goldcoastrealestate

Our Flag by Robin Northover

Our flag bears the stars that blaze at night,
In our southern sky of blue,
And a little old flag in the corner
That's part of our heritage too.

It's for the English, the Scots and the Irish
Who were sent to the ends of the earth,
The rogues and schemers, the doers and dreamers
Who gave modern Australia birth.

And you, who are shouting to change it,
You don't seem to understand,
It's the flag of our law and our language
Not the flag of a faraway land.

Though there are plenty of people who'll tell you,
How when Europe was plunged into night,
That little old flag in the corner
Was their symbol of freedom and light.

It doesn't mean we owe allegiance
To a forgotten imperial dream;
We've the stars to show where we're going,
And the old flag to show where we've been.

_______________________________________

Great numbers of school kids marched this morning at the Upper Coomera at the Cenotaph service

Lest We Forget!

kiwichild

Great post. Where did you get the poem from?

Bordy

Sir - would it help if I shed a tear
I swear it’s the first time since this time last year
My spine is a tingle - my throat is all dry
As I stand to attention for all those who died

I watch the flag dancing half way down the pole
That damn bugle player sends chills to my soul
I feel the pride and the sorrow - there’s nothing the same
As standing to attention on ANZAC Day

So Sir - on behalf of the young and the free
Will you take a message when you finally do leave
To your mates that are lying from Tobruk to the Somme
The legend of your bravery will always live on

I’ve welcomed Olympians back to our shore
I’ve cheered baggy green caps and watched Wallabies score
But when I watch you marching (Sir) in that parade
I know these are the memories that never will fade

So Sir - on behalf of the young and the free
Will you take a message when you finally do leave
It’s the least we can do (Sir) to repay the debt
We’ll always remember you - Lest We Forget

Gibbo

Two beautiful poems. Thankyou.

Vash the Stampede

Hear, hear!

Nice Guy

Hear hear to all the above posts.

goldcoastrealestate

It was printed on the order of service for today for the service my family went to on the Gold Coast. Many websites also have it listed.

Gayle

Scossie

We went to the dawn service in Kings Park this morning, as we have done every year since we came to live in Perth.

The latest estimate on the news is that there were forty thousand people in attendance!

Well done Perth.....

Lest We Forget.

TheCrone

Without wishing in any way to detract from the genuine respect and emotion shown by those who attend Anzac Day ceremonies, I find it ironic that this much-quoted verse is actually the fourth stanza in a poem called "For the Fallen", by Sir Laurence Binyon. It begins:
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
ENGLAND mourns for her dead across the sea.........

geordie mandy

Beautiful poems i think it is important that we remember all the soldiers of what ever nationality on both anzac day and other special days, my oh is organising taking a number of the old boys to France to remember those that fell at Somme he has been told it will be the last time that the g'ment will pay for such a trip.(sad)
I have bought some anzac bikkies from sainsburys (first time ive had them)they are yummy.
WE WILL NEVER FORGET THEY GAVE UP LIFE SO WE COULD HAVE OURS.
Mandy (a proud army wife )

Vash the Stampede

Yes, I'm aware of this.

But I wouldn't call that ironic; I'd call it entirely appropriate. After all, the ANZACs served under British command, as part of the Australian Imperial Force.

If they're not meant to be included among those "children... dead across the sea" for whom England is mourning, I'd sure want to know why.

russmcp

The Anzac Memorial in Sydney is a very special place I think to reflect on all who gave their lives in all conflicts.

Been there a few times now and it is so humbling, makes me realise how lucky I am. Lets hope we never ever forget.

don544

100% agree vash. dom

Vash the Stampede

Cheers.

OzTennis

Both well known songs by Eric Bogle (a Scot from Peebles who emigrated to Adelaide). Many, many covers of both songs (eg John Williamson, The Fureys, The Pogues etc, etc)

And the Band played Waltzing Matilda

When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my matilda all over
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said son
It’s time to stop rambling ’cause there’s work to be
Done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played waltzing matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the
Cheers
We sailed off to gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
<when> the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called suvla bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He <showered> us with bullets, he rained us with
Shells
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
As we stopped to bury our slain
And we buried ours and the turks buried theirs
Then <it> started all over again

Now those <who were living did their best to survive>
In <that> mad world of blood, death and fire
And for <seven long> weeks I kept myself alive
<while the corpses around me piled higher>

Then a big turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, <christ> I wished I was
Dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying


<and> no more I’ll go waltzing matilda
<to> the green <bushes so> far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded <and>
Maimed
And they shipped us back home to australia
<the legless, the armless>, the blind <and> insane
Those proud wounded heroes of suvla
And as our ship pulled into circular quay
I looked at the place where <me> legs used to be
And thank christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity

And the band played waltzing matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
<and they> turned all their faces away

And now every april I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
<i see> my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving <the or their> dreams of past glory
<i see the old men, all twisted and torn>
The forgotten heroes <of> a forgotten war
And the young people ask <me>, what are they
Marching for?
And I ask myself the same question

And the band plays waltzing matilda
And the old men <still> answer to the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda
Who’ll <go> a-waltzing matilda with me?

Green fields of France
How do you do young willie mcbride,
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside,
And rest for a while ’neath the warm summer sun,
I’ve been walking all day and I’m nearly done
I see by your gravestone you were only 19
When you joined the great fall-in in 1916
I hope you died well and I hope you died clean
Or young willie mcbride was it slow and obscene.

Did they beat the drum slowly did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

Did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined
Although you died back in 1916
In that faithful heart are you forever 19
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Enclosed then forever behind a glass frame
In an old photograph torn, battered and stained
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame.

Did they beat the drum slowly did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

The sun now it shines on the green fields of france
There’s a warm summer breeze makes the red poppies dance
And look how the sun shines from under the clouds
There’s no gas, no barbwire, there’s no guns firing now
But here in this graveyard it’s still no man’s land
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand
To man’s blind indifference to his fellow man
To a whole generation that were butchered and damned.

Did they beat the drum slowly did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

Now young willie mcbride I can’t help wonder why
Do those who lie here know why did they die
Did they believe when they answered the call
Did they really believe that this war would end wars
Well the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain
The killing and the dying were all done in vain
For young willie mcbride it all happened again,
And again and again and again and again

Did they beat the drum slowly did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

OzTennis

and as Bogle says, we never learn:

The killing and the dying were all done in vain
For young Willie Mcbride it all happened again,
And again and again and again and again