ANZAC REQUIEM

Today, Anzac Day, Australians and New Zealanders come together to remember and honour our soldiers who lost their lives at Gallipoli in defense of their families, their country, their ideals. The Anzac Requiem, written by Dr. Charles E W Bean, says what we all feel today.

The Anzac Requiem

On this day above all days we recall those who served in war and who did not return to receive the grateful thanks of the nation.

We remember those who still sleep where they were left - amid the holly scrub in the valleys and on the ridges of Gallipoli - on the rocky and terraced hills of Palestine - and in the lovely cemeteries of France.

We remember those who lie asleep in ground beneath the shimmering haze of the Libyan desert - at Bardia, Dema, Tobruk - and amid the mountain passes and olive groves of Greece and Crete, and the rugged, snow-capped hills of Lebanon and Syria.

We remember those who lie buried in the rank jungle of Malaya and Burma - in New Guinea - and in the distant isles of the Pacific.

We remember those who lie buried amid loving friends in our Motherland and in our own far North.

We remember those who lie in unknown resting places in almost every land, and those gallant men whose grave is the unending sea.

Especially do we remember those who died as prisoners of war remote from their homeland, and from the comforting presence of their kith and kin.

We think of those of our women's services who gave their lives in our own and foreign lands and at sea, and of those who proved to be, in much more than name, the sisters of our fighting men.

We recall, too, the staunch friends who fought beside our men on the first ANZAC Day - men of New Zealand who helped create the name of ANZAC.

We recall all those who gave their lives in the Royal Navy, the British Army, the Royal Air Force, the Merchant Service and in British Commonwealth and Allied Forces, and we think of those British men and women who fell, when, for the second time in history, their nation and its kindred stood alone against the overwhelming might of an oppressor; we think of every man and woman who in those crucial hours died so that the lights of freedom and humanity might continue to shine.

We think of those gallant men who died in Korea, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam and in peacekeeping and peace enforcing commitments assisting to defend the Commonwealth, and other countries of the Free World, against a common enemy.

May these all rest proudly in the knowledge of their achievement, and may we and our successors in that heritage prove worthy of their sacrifice.

R.I.P. SAM THE KOALA

Sam, the Koala, who was rescued on that dreadful day of fire, 7th February this year, has died. She was put to sleep this afternoon, as vets could not save her from the life-threatening disease, Urogenital chlamydiosis, that had overtaken her. This disease affects 50% of the Koala population. I posted about Sam in pictures on 13th February.

Country Fire Authority volunteer David Tree comforts Sam

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said that "Sam was a symbol of Victoria's resilience after the bushfires and her death is tragic".

ROSS FEMALE FACTORY

While in Tasmania, I visited the lovely little town of Ross but I wasn't prepared for the sad story of the women's prison, situated high on a hill behind the town near a lovely old church. Female houses of correction, or 'female factories', operated in Australia from 1828 and the Ross Female Factory existed between 1847 and 1854.

Most of the women were put there for the crime of getting pregnant. Conditions were miserable, cold, wet and windy and the infant mortality rate was high, with babies buried un-named with not even a sign of a little cross.

Old Stables

...there was a violent exhibition of disorderly conduct on the part of the women confined in the Nursery and the Crime Class. On the occasion of carrying one of them across the yard .....to solitary confinement, the Constable Taylor, was attacked first by the woman followed by the vigorous co-operation of the rest. Missiles were thrown at both the constable and the Asst. Superintendent Imrie. The efforts at pacification were ineffective until Mr. Imrie produced the batons. The rioters stood back and eventually the woman sentenced to solitary confinement accompanied Mr. Imrie to the cells. The women holding passes were separated from the yard but their cheers and shrieks added to the confusion.

Comptroller General of Convicts Records 1848.

Commandant's Quarters

The local church ladies have stitched these little bonnets (above pic) in memory of the babies thrown into unmarked graves. Much of the fabric and thread used is antique, passed down from that time.

Bleak view to Prison site from Graveyard

Read more at Parks & Wildlife Service Tasmania.

DANTE & ELIZABETH

Beata Beatrix by Rossetti - Tate Gallery London

Silent Noon

Your hands lie open in the long fresh grass,

The finger-points look through like rosy blooms;

Your eyes smile peace. The pasture gleams and glooms

'Neath billowing skies that scatter and amass.

All round our nest, far as the eye can pass,

Are golden kingcup-fields with silver edge

Where the cow-parsley skirts the hawthorn-hedge.

'Tis visible silence, still as the hour-glass.

Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragon-fly

Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky;

So this wing'd hour is dropt to us from above.

Oh! clasp we to our hearts, for deathless dower,

This close-companion'd inarticulate hour

When twofold silence was the song of love.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

I came across the above painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, went to find out more about him and stumbled upon a tragic love story. Most of his early paintings of women are portraits of his wife, Elizabeth, an artists' model. He ultimately forbade her to model for other Pre-Raphaelite artists. Beata Beatrix, which portrays a praying Beatrice (Beatrice Portinari, Dante Alighieri's lifelong love), was painted one year after Elizabeth's death. Dante Alighieri's poetry was translated by Rossetti and included in his book, 'The Early Italian Poets', published in 1861.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828-1882

Rossetti's early poetry and the only copy, was interred with Elizabeth's body, later exhumed and published in 'Poems by D.G. Rosetti'.

There is so much more to read about Dante Rosetti and Elizabeth Siddal, with thanks to Wikipedia and their references and at this link.

BUSHFIRES

Can barely see the mountains opposite today.

We were to catch the ferry, Spirit of Tasmania, last Sunday morning for a two week idyllic holiday on the apple isle, Tasmania. On the day before, Melbourne had the hottest day on record, 46.4 degrees Celsius and we were doing some last minute shopping, walking the hot pavement, with the occasional respite in air-conditioned comfort in a large department store. We spent the afternoon in our Hotel room, twenty-eight storeys above Melbourne and, considering the events of the day, over thirty bushfires broke out during that awful day and many being in the area where we live, we decided to cancel everything and head back home.


We found that all roads heading home were blocked so we stayed overnight at our daughter's home. The next morning the main Highway to Sydney was opened and, what was normally a 75 minute drive, took 5 hours. We arrived home to no power but our meat supply was still frozen, so it hadn't been out for long. The power was restored a couple of hours later and we were then able to get on the net to the service sites to find out the latest. Our ABC radio has been a lifeline with their contacts and accurate updates.

Each day is a waiting game; we have the cars loaded and ready to go if needed. This is the worst tragedy in Australia's history. The little town of Marysville, 20 minutes away, an iconic tourism destination, has been rased to the ground. Many people are missing and our Premier, Mr John Brumby, has declared the site a crime scene as it is suspected that the fires were deliberately lit.