The poppy is for sacrifice
With Remembrance Day coming up on Wednesday I bought a red poppy from a Legacy chap at the post office on Friday.
In fact, I gave the man $5 and he handed over four poppies, so I gave two of them to Jim and Maggie.
I always get a little reflective and melancholy around Remembrance Day.
It really is a fitting reminder of the horrors of World War One and a chance for me to ensure the memory of my great uncle James Gorey (pictured below) lives on.
The Anzac Day website contains this information about the red poppy symbol: (more…)
ANZAC or Anzac?
The language is constantly evolving with a trend towards brevity. Waggon has become wagon and to-day has become today.
Some Australians cling to what they believe is English spelling for words like “programme” and anything that potentially ends in -our like “colour”.
I think they are mistaken. Researching newspapers from the 1890s for my family history a few years ago the consistent style was to spell “color” etc. (more…)
Anzac Day in Kalgoorlie
I’ve never been one to attend the Dawn Service! However, I always make a point of attending the main late-morning ceremony.
Today I went to the Kalgoorlie parade (there was also one in Boulder). The crowd wasn’t as great as I expected, but apparently there were 3000 people at the Dawn Service.
The march went from the Post Office to the Town Hall. People then proceeded inside, which was also unusual in my experience.
What followed was a moving ceremony with a choir, band and enthusiastic participation from the audience. I was highly impressed.
I estimate there were fewer than 20 veterans in the parade (I was told about 60 participated at Boulder). I compared this with Bright, where despite a smaller population of about 3000 people some 100 ex-service personnel usually marched.
That says nothing except to remark on the different demographics in terms of age groups.
