Quiet

 

April 25th is always Anzac Day every year. Anzac stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and it is a commemoration of the anniversary of Australian and New Zealand soldiers landing at Gallipoli in Turkey on 25th April 1915.  So most shops except for petrol stations and the odd restaurant are closed until 1.30pm allowing military and everyone else to attend dawn services.

Photo taken outside the Greymouth District Council

Just about everyone here has someone in their family or that they know who has served at some point so there are lots of tears and memories being shared.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections, Shadow Shot Sunday and the Weekend Roundup.

ANZAC Day 2024

 

Photo from 2014 of Mangawhai Cadets on Anzac Day

Today for us Kiwis is ANZAC Day which is incredibly important to those of us in the southern hemisphere. This day honours those in Australia and New Zealand as it marks the anniversary of the military action fought by both forces. ANZAC meaning Australia New Zealand Army Corps. Many people gather at local war memorials to remember loved ones who have fought in all wars especially their landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25th securing a beachhead at what became known as "ANZAC Cove". Lest we forget.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

ANZAC Day 2023

 

Today marks our national ANZAC Day for Aotearoa. ANZAC means Australia/New Zealand Army Corps.  Many people across the country get up early for dawn services in their towns and cities. It is always remembered on April 25th each year to pay honour to those who were in Gallipoli in the First World War and all of those who have fought in all wars and peace keeping missions. 

Photos above from the Auckland War Memorial Museum taken about 10 years ago by me.

  

These are my family heroes - lest we forget.

Linking up with Through my lens, Blue Monday, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Whangaroa Memorial Hall

The last time I drove through Kaeo, in the far north I made a note to stop and take a photo of the memorial hall on the main street of town. This relatively modern looking building is also where people gather on ANZAC Day every year for dawn services.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Somebody's Treasures

 I walked through this scene with B and the kids when we stopped in Murchison. It was quite a chilly 10 degrees and the locals that we talked to remarked on how I had a t-shirt on - well I don't feel the cold much so I explained where we were from (the far north where it is much warmer). In front of this second hand shop there were 2 veterans selling poppies in preparation for ANZAC Day (Australia, New Zealand Army Corps) so we donated all the coins we had and wore a poppy each.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Tauranga War Memorial

We are in the early days of Autumn here and come April it will be time once again to remember ANZAC Day.  Back when we lived in Tauranga I was stuck in a traffic jam one afternoon and took this photo of the war memorial with the pink Rhododendron tree in the background. I think it looks like a pretty scene.

The plaque on the brick wall says: "They whom this scroll commemorates passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty and self sacrifice giving up their own lives that others might live in freedom. Let those that come after see to it that their names be not forgotten". - HM King George V

Linking up with Skywatch Friday, All Seasons and Tom's Signs.

Anzac Day 2021

 I normally wouldn't post anyting on a Sunday but this one is different. Today for New Zealanders and Australians we celebrate this day as ANZAC (meaning Australian New Zealand Army Corps) day by remembering those who died in all wars that our loved ones have fought in. Today and tomorrow are normally public holidays, all businesses usually have to close until lunch time out of respect for how important this day is to literally everyone.

Here are 2 of my heroes. Neville Walter Franks (above), my dad's uncle who died in WW2 of wounds on Monte Cassino, Italy. My youngest son actually looks very much like him.

Matthew Allan Dunlop of Napier, my grandmother's uncle on my mother's side, died in WW1 in the Somme, France. 

I hope you will remember this day with me.

Anzac Day 2020

Today April 25th every day is our country's national ANZAC day - meaning Australia New Zealand Army Corps.  The date specifically marks the anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand soldiers on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915 but now it covers all of our loved ones who have fought and still fight in the military.

This photo, above was taken at Auckland Museum about 3 years ago and that's my daughter standing beside this particular exhibition (because she's horse mad). This one tells the story of the horses that were sent into both the 1st and 2nd World Wars. Approx 10,000 horses were sent into World War 1 to places such as German Samoa, the Middle East,  Gallipoli and the Western Front - just 4 made it home.

As we are all in lockdown here no one is able to get out this morning to their local ANZAC ceremonies so people and families have been showing decorations on their houses and in their front yards in some very creative ways. You can see some of their ideas here.

Just about every family here in NZ has their own ancestor who fought in a war and kiwis are extremely patriotic - this is one of our family heroes. This is my dad's uncle Neville Franks my dad is named the same after him - he fought in the 2nd World War and us buried in Monte Cassino Cemetery in Italy - I'd like to go there one day.

Who is your family hero?

Whangarei District War Memorial

With the Corona Virus still doing the rounds it looks like our annual ANZAC day has been cancelled. Today we heard that in total we now have 28 cases and mostly from people who have travelled back here from other countries, one person was tested in Australia and still chose to come here without waiting for the results - the way people think boggles my mind.

This District War Memorial in Whangarei was opened in 2015, pretty recent I know. It was relocated from another place in town and now incorporates 1st world war and 2nd world war veterans.  The wall is made of black marble inscribed with names of an additional 470 men who also died in the South African, Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan wars.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Anzac Day 2019

ANZAC - meaning Australia New Zealand Army Corps. A day us kiwis take each year to remember all of those who fought and died for us in all of the wars our countries have been involved in. It's particularly a day we remember the troops landing in Gallipoli in 1915.

Lest we forget.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Anzac Day sunset and flaming skies

Good morning! I hope this Friday is treating you well so far. Last Saturday for us Kiwis and those in Australia was Anzac Day. After an emotional day here in Mangawhai this is what I saw from my backyard. At the moment in our street we have lots of new houses being built as there are quite a few empty sections and the skies looked very vibrant almost on fire so thought taking a photo of it was quite appropriate.

Hope your week has gone well - for more Skywatch Fridays click here :-)

Anzac day 2015 in Mangawhai

This morning I spent a couple of hours with many other people at our local RSA (returned services association) in Hakaru, about 10 minutes out of Mangawhai for Anzac Day. We have a local Cadets unit - these young people did an awesome job this morning

 
One of our locals Logan Brown is a master bag piper - love the sound of those Scottish bag pipes.

Nice to see so many military personnel - local and non local such as army/air force/police/fire brigade/st john ambulance representatives.

Mangawhai Beach school students had also made wooden crosses painted with names of their fallen heroes which were pushed into the ground lining the path to the Cenotaph.

So many wreaths laid on the Cenotaph - and such an important day in the history of New Zealand and Australia. How did you celebrate Anzac Day?