ANZAC

Well once again my answer to WIIW (or was that WIIT?) is getting rather late.

Well of the six guesses that came in four were pretty close and one of those was absolutely bang on target!
SO to the ones wide of the mark –
Anne guessed: “It's part of a clock, or watch, or timepiece (magnified). To hazard a guess, I'd say it's your birthday tomorrow and you are counting down.”
I can see that, but it is actually part of something very large.
Michael said “It looks like cookie dough.”
Nope, but I can kind of see that too, but it is the setting sun that gives that warm colour.

Which brings us to the close shots…
Jennifer (AKA Old Kitty) said “It's an edging of something marble...!!”
It is an architectural edging, but in granite not marble. 70%

Marcy said: “Maybe a relief on an old building? This is a hard one”
Hard? But you have earned 100% it is a relief on an old building!

Deniz (who came in late) said “You mean I still get a chance to guess? Hmm, but I can't! Have no idea what Thursday's image might be. Maybe a part of a memorial?”
Exactly! Despite your self doubt that is 100%

Which brings us to Linda G who  crowns herself in glory.
Linda guessed “Something to do with Anzac Day? Part of a memorial, maybe?”
It is part of a memorial! That is 100% And last Thursday was ANZAC day!
Knowing that earns you a bonus 100% for a massive 200% score!
So here it is the Mystery object, The Victorian War Memorial.

So what is ANZAC day?
Just on dawn on the 25th of April in 1915 the first boats of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC)  grounded at Gallipoli in Turkey.

Image from Wikipedia

World War One was raging and for the first time as a nation Australia was going to war.
As a brand new nation and proud member of the British Empire, Australia pledged to join the war effort as soon as war broke out in 1914.

But we didn’t have an army to speak of, so recruitment and training began. The initial force sent overseas was a combined corps of Aussie and Kiwi troops.

The ANZAC troops initially went to Egypt to train. From there they were deployed in the disastrous Dardanelles Campaign as part of a larger allied force.

After nine long months of bloody conflict the campaign failed and the Allied Troops were evacuated. During those nine months 28,150 Diggers (the Oz word for soldier) became casualties with a total of 8,709 killed. The Kiwis had 7,473 casualties with 2,721 killed.

For the people from Downunder these numbers killed and wounded were simply staggering. It is worth pointing out that during WWI Oz only had a population 4.5 million and NZ a population of 1.1 million.

By the time the war dragged to an end in 1918 over 330,000 Aussie recruits had served overseas, all volunteers.
The casualty rates for Australian soldiers in WWI were horrendous as the Diggers were often used as "shock troops", 67% of Aussies serving overseas during WWI became casualties.

Australian society, like so many others, was traumatised by the carnage.
Every Aussie town, city and state has a war memorial of some kind.

So every April on the 25th, both here and in New Zealand, Anzac day is held to commemorate those who served and those who were lost in every war Oz has fought.

The day begins with the Dawn Service.

Then the traditional ANZAC Day Parade begins.
Here are a few piccies from a parade I photographed a few years ago.

 Led by  the Parade Marshal


 The Parade features current service personnel

 A fair smattering of patriotism
 


But the focus of the parade is the veterans


For old men and women to march and remember (many supported by younger family members)

 
A time for the generations to come together