tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post7877661190126981466..comments2024-03-29T17:12:19.648+13:00Comments on Bowalley Road: Before ANZAC Day: How It Really Was.Chris Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-14858031186074939992015-04-28T20:33:34.799+12:002015-04-28T20:33:34.799+12:00Question.
Did the NZ troops fight under the NZ fl...Question.<br /><br />Did the NZ troops fight under the NZ flag at Gallipoli or the union jack?<br /><br />Ditto for the Australian troops.<br /><br />They were, after all Australian and New Zealand Army Corp.<br /><br />There is no ANZAC flag.<br /><br />Those invaders flew their own flags or britains.<br /><br />Maybe in the general confusion all three were flown, as well as french and turkish ones.<br /><br />This could be of interest given a simmering background discussion about a new nz flag.<br /><br />Whose flag did nz'ers fight under in WW1, anywhere?<br /><br />Maybe the rsa could expand on the importance of retaining the current nz flag because fighters died under it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />questionpeterlepaysanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14707848102966641049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-35297554776440809012015-04-25T23:11:32.041+12:002015-04-25T23:11:32.041+12:00Keys men.Keys men.peteswriteplacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04474922953916383101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-22227533993219511202015-04-25T11:19:20.218+12:002015-04-25T11:19:20.218+12:00I have some disquiet over the subtle jingoism and ...I have some disquiet over the subtle jingoism and nationalism that has been creeping into ANZAC commemorations. It has always been an important day of reflection for me but I am now finding myself at odds with reoccurring sentiments of “being grateful for sacrifices”, “honouring” armed forces our buying into the myth of ANZAC deaths being paid as the price for “our freedom” or any birth of nationhood. These commonly espoused threads (I believe) give disservice to those who were lost or the importance of reflection. The letter below was published in 1915 and I’d like to share it as an example of “how it really was”.<br /><br />-------------<br /><br />IF ANOTHER WAR, GOD SHOULD LET SAVAGES RULE.<br /><br />The "Strathearn Herald" (3rd April) published a letter from Sergeant-Major W. A. Thompson, of the 4tH Black Watch, in the course of which he says, referring to Neuve Chappelle:<br /><br />"We took part in the big battle on the 10th. It was my first experience of the kind, and I trust it will be my last. . . . Dead, dying, and mutilated bodies lying everywhere, both black and white; (soldiers and stretcher bearers carrying wounded away to the rear. We, being just put from home and plunged into this inferno, were more or less upset, the younger fellows more so, as, while lying behind the breastworks, we lost some of our company, and also saw the wounded being carried down. . . I noticed a number of men going down on their knees and thanking Almighty God for bringing them through the awful ordeal of Neuve Chappelle. . . IF THE WORLD ALLOWS ANOTHER EUROPEAN WAR, THE ALMIGHTY SHOULD SWEEP THE WHOLE CIVILISED POPULATION OFF, THE FACE OF THE EARTH, AND LEAVE THE SAVAGES TO RULE."Lozhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12064567381918975446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-67393801358535829252015-04-25T06:05:09.018+12:002015-04-25T06:05:09.018+12:00Stephanie said...
All great ANZAC articles! Thank...Stephanie said...<br /><br />All great ANZAC articles! Thank you.<br /><br />And thank you, markus, for the comment,Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-19224661883874426762015-04-24T17:48:01.919+12:002015-04-24T17:48:01.919+12:00I read quite a bit about both the Waihi Strike and...I read quite a bit about both the Waihi Strike and, following on, the Great Strike of 1913 (including a lot of original source material) when I studied Labour History at Uni a couple of decades ago. But it's only much more recently, in the last 10 years or so, that I've discovered that - as you say - the Mounted Rifles at Gallipoli were disproportionately former Massey's Cossacks. I can't help but find it puts a different complexion on things.<br /><br />Fair to say, I think, that the New Zealand Labour movement was far more unified at the end of WWI than their Aussie counterparts. Across the Tasman, the Loyalist/Republican, Prod/RC, Patriotic/Internationalist divides ran much deeper among the working-class, resulting in very bitter antagonism. Here, we ended up with a highly unified Labour Party.<br /><br />Incidentally, here's an unintentionally amusing article I came across a few years ago from a 1913 edition of Wellington's TRIAD magazine. It's a banal piece of propaganda demonising Waterside workers during the lockout which a few weeks later began to snowball into the General Strike.<br /><br />The report begins by describing the wharfies as "dark and furious persons of unpleasant aspect". The writer then goes on to spend many column inches emotively listing various inconveniences the lockout had caused to the general public, before ending on a moral high note with this colourful little crescendo of xenophobia: "All of this because Wharfside Bill has a grievance.....Bill is sometimes an English subject, sometimes a non-descript Negro, and sometimes a representative of one or other of those deceitful nations whose men wear rings through their ears."<br /><br /><br /><br />markusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-61469197569052970402015-04-24T15:57:51.474+12:002015-04-24T15:57:51.474+12:00Great history lesson. Posted it on FacebookGreat history lesson. Posted it on FacebookDavidnoreply@blogger.com