11 November

[firko]

Good day for me to remember what they did for us

And so say all of us.

[bazza]

Nice pete i to have my grandads medals from 1st w/war, a medic who sadly got gassd

[yamaico]

Sorry to hear that Mike. A lot of sacrifice made by armed forces so we can enjoy life as we know it today. Make's people's petty problems fade into insignificance...

[Curly3]

What a great story of family tradition & history Pete.
I don't glorify war but hearing all these stories is motivating but certainly makes my every day trials & tribulations seem pretty insignificant.
We the lucky generations have NFI how tough things could be.

[IT400C]

Taken a week before he left Australia in early 1940...

[TooFastTim]

Just a child!

[Davey Crocket]

My grandfather was injured in the battle of the Somme, out of 16,000 NZ troops, 7,000 where killed, he was injured after they won on the way back from the frontline, he lost a leg but lived on to be 89 years old.....tough old buggar.

[IT400C]

Just a child!

I was told this story years ago by my Father, who'd heard it from my Grandfather (his Father-in-Law), so I may have some of the details wrong....

On the boat leaving Australia, a lot of men in the Battalion started growing beards.  Don't know why, or even whether they had permission to, but they did.  They apparently had an inspection just prior to docking in South Africa.  My Grandfather was so proud of the beard he'd been nurturing for the entire crossing from Oz to South Africa.  His Sergeant apparently looked at his face and said

"Forget to shave this morning Lyne?"  He was sooo deflated......  

Yup, some were just kids...

[IT400C]

My grandfather was injured in the battle of the Somme, out of 16,000 NZ troops, 7,000 where killed, he was injured after they won on the way back from the frontline, he lost a leg but lived on to be 89 years old.....tough old buggar.

My Great-Great Uncle Eric (sitting down, front row, right hand side)
Landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915 and survived to the end of the war.


His Brother, my Great-Great Uncle Elbert, arrived at Gallipoli mid-May, 1915 (3 weeks after the landing), killed at the Battle of the Menin Road, Ypres, Belgium, September 1917.

[TooFastTim]

"Forget to shave this morning Lyne?"  He was sooo deflated......  

My dad had a goodie. He forgot to polish the buttons on his tunic/jacket/whatever and the RSM (of whom the entire regiment was very fond) bawled him out: "You back orn the gold standard sonny?".

[shelpi]

My Dear old great Uncle made it out off Gallipoli but got gased in the western front

[pancho]

Hey TFTim, where did you get the poem from, and do you know who wrote it please?
Our old pc has snuffed it once more and I have been unable to get on here as a result, so until our friendly IT man gets us back on I'm taking advantage of an overnight stay at my sons place at Tumut on our way to a mini family reunion at Bainsdale.
 Now I'm wondering what the roads going to be like with all this heavy weather currently hammering the area.
The plan is to take the touring bikers favourite route over the Snowy mountains H'way
 cheers pancho