Anzac Day 2015 - what are you doing?

[horseman]

Going to shake it up a bit here, awake and up at sparrows fart, and oh how I wish I was awake to go to the dawn service.
It had been raining here all night and continued for most of the morning, I had to drive to the other side of town, pick up a horse and horse float, then go back across town to grab our horse, and take them an hour into the sticks for a dentist appointment. After hours of frustration in the rain and mud, we discovered that whilst neither of these horses were at all happy to get into a float, they would buck kick and generally refuse to get into a float already occupied by another horse.
So one went out, one stayed in town, and I, disappointingly, had to pay my respects on the highway.

 

[medhead]

Bus bingo at Lone Pine

View attachment 47188

One old digger thinks we might be staying longer than the original Anzacs as an authentic centennial experience. Entertaining stuff.

 

[andye]

Marched with representatives of the local lifesavers and sports teams onto Manly Oval for service led by the mayor this afternoon. My first ANZAC day as an Australian citizen. My grandfather was at Dunkirk. Very moving

 

[prozac]

Marched with representatives of the local lifesavers and sports teams onto Manly Oval for service led by the mayor this afternoon. My first ANZAC day as an Australian citizen. My grandfather was at Dunkirk. Very moving

Congratulations andye on your citizenship. I also represented the local surf lifesaving club (Freshie). My father served as an engineer in the Dutch merchant Navy who were vital in transporting Aussie troops, and equipment, importantly keeping Australian supply lines open in the Pacific & Asia region, in particular New Guinea.

 

[amaroo]

Went to the local 0615 service. Very large crowd. Didn't get to see much of it after my services were required when one of the Veterans collapsed :shock:
The Fire Rescue crew helped me until the ambulance arrived and he's now safely in the local ED. Hopefully nothing more than standing around too long with low blood pressure.

Quite a few people required attention on the walks between services. We helped one fellow walking up to Lone Pine by yelling for a medic (very well staffed) the number of people (assume doctors) who came out of the crowd was impressive!

Within 5 mins the medical staff arrived (good effort given the numbers walking the 3k track) and it appeared the elderly man was going to be ok.

 

[prozac]

2 of the 8 young Air Force cadets who formed the colour party at our event went down mid ceremony.

 

[medhead]

There were a number of medically trained people in the groups that I noticed. Was sat among an Australian army group for the dawn service. At least two mentioned being nurses and I observed a number of decent first aid kits when they were packing up afterwards. They all seemed to have ASMs so could have been medics or whatever as well.

 

[amaroo]

Bus bingo at Lone Pine

View attachment 47188

One old digger thinks we might be staying longer than the original Anzacs as an authentic centennial experience. Entertaining stuff.

Took the shine off a little - seemed to be organised chaos!

Our bus turned up around 6pm ... the white line is the queue of buses still to arrive.



Arrived back into Istanbul around 1am to another bus cough-up.

 

[Pushka]

2 of the 8 young Air Force cadets who formed the colour party at our event went down mid ceremony.

My nephew was in the Naval College at ADFA. Went down every Parade.

 

[medhead]

Took the shine off a little - seemed to be organised chaos!

Our bus turned up around 6pm ... the white line is the queue of buses still to arrive.

View attachment 47241

Arrived back into Istanbul around 1am to another bus cough-up.

Our bus got there rather early about 5:30. My estimate was in the first 50 to 80 buses. As we went down the hill they said the buses were all the way back to the ANZAC cove. I thought we did excellently to get away so quickly.

Then we got to the turn off between Cannakakale and Istanbul where the driver have a 10 minute think. I think he was considering crossing to the other side and going back that way. Either way it was only 10 minutes.A couple of idiots on our bus started to blow up about this, waste of time. Whinging about 10 buses passing us, as if there was some race back to Istanbul. Going to report the driver. Highly embarrassing.

When we stopped for dinner at about 10pm the tour guide tells us his friend on another bus has only just been picked up. Those same idiots start going on about how great it was we got away early. Just bit my tongue in time to stop a sarcastic retort about 10 minutes wasted.

 

[Katie]

Bus bingo at Lone Pine

One old digger thinks we might be staying longer than the original Anzacs as an authentic centennial experience. Entertaining stuff.

Remember that from 2005. We ended up spending over an hour walking to our bus, and Mr Katie removed his long johns behind a bush on the roadside!! :shock:
I sweated it out til we go to our bus, and then waited for it to snake through and pick up all of our bus-mates.

 

[Katie]

Took the shine off a little - seemed to be organised chaos!

Our bus turned up around 6pm ... the white line is the queue of buses still to arrive.

View attachment 47241

Arrived back into Istanbul around 1am to another bus cough-up.

Looks and sounds very similar to 2005. We had hoped logisitics would be improved for this year, but apparently not.

 

[Katie]

Mr Katie went to the Brisbane dawn service with his sister, and his best mate. Little Miss was not keen, after going to the last two dawn services. We were going to go to the local one near her school, but on Friday I realised we should attend one with other members of my family in Cooyar. We left not long after Mr Katie got home, got to Cooyar just before the march was due to start (9:00am). The march didn't end up starting until about 9:45, so plenty of time to catch up with family. Little Miss marched with her grandfather, behind his uncle and cousins. Quite a number of family members in memory of my great-grandfather, who was born in Cooyar, and landed at Gallipoli on 9th May 1915.
We had the head of Oakey air base there, and he'd arranged for a flyover of helicopters. A number of Patriots motorbike riders also came to the march and service. I think all of the 40-student primary school was in attendance.

It was a lovely service, and I'm glad that we went. I've got more research to do on my great-grandfather's service; it looks like he was in the 49th battalion later in the war, and I think he might have been part of the troops in Villers-Bretonneux on 24/25th April 1918. We'd already intended to go back to Villers-Bretonneux in 2018, but I'm now more determined, and trying to make my Dad consider taking his first trip to Europe to come with us.

After our big drive on Saturday, we go home, Mr Katie napped, and Little Miss and I baked treats for morning tea on Sunday, including a Salted caramel Anzac slice. Quiet night watching some TV and eating home-made pizzas, with Mr Katie and I watching the Gallipoli and Villers-Bretonneux services after Little Miss went to bed.

 

[medhead]

Remember that from 2005. We ended up spending over an hour walking to our bus, and Mr Katie removed his long johns behind a bush on the roadside!! :shock:
I sweated it out til we go to our bus, and then waited for it to snake through and pick up all of our bus-mates.

Looks and sounds very similar to 2005. We had hoped logisitics would be improved for this year, but apparently not.

Logistics were much better than what you describe for 2005. The bus picked up at Lone Pine, once. 5 pick up points, notice given of the next 4 buses to arrive at each pick up point in order. When your number appears, go to the pick up point. A ordered, easy to understand system except some people just couldn't seem to understand. Especially some of the tour guides.

Once on the bus that was it, no snaking through looking for more people. Only stopping at Canuck Bair if you had kiwis to pick up. Of course, it was a slower system.

On the way in, I think that could've had been much better organised.

 

[prozac]

Attended the 4 May 70th anniversary commemoration of the end 2nd WW in Netherlands at the Netherlands Australia Memorial in Canberra this week. Of-course the war in the Asia-Pacific did not end until 15 August the same year and so the service commemorates those Dutch who were in Indonesia or who assisted Australia in the region as part of the ABDA forces.