The poppies we made before ANZAC Day to commemorate the Fallen Soldiers. They were made out of the bottom of soda bottles, painted red, hot glued to satay sticks covered in green insulation tape. We planted them last Friday and recited the Ode of Remembrance. Room 3 made 59 poppies and found 59 names of fallen soldiers with the same last name as us.
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Simpson and his Donkey Jack Simpson Kirkpatrick was born in 1892 at South Shields in the north east of England. He came from a large family, being one of eight children. As a child during his summer holidays he used to work as a donkey-lad on the sands of South Shields. He had a great affinity with animals, in particular donkeys. Later he deserted ship in Australia when he heard of the war with Germany. Fearing that a deserter might not be accepted into the Australian Army, he dropped Kirkpatrick from his name and enlisted simply as John Simpson. He was to become Australia’s most famous, and best-loved military hero. In Perth on 23rd August 1914, Jack was accepted and chosen as a field ambulance stretcher bearer. This job was only given to strong men so it seems that his work as a stoker in the Merchant Marine had prepared him well for his exceptional place in history. He joined the 3rd Field Ambulance at Blackboy Hill camp, 35 km east of Perth on the same day. On the 25th April 1915 he, along with the rest of the Australian and New Zealand contingent landed at the wrong beach on a piece of wild, impossible and savage terrain now known as Anzac Cove. Attack and counter attack began. During the morning hours of April 26th , along with his fellows, Jack was carrying casualties back to the beach over his shoulder – it was then that he saw the donkey. Jack knew what he had to do. From then on he became a part of the scene at Gallipoli walking along next to his donkey, forever singing and whistling as he held on to his wounded passengers, seemingly completely fatalistic and scornful of the extreme danger. He led a charmed life from 25th April 1915 until he was hit by a machine gun bullet in his back on 19th May 1915. In these amazing 24 days he was to rescue over 300 men down the notorious Monash Valley. His prodigious, heroic feat was accomplished under constant and ferocious attack from artillery, field guns and sniper fire. Quoted from some of his officers:
Unfortunately, the senior medical officer at Anzac, Colonel Howse VC, had given faulty instructions to the junior officer preparing Simpson’s citation. He was recommended under the wrong category of heroism and consequently his VC request was denied. In July 1967 Australian leaders tried to correct this tragic error by sending a petition to the British War Office, signed by Prime Minister Holt, the Governor General, the Chief of the General Staff, and other leaders on behalf of the Australian people, requesting that a posthumous Victoria Cross be awarded to Private John Simpson Kirkpartrick. The request was denied, on the grounds that it would be setting a dangerous precedent. This was incorrect. The precedent had already been set. In 1907 two British officers, Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill were posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions in South Africa, twenty-eight years previously. It is now 33 years since this petition was tendered by Australia’s leading citizens. The denial of the request by a handful of people in Whitehall, England was an unacceptable slight on Australia’s Political and Military leaders and of the people they represented. It begs the question: " Why is an award from another country more important than any honour we may bestow on our own heroes?" Let us redress the injustice imposed on the memory of Jack Simpson Kirkpatrick. Please read on: The Victoria Cross for Australia This medal was established in 1991 and is the pre-eminent Australian decoration and the highest award of all Gallantry decorations. It replaced the Imperial Victoria Cross - 96 of which have been awarded to Australians. Because of the nature of the award, it can be conferred on an individual posthumously. No Victoria Cross for Australia has ever been awarded. Next question : Why have successive Australian Governments since 1991 chosen not to confer on Simpson his rightful honours with the Victoria Cross for Australia? In reponse to a bid by M/s Jill Hall, Federal member for Shortland to have Simpson given his rightful due, Senator Heffernan, acting for Prime Minister Howard responded: "Despite the admiration and affection that Australians have for Simpson, it is no longer possible to support further recognition as you have proposed. There were so many Australians who served heroically during World War One, many making the ultimate sacrifice. To now single out one brave soldier of this period would not be appropriate. The judgements of the commanding officers of the time on how Simpson's service was recognized should be respected and their decisions allowed to stand." Exactly, Senator. The judgement of Colonel (later General Sir John) Monash was that Jack Simpson should be awarded the Victoria Cross. His judgement along with other senior officer's recommendations have never been recognized. Prime Minister Holt supported a bid in 1967 to have these recommendations accepted. Denied! Why would it be "inappropriate" in the year 2006 to adopt the recommendations of Simpson's senior officers and award him the Victoria Cross for Australia? This would not constitute 'further recognition", it would be the payment of a debt of honour so long, long overdue, Your Government Senator, has the ability to honour this debt. It requires only the will to do so. I am not a badge of honour,
I am not a racist smear, I am not a fashion statement, To be worn but once a year, I am not glorification Of conflict or of war. I am not a paper ornament A token, I am more. I am a loving memory, Of a father or a son, A permanent reminder Of each and every one. I'm paper or enamel I'm old or shining new, I'm a way of saying thank you, To every one of you. I am a simple poppy A Reminder to you all, That courage faith and honour, Will stand where heroes fall. Paul Hunter 2014 Once they had enlisted, and contacts with the outside world were cut short, the Anzac troops quickly adopted a number of new words and expressions. Many of them reflect their daily lives in the Gallipoli trenches. The following are just a few of such slang words. You may recognise some of them and use them yourself today.
Abdul a nickname for a Turkish soldier. See also 'Jacko', Johnno' and 'Johnny Turk'. Alsoused as a collective noun. 'Abdul did not seem to trust the situation and was pretty active in our sector. adventurer, an a member of the 1st Division (name given by the 2nd Div. who thought they had joined for the adventure and nothing else). alf a mo 1. one moment, please 2. a tiny moustache "half a moment" and by analogy "half a moustache” Anzac button, an a nail used instead of a button to hold up trousers. Anzac soup a shell hole full of water polluted by a corpse. Anzac stew any improvised meal the troops managed to prepare from their monotonous rations. e.g. a bucket of hot water with one rind of fat bacon in it. Anzac wafer, an a hard biscuit. See 'rock-chewer. Auntie, another name for a Turkish broomstick bomb. Sent as a warning:' Auntie coming over! axle grease, butter backshish, (backsheesh, buckshee) Begging for cigarettes or chocolate, or offering services as a guide etc. bags of A lot, a great number, a great amount. (‘We had bags of shrapnel on the beach last night.) banger, a a sausage. banjo, a a shovel. ‘Swinging the banjo’ was used for digging. Base wallah, a someone with a relatively safe job at base, far behind the front line. bettle, a a landing craft for 200 men. bergoo, Porridge Birdie, General Birdwood who, according to the troops, was a ‘decent enough bloke’. bivvy, a bivouac Body-snatcher, a Either a stretcher bearer, or a member of a raiding party. bonzer, boshter, bosker, very, very ... , expressing a superlative quality of something. brass, brass hat Nickname for higher officers buzz off, to go or run away camel dung Egyptian cigarettes. clobber clothes. cobber, a a mate, a friend. coffin nail, a a cigarette. cow, a an obnoxious person in whose company a ‘dinkum’ soldier would not be seen. cricket ball, a Turkish handgrenade the same shape and size as a cricket ball. digger, a Anzac soldier dinkum real, original, vintage. dinkum Aussies / Fair Dinkums: volunteers. dinkum oil: true news divvy, a a division. dry rations, a sermon. En-Zedders New Zealanders furphy, a a camp rumour Gallipoli gallop, the diarrhoea (also know as the ‘Turkey trot’) Gippo Egyptian. greybacks lice. grungey self-made dish consisting of bully beef, buscuits, onion, water and salt. Then heated. gutzer, a a piece of bad luck, a misfortune. igri, hurry up. Imshi Yalla go away. Jacko (Johnny) Turk, also ‘Johnno’ jam tin (bomb), a Crude bomb made from a jam tin filled with an explosive charge, metal scraps, lengths of barbed wire or empty cartridges, and then given a fuse. As the supply of bombs during the campaign was very insufficient, a ‘factory’ for the manufacturing of these ‘jam tins’ was established inside Anzac Cove. kangaroo feathers the emu plumes at one side of a Light Horseman’s hat, in fact a patch of emu hide with the feathers still attached. Among the Arabs, the Light Horsemen became known as “the Kings of the Feathers’. Kiwi New Zealander Knocked (out) Killed or wounded Lance corporal bacon Very fat bacon, with only one streak of lean running through it. Lazy liz, a (Liz, Lizzie) a big shell fired by the battleship Queen Elisabeth and passing overhead with ‘a lazy drone’. Linseed Lancers, a Field Ambulance men Luna Park Cairo Hospital mafeesh Finished, not available anymore (‘When we finally reached the place, all the eggs weremafeesh.’) maleesh Never mind, it doesn’t matter. mate, a Aussies did not have friends, they had ‘mates’. oil Information, news. outed Killed, taken care of Peninsh, the the Gallipoli Peninsula pill, a a bullet possie, a a firing position, but also a hole excavated in the side of a trench to rest. red-caps, the British military police Rock-chewer, a a dry biscuit, responsible for many broken teeth and dentures, a problem that was even aggravated by the fact that originallly there were no dentists (nor any instruments for dental surgery) with the medical services on Gallipoli. shrapnel apart from the explosive, also used for the chicken peas that Australian POW’s in Turkey sometimes found as an addition to their standard daily ration of boiled wheat. smoko, a a break for a cigarette. snipe, to to shoot at the enemy from a hidden position. stiff, a a corpse, a dead soldier stiffs’ paddock, a a graveyard. stunt, a Originally a small-scale operation, involving a relatively small body of men, but later also used for bigger enterprises. stouch, to to fight, hit, kill or use violence in general. taube, a German airplane, used for reconnaissance over the lines, but also capable of dropping explosive ‘eggs’. throw a seven, to to get killed. typewriter, a a machine gun. wallah, a A man, a person. wangle, to to acquire through some sort of trick or clever scheme. wazzah, a a dugout whizz-bang, a German 77 mm shell write-off, a a casualty, a corpse, a ruined military vehicle. Read this letter, which contains the sort of language soldiers used on Gallipoli. A link to ANZAC SLANG is under categories. Try to work out the meaning before you use the list! Would this soldier understand the slang you use today? Dear Harry Here I am propped on the peninsh with a crowd of other tourists, so I thought I’d grab a fewmos now that the brass hats have gone off to have a chin-way and tell you a bit about what it’s like stouching with Abdul. Well, most of the time we’re bored to death, the rest of the time we’re scared to death, especially when auntie visits or a cricket ball comes over. We spend a lot of time winging the banjo, and only yesterday had to put in a new winze, following damage to our trenches from Beachy Bill. ANZAC soup all over no-man’s-land. The food’s pretty crook. Most days the babbling brook brings bully and hard tack; we were hoping the arrival of a supply ship meant we’d be getting acle grease with it today, but apparently that was just afurphy. We had a couple of bumrushers here this morning, warning that the base wallahswould be arranging short arm inspection before we were allowed to go on leave, so we had better make sure we were wearing clean chat-bags. Where do you think we’re going to find water to wash them in? You should’ve seen the lookk on his dial when I asked him that! It’s enough to make a man ask for an Aussy. Well, old chap, must fly. Give my regards to Emma and Jane and send us a few packets of coffin nails next time you write. Your pal John Your ChallengeWhen you have worked out what the soldier meant in the extract above, try writing your own letter, using current slang. Do you think your grandparents would understand what you have written? Do you think your future grandchildren will? What does this tell you about the nature of slang?
The red poppy has become a symbol of war remembrance the world over. People in many countries wear the poppy to remember those who died in war or who still serve. In many countries, the poppy is worn around Armistice Day (11 November), but in New Zealand and Australia it is most commonly seen around Anzac Day, 25 April. The red or Flanders poppy has been linked with battlefield deaths since the time of the Great War (1914–18). The plant was one of the first to grow and bloom in the mud and soil of Flanders. The connection was made, most famously, by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae in his poem 'In Flanders fields'. IN Flanders FieldsIn Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. |
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