipped back to Belgium, where he fought at the battles of the Menin Road 20^th – 22^nd September, and Poelcappelle 9^th – 10^th October. In October his father wrote to the authorities about his missing son Clarence, but also mentioned   poignant words about Fines, pleading with the authroities to let his shell shocked son come home, we discovered these heart rending letters in the archives:

The father didn’t get his wish, instead, Fines was shipped out for another winter of trench duty. Fines then took part in   stopping   the German Spring Offensive of 1918. With this last desperate offensive defeated, the Allied armies turned to the offensive.   But Fines found himself   back in hospital in England. This time he had Trench Fever, a disease spread by body lice in the unhygenic environment of the trenches. Fines was treated in the hospial for just over three weeks, then given two weeks furlough before being shipped back to the front line. 

Once back in the lines, Fines received the official   letter from the authorities concerning his brother, his worst fears were realised.  We can only guess at the pain he carried in his heart as he fought in the battles that pushed the German Army ever closer to defeat: Amiens on 8 August, the legendary attack on Mont St Quentin on 31^st August. Then came the last major battle fought by his Battalion which started on 29^th September 1918. Two Australian Divisions in co-operation with American forces, attacked the formidable German defences along the St Quentin Canal, and on to the Hindenburg Line. 

Unlike his brother Clarence, Fines fate was well documented by his comrades, and we were able to discover in our research   many tetimonials from them describing what they saw:   Private Quantrill went over the top with him at 06.10 on the morning of 30^th September 1918 and saw him fall; Sergeant Callaghan saw him lying dead in a trench with machine gun wounds; Private Simmons wrapped his body for burial and noted that he had been hit in the neck and head by machine gun bullets; Private Green carried his body back for burial after Simmons had wrapped it; and   Sergeant Wilkinson oversaw Fines’s burial at Tincourt Cemetary.   The actions of his friends who had cared for him and provided some dignity after death must have given some comfort to his grieving parents. 

A number of these men were obviously his friends, and refer to him as Merry Godding (the strong Australian accent being mishearing “Merry”  as “Mary” by the officer typing one of the letters) because of  his happy disposition.  He was 21 years old carrried the grief of his younger brother’s death, had been wounded and   sufferred Trench Fever from body lice, he   fought in some of the bloodiest battles of WW1, but despite all of this he still managed to lift the spirits of his comrades.   What greater praise could a man be given?  

James Keith Godding 1905 – 1943

James Keith survived the First World War because he was too young to join up.   In 1920 he married Catherine Zada Thomson at Woolahra, and they had a daughter named after her mother, Catherine Zada Godding. 

But when World War Two broke out he followed the path of his elder brothers and father, and volunteered for the Australian Army, and after a brief initial spell in the infantry James joined the   artillery as his father had done a generation before him.   It also   looks like he either gave a false birth date on when he joined to make himself look younger.

But tradgedy would stalk the Godding boys again, but James did not succome to the enemy, he sadly died whilst a serving soldier od Tuberculosis, and was cremated in Sidney, attended by his parents and his wife.   The poppy in the picture shows the location of his name on the Australian National Memorial.

Roy William Godding

Roy Wiliam   born in Newton NSW Australia, the son of Thomas Sydney Godding, and the grandson of Vines Godding.   The records we found showed that he was 5ft 8ins tall had dark hair a dark complexion, no doubt tanned from his work shearing in the tropics, and had grey eyes.   He had a 34 inch Chest and weighed just over 1“Goding” stone, so he was quite heavy for his height, but wasn’t particularly broad in the chest.

He was a sheep shearer by occupation, and was working in Queensland when he joined the Australian Imperial Force.   He was shipped out as a member of the 15th Battalionon HMAT Wandilla on 31st January 1916 from Brisbane.

He joined the regiment in Egypt where it had been sent after leaving Gallipoli.   the records show that Roy proved to be a bit of a tearaway, finding himself in hospital on two separate occasions   for treatment for the result   of some “leisure activities” in Cairo, and he subsequently turns up in Rollestone, Wiltshire, UK in September 1916, where he goes AWL (Absent Without Leave), and is given 16 days confinement to Camp, and docked   16 days pay.

His battalion had been in France and had fought in the battle of Pozières in August 1916, so it was possible that he was wounded and shipped back to England.

By November 1916 he is shipped back to France, and must have started showing his worth as by April 1917 he is promoted to Lance Corporal. This probably happened at the first Battle of Bullecourt, the prelude to the Battle in which his cousins fought.   Roy’s battalion suffered heavy losses at Bullecourt when the brigade attacked strong German positions without the promised tank support. During July Roy spent another three weeks in hospital, probably through wounds.   Roy   spent much of the remainder of 1917 in Belgium, advancing to the Hindenburg Line, where again he no doubt proved himself being promoted to Corporal and then to Sergeant.   His greatest moment came in September 1917 in the battle of Polygon Wood, in the larger battle of Passchendale.

The attack on Polygon Wood was the 5th Division’s first major battle since it was savaged at the disastrous attack at Fromelles in July 1916 (although parts of the Division had been present at Bullecourt in April 1917). It would attack with the Australian 4th Division on its left and five British Divisions also taking part.

The troops advanced in the early hours of September 26, close behind a creeping artillery barrage. The barrage was, in the words of C. E. W. Bean, Australia’s Official War Historian, “the most perfect that ever protected Australian troops”. Under the protection of this barrage, the Australians advanced in several stages. The concrete pillboxes were manned by German machine gun teams who resisted fiercely and almost all had to be captured by acts of individual bravery. The Australians captured the pillboxes in what later became the classic style: a Lewis gun would fire on the pillbox, supported by fire from rifle grenades, while an assault team would manoeuvre around to the back of the pillbox, rather than attacking it head on. The technique worked effectively in most cases, but attacking pillboxes was never an easy task and casualties were high.

It was during this engagement that Roy won The Military Medal.   The Military Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British and Commonwealth Armies, below Officer rank, for bravery in battle on land.   The medal was established on 25^th March 1916. It was the other rank’s equivalent to the Military Cross.

The official records said:

“During the attack near Zokkebake on 26th September 1917 he displayed splendid courage and gallantry in leading his men against a party of the enemy who were holding up the advance.

During the consolidation of the captured position he dispalyed great coolness and skill in rallying his men and beating off a counter attack.

During a very heavy bombardment he inspired great confidence in those around him by his coloness and disregard for danger.” 

He survived the war and returned to Australia in 1918 and was demobilised in 1919.

This is just an extract from what was discovered during the research, which also included the the parts of the family that stayed in England, and contained details of births, Deaths, and Marriages, as well as addresses and occupations.  If you are interested in having your own family tree researched you can find more details here; Time Detectives Services.

First posted November 21 2008

The Australian History Channel has commissioned a documentary that marks the 90th anniversary of WWI. It is a companion to the 2005 documentary commemorating the fallen in Gallipoli.

The film will be a tribute to the soldiers who fought during the battles of the Western Front from Frommelles (July 1916) through to Montbrehain (October 1918). (continue)

This narrow waterway guards the entrance to Istanbul and the Black Sea from the Mediterranean Sea, Through out History the Dardanelles have seen bitter sea battles here from the Goths, Arabs, Romans, Greeks, Crusaders, Ottomans and Allied Forces in WW1, because of   censorship here I  cant write the  History of the battle of Gallipoli with the ANZACs  (Australia, New Zealand and Canadian Army Corps) but you Dear Readers in the outside World can always Google it !!

WW1 was the first mechanised war and as such the slaughter was imense,  not only in the trenches and fields of  Northern France but here also with the ANZAC’s and Turkish/German Forces, in Europe Armistice day is the memorial day of WW1 but in Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC day is the one remembered.

In Canakkale on the sea front is the Naval museum, its free to enter.

After the Naval museum we walked around town towards the horse.

When we were here previously the weather was cloudy and our photos of the new horse were dark.

We spent the evening at Hamits internet cafe, he was playing on photoshop and made up a picture of the old girl.

]]> http://suranga.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/the-reality-of-war/ Mon, 18 May 2009 01:42:35 +0000 surannga http://suranga.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/the-reality-of-war/

While you all are eagerly awaiting the ‘good news’ from His Excellency after his pope-style soil kissing heroics at the Air Port, here’s something contrasting. Well, as usual. This article was published a few weeks ago in a freely distributed local newspaper called ‘The Chronicle’ ahead of the ANZAC day. I couldn’t find an electronic copy of it to post but since I felt like it’s worth reading, thought of sharing an extract with you, even though the timing may not be all that right.

(Originally published in ‘The Chronicle’ 21st April 2009 by Katina Curtis, “Teaching children the reality of war”)

          Mr. Jim Hume joined the British Navy as a 13-year-old trainee in 1937 and           went to war 3 years later. He transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in           1943, where he served until 1974. He likes to quote General John Monash           when discussing war with children. “War is not a business in which one can           take any pride or pleasure, or even pretend to. Its horror, its ghastly           inefficiency, its unspeakable cruelty and misery has always appalled me,           but there’s nothing to do but set one’s teeth and stick it out as long as one           can”.

          Mr. Hume said, “I always quote it to kids because one of the problems with           modern day youth is the television – and even the war memorial – tend to           glamorize the war. War is not exciting. War doesn’t achieve anything but           enormous casualty rates. It’s only the politicians who give us wars.” He           hoped by using his experiences to teach about the reality of war, young           people would learn to question the reasons for going into battle.

Being a nation which learn things very slow and forget things very fast, I’m pretty sure it will take quite a long time for us to figure out the reality of the war that we claim to have won. Until then, keep celebrating folks!

He really had the best vantage point for shooting the service, but I couldn’t begrudge him that, when the image he created was a just compensation.

Regardless how slow time is moving it’s actually reassuring to know that the end is inching frustratingly closer.  It’s been frustratingly slow to upload or post anything to the extent that it feels like I am using dial up all over again.  Posting has been a little slow as uploading is just not happening and Optus can’t quite explain why. 

Rather than trying to flog more out of date photos, I’m going to plug a few of my favourite photographers such as JiMagery (minimalism at its most beautiful) and Charlie Waite (gorgeous landscape photographer)…go and browse it’s all quite inspiring.

Luke not so lucky as Kiwis suffer killer blow

Thu, 07 May 2009 8:38a.m.

Former Kangaroos forwards Ian Roberts and Bob Lindner, along with fellow panelist Mal Cochrane, took just 15 minutes to find Luke guilty of a grade one striking charge after a 30-minute hearing in Sydney.

It left accomplished 14-test Wests Tigers hooker Dene Halatau with the No 9 jersey for tomorrow’s Suncorp Stadium test (9.45pm NZT), having only been summoned to camp as cover on Tuesday. The Kiwis have their final session at the match venue late today.

They were confident South Sydney’s Luke, represented by top Sydney lawyer Geoff Bellew SC, would beat what appeared a minor charge from an incident with Gold Coast and Kangaroos forward Anthony Laffranchi.

Laffranchi said on Tuesday he “didn’t read much into” Saturday’s incident and appeared surprised the dynamic hooker was cited. Luke, who was yesterday named to start his seventh test, was “devastated”, said team spokesman Richard Becht.

“From the New Zealand Rugby League camp, we certainly view the punishment as harsh but, be that as it may, it’s done, we’ll move on, we have a test match to prepare for,” Becht said.

It was a further setback for the world champions in a disrupted week as they bid to go back to back against the Kangaroos.

Captain Benji Marshall (corked thigh) ran freely for the early part of training yesterday but still didn’t appear at full stretch throughout, while back-rower Jeremy Smith (ankle sprain) sat out training but spoke confidently of being fit.

Before the Luke decision, coach Steve Kearney spoke of the Kiwis riding the confidence boost they gained from the 34-20 World Cup final win at the same venue last November.

“That self-belief was certainly a quality that (former assistant coach) Wayne Bennett brought to the group. You get that belief through the way you prepare,” Kearney said.

“There’s some wonderful players wearing the Kiwi jumper and if they play to their potential I’m sure they’ll do a good job.”

The news got better for the Kangaroos last night, with winger Darius Boyd cleared to play and star fullback Billy Slater rated “99 percent certain” after rolling his ankle at Tuesday’s training.

“He’s responded really well to treatment … unless something untoward happens over the next 24 hours I’m pretty confident he’ll play,” team physio Tony Ayoub said.

The hosts, with 12 returnees from the World Cup final defeat, have played down any revenge mission as they quietly go about their business under new coach Tim Sheens.

“Our focus is on improving on the World Cup final. We all feel we’ve got a game-plan to beat the Kiwis but it’s about going out and executing it properly which we didn’t do in the final,” hooker Cameron Smith said.

It’s interesting to see the contrasts between the New Zealand Defense review (which is underway) and the just completed Australian Defense White Paper released today.

Our defense review started on a somewhat underwhelming note. The most controversial issue being the idea of leasing land off private companies, an idea that appeals until you consider the practicalities and why you’d bother – it’s hardly going to save money in the long term if you already own the land. Mostly the talk was about cutting back, although there’s stuff all to actually cut back. There was no talk of possible threats, or the need to at least be seen by allies like the USA of taking of defense seriously.

Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

The Australian’s in typical robust style and going to spend more – and this is a Labour led Government. The Australian paper wasn’t shy about identifying China’s “unexplained military build-up” as a cause for concern in the Pacific. They also recognised the need to at least be able to offer a serious deterrent to possible adversaries, while acknowledging that they would still need to work with the USA.

The white paper offers an opportunity for New Zealand – we get a specific mention. Our review should consider how we can dovetail our defense planning more closely with Australia. They are planning to build a lot of the new capability in Australia. This could offer opportunities to purchase the same equipment, and surely there must be opportunities for business in New Zealand? 

Surely we need to be bolder than the piece meal approach we have historically had. There is every indication that this Government will take defense no more seriously than previous ones. If we aren’t going to be too concerned with it, why not just become a virtual wing of the Australian Defense Forces. Do the same things they are, but on a significantly smaller scale. Buy exactly the same equipment at the same time from the same suppliers, communication, guns, hardware, ships, tanks… exactly the same stuff. Rebuild our air strike force with a few F 35’s they are planning to buy (if we’re allowed) maybe we could lease some from Australia as part of a defense pact.

If we are looking at selling land and leasing it back, how about the same approach for everything else?

Why not approach the Australians on the basis that we will develop our own defense force, but almost as part of theirs. Contract training from them for planes, tanks, ships etc, on the same equipment which we will purchase – work with them on maintenance for equipment, some aircraft done here, some in Australia, same with boats. We could form a close defense pact that allows for our Independence, but with complete interoperability and identical equipment.

We should accept we are a small bit player, I’m sure everyone does already, and embrace it. We should aim to be able to completely seamlessly work with Australia. This gives us a narrow focus and something that allows politicians to focus on more interesting things. It could be adopted in a bipartisan fashion so it’s becomes a policy a bit like the Reserve Bank Act or (possibly) Kiwi Saver. It is just something the Defense Forces can get on with.

When it comes down to it, the majority of Australia’s concerns in the Defense paper are perfectly aligned to what ours should be. The concern about protecting our Pacific interests  should be the same. To simply adopt their review, taking into account our budget constraints, and sit down with them and align our equipment and logistics makes sense.

John Key has shown some vision and creativity in dealing with things since being elected. Maybe this is a chance to put our defense on a new path for the coming years.