« March 2005 | Main | May 2005 »
The investigation into the detention of Cornelia Rau as an illegal immigrant is likely to uncover other cases similar to this, where a citizen has been illegally detained in a detention centre. This was reported as a news item by the http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200504/s1357007.htm ABC news tonight.
Anzac Day, 2005. It's ninety years since the first Anzac Day, since the Anzacs landed at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli. Anzac Day is held in honour with much respect by Australians, more honour and respect than is accorded Remembrance Day in November or Australia Day in January.
Now when I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover.
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback,
Well, I waltzed my Matilda all over.
Then in 1915, my country said, "Son,
It's time you stop ramblin', there's work to be done."
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun,
And they marched me away to the war.
And the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As the ship pulled away from the quay,
And amidst all the cheers, the flag waving, and tears,
We sailed off for Gallipoli.
Troops from the Australia New Zealand Army Corps were landed at dawn at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli, Turkey, to take the heights and to take the forts controlling the Straits of the Dardanelles, allowing ships to pass through to seize Istanbul and thus force Turkey to leave the war. They were not the only troops involved. There were others from Ireland, France and England.
These troops landed at their anticipated landing spots and met little resistance. However, the Anzacs were offloaded at what is now known as Anzac Cove. An error led to much bloodshed. They met with extremely fierce resistance. A pilot who flew over in the daytime reported that the sea was blood red fifty metres from the shore and the beach was strewn with corpses.
And how well I remember that terrible day,
How our blood stained the sand and the water;
And of how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk, he was waitin', he primed himself well;
He showered us with bullets, and he rained us with shell --
And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all to hell,
Nearly blew us right back to Australia.
Troops struggled to climb the cliffs and were easily picked up by snipers from above. The original landing place had easy access, not the near impossible cliffs. Eventually, some made it to the top. Trenches were dug and soldiers began what was the long wait of many months. The Turkish and ANZAC trenches were only ten metres apart and the fighting was fierce and drawn out.
But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
When we stopped to bury our slain,
Well, we buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,
Then we started all over again.
Thousands and thousands were killed from both sides. A brief armistice was called to allow both Turks and allies to bury the dead. Many were buried in mass graves and even today after heavy rain, human bones and debris such as water canteens are exposed.
The original plan had been for pincer movements to squeeze the Turks and to allow the capture of key villages and posts on the heights so British and Empire warships could pass through to Istanbul without being fired on. More mistakes contributed to the general disaster. Some of these places could have been taken easily, but the English waited and reinforcements arrived. They weren't taken.
The sorry tale dragged on for months, compounded by error and stupidity. A New Zealand commanding officer questioned the wisdom of trying to advance but was ordered on. He lost his men, many of them dark skinned Maoris, to friendly fire because they were taken for Turks. He was also killed. There were many tales of bravery and heroism. Notable among these was John Simpson who acquired a donkey and for weeks made his way through gunfire to bring back the wounded to the trenches. Eventually he too was killed. The names of Souvla and Lone Pine are proudly remembered here.
And those that were left, well, we tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
Though around me the corpses piled higher.
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head,
And when I woke up in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead --
Never knew there was worse things than dying.
For I'll go no more "Waltzing
Matilda,"
All around the green bush far and free -
To hump tents and pegs, a man needs both legs,
No more "Waltzing Matilda" for me.
Eventually it became obvious even to Winston Churchill back in London, the one originally responsible for the planning that this was a total disaster. A retreat was planned and, contrary to the arrival, all went well. It had been imagined that there would be another 50% lost in a retreat. At night, silently, troops descended the dreadful cliffs and were taken off. Behind were booby traps and guns primed to go off when tins filled with water tipped and caused the trigger to fire.
Not one life was lost in the retreat.
So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed,
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane,
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And as our ship sailed into Circular Quay,
I looked at the place where me legs used to be,
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me,
To grieve, to mourn and to pity.
But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As they carried us down the gangway,
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared,
Then they turned all their faces away.
Although for a long time this was regarded as a defeat, it came to be a turning point for Australia. We were really a nation, capable of contributing,not just some dangling offshoot of the mother country, England. Today, Anzac Day is held in honour. Crowds are increasing every year at both teh dawn service and at the march. The last ANZAC soldier in the world died here in 2003. However family still march, along with veterans from all wars we have taken part in. This year, the War Memorial in Canberra has reported much larger numbers of visitors in the weeks leading up to today. Crowds at the dawn service in Gallipoli are increasing each year. Turks recognise the bravery of their former foes and there appears to be no hostility.
And so now every April, I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
Reviving old dreams of past glory,
And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore,
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
And I ask meself the same question.
The use of these lyrics in connection with Anzac Day has been questioned. To me, it is very appropriate. Little has changed. This whole campaign was destined to be a failure. It was planned from afar by Winston Churchill who did not listen to advice. It was based on mistakes and false assumptions. Maps were out of date and reconnaissance was faulty giving totally the wrong picture. Wrong landing places were chosen. The extent of the resistance was totally underestimated. I have already said that villages were undefended but were not touched because the plan was different. As is obvious when looking at the geography of the place, even capture of the strongholds would not have given the mastery of the straits. Many of the commanding officers, though not all, were totally inflexible, refusing to bow to the obvious. When asked about casualties one replied that they did not matter to him. Churchill was haunted by Gallipoli for the rest of his life.
Sound familiar? A case of deja vu?
Much more can be learnt about ANZAC DAY on the ABC site and also also here.
Lyrics are from and the band played Waltzing Mathilda by Eric Bogle. Carrying a swag meant to travel the countryside, camping out. looking for casual work and handouts. A swag, or Mathilda, was carried by the swaggie and was his belongings and bedding tied in a roll and carried over the shoulder.
Two "colourful identities" in Australian political life died today. Both had much influence,although one was more well known than the other.
Senator Al Grassby, the Minister for Immigration in the Whitlam Labor government, was responsible for what is known today as the multicultural movement in Australia. There had been a wave of immigration to Australia after World War II, but Grassby took it much further, introducing multicultural policies and stamping on discrimination on ethnic grounds. He came from the Riverina,an area rich in Italian immigrants and was known for his forthright, if sometimes ill-considered statements and known especially for his very loud ties and flamboyant dress. He faded from the public view after a court case which saw him paying what was then a hefty fine.
Much more well known was Sir Joh Bjelke-Peterson, a peanut farmer from Kingaroy. Quite the other side of the political fence to Grassby. He served as National Party Premier of Queensland for nineteen years but was finally ousted. He too was well known for his forthright if sometimes muddled sentences. In Australia, the Liberal Party and the National Party , which are both conservative, right of centre, form a coalition to govern. The National Party is usually the minor party in such a coalition. The opposite was true in Queensland where it was very much the senior party in any coalition. Sir Joh was once able to form a government, having received only ninteen per cent of the vote. He strenuously denied ruling as a result of a gerrymander. He too was also the subject of a court case at the age of eighty one. There were many backers to try to get him to Canberra as Prime Minister. Fortunately, for clarity of expression at least, the wheels fell off Sir Joh's cart.
After the court case he retired to his property at Kingaroy. A staunch Lutheran, Sir Joh was deeply supportive of family values and what many regarded as old fashioned virtues. His family was with him at his death. I found him contradictory. I applauded his emphasis on family, but did not support his ironfisted rule of his state.
An obituary of Sir Joh Bjelke-Peterson can be read here.
Spero News has its second edition up now. There are many different articles from all over the world, including one of mine. In one way, there has been a dream introduction for this, with much attention focussed on the death of Pope John Paul and the election of the new pope.
I've had several days more paid work this week supervising psychometric testing for candidates for positions within one of the major government transport agencies here.
Blogging and blog reading is well down! Early start, I've been in the city just after 7:00am. See you tomorrow, Saturday.
It was February. A typical February day in Sydney with the temperature in the high 30s and the humidity about 85 or 90%. The afternoon sea breeze had not yet arrived and possibly never would that day. The air was heavy and hung oppressively on everything. Those who could not escape to air conditioned bliss, or at least the comfort of a fan, were listless, overpowered by the heat and looking forward to March and the hope of some clear autumn days.
Jesus and his friends had spent the morning in the heat down near Tempe. Here the heat was aggravated by the noise of the planes landing and taking off at the nearby airport.
Richard at Connexions has put out a request for publicity for an autograph book of bloggers. He gives an address for snail mail for offerings for his book. A cartoon perhaps or a favourite saying springs to mind for you? Let him know.
As those who used to read my old blog by BLOGGER would know, I am one of those people who actually gets a devotional boost from discovering some new thing in my Bible reading. Some word study, grammatical nuance which opens up new meanings for me. As such, I really enjoy expository preaching.
This is something my church is not good at. Wwe don't have this luxury of listening to expository preaching very often. Personally, I call it a necessity, not a luxury, but not all see my point of view. The pastor chooses a NT book once a year to work through. Preferably for him, a short book which we can finish in about six weeks. I can't see him following Martin Lloyd-Jones' thirteen years in Romans! Even this is often still just used as a peg for his thoughts. When I have been asked to preach/teach, I use expository methods as does one other person. We are always thanked for what we provide, so I think the pastor needs to rethink the needs and capabilities of the congregation. He believes many aren't capable of understanding this type of teaching. Perhaps not, but they can be taught and encouraged. I'm not asking for 40-50 minutes of exegetical, expository preaching every week. I do ask that the exegesis be done in the study before the sermon is prepared. Good exegesis is not always visible, but is like a backbone to the sermon.
Last week, we had a visiting preacher from the same denomination. He announced that his task was to make the Bible relevant. My heart sank as I knew what he really meant by this. It usually means dumbing down the message.
He read from Genesis 28:10-12 where Jacob has a vision of the angels descending and ascending the ladder.
He announced that this was a good place for Jacob to be in. (Can't find a translation which says this.) It was not, however a God place. He then told of Jacob wrestling with God and how, when he lost the movement of his hip, it became a God place as he had moved from one to another. Apart from telescoping stories and omitting many years of Jacob's life, this is just not a principle found.
there, if anywhere.
We were exhorted that being in a good place was not sufficient. We had to be in a God place. Lots of personal examples. Just as good becomes God with the dropping of a letter, so we had to turn situations around in a similar manner.
I sat there amazed listening to this twisting of Scripture, grammar, spelling and logic. I was strongly tempted to turn off my hearing aids and snooze, but resisted this. My mind wandered and required much effort to pay attention to the so called sermon.
At the close of the meeting, I felt as if my mouth was full of fairy floss, sweet, sickly, and totally unsatisfying.
It's my mother's birthday today. The ripe old age of 85. We're fortunate that she is still strong, a few minor ailments but mentally very active. She puts many younger to shame with her active, enquiring mind. She's very family oriented and I suppose that's where I get it from as well. She is currently spending Monday to Friday being a companion to ( read "babysitting") my 12 year old nephew, her grandson, whose mother died last year. It's been a struggle lately in the mornings for her as I am sure he is depressed and doing all he can to avoid getting out of the house in the morning and off to school. Evenings are fine. Whenever family members needed looking after because of illness, they would be shipped off to her mountain home for some TLC. Lawson Nursing Home, as it was known in the family.
She not only has her own family with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren but is surrogate mum, grandma and great grandmother to a large group from another family, originally neighbours many years ago. She was known then as Mama Juju, a corruption of her surname. Now she is known to all and sundry as "Moo." This was started when my niece couldn't say her name and now it has stuck. Much to the horror of my rather stuffy mother-in-law, she is quite happy to answer to this as she regards it as a sign of affection. She's even happy with cowprint paper, books, cards etc.
Mum loves giving and always has something tucked away as gifts for children or those who do her some service. She thinks hard about gifts and always manages to find something suitable for the recipient. Christmas shopping for all she gives to starts in January.
Happy birthday, mum
I've just sent off my first article for the second week of SperoNews. This is an exciting new venture combining professional and citizen journalism. Here's a quote from Robert Duncan's press release about it.
Initially in English, and soon expanding into Spanish, Spero News is a bi-lingual weekly electronic magazine and community spanning the globe providing premium content submitted from its nearly 100 collaborators. Spero News aims to enhance society by creating a premier, alternative network for readers seeking quality news, information and interaction through the Internet by providing news, commentary, and analysis that encourages citizen participation. In that respect, Spero News is a unique experience towards creating a constructive dialogue between media and readers with the aim of promoting a correctly informed and discerning public opinion as reflected in Judeo-Christian values. By melding journalists, citizen journalists and sector professionals, Spero News also guarantees that its news is by the people and for the people.
Spero News´ collaborators from various countries are united in an electronic format that will enable the creation of long-lasting relationships with a large audience of discriminating users. Spero News is already receiving contributions from writers in Australia, Canada, Cyprus, England, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, the United States and Wales, with more expected to soon join.
In turn, readers will appreciate and value Spero News´
closer, "grassroots," touch, while at the same time appreciating the
maintaining of high-quality standards, coupled with an online
experience for a uniquely knowledgeable community of users through a
networked environment that provides answers, analysis, points-of-view
and like-minded associates.
A primary goal of Spero News is to teach citizens writing skills whereby they may take a more active role in policies that affect the social fabric, and an appreciation of the corresponding responsibility that comes with gained knowledge.
Spero News seeks to promote justice and solidarity according to an organic and correct vision of human development, by reporting events accurately and truthfully, analyzing situations and problems completely, and providing a forum for different opinions. Spero News believes that an authentically ethical approach to using the powerful communication media must be situated within the context of a mature exercise of freedom and responsibility, founded upon the supreme criteria of truth and justice.
Contributors come from all over the world and from many different viewpoints.
Recent Comments