Thread: 11th Hour of the 11th day of the 11th month - LEST WE FORGET

Having been to Gallipoli and the battlefields of the Western Front in France, I fully concur. The conditions and losses they suffered were horrendous.
I will watch the Last Post ceremony from the War Memorial tomorrow afternoon at 4-50 - it is available every day on the computer.

Indeed, "Lest We Forget".

Weeping window 1.jpgWeeping window, Orkney.

The girl at my cafe was wearing a poppy.....when I asked her what it commemorated she couldn't tell me. At least she knew there was something special about today.

Watched the ceremony from the AWM this morning, pleased to see the SLR used for ceremonial duties, the "plastic fantastic" just doesn't cut it for these purposes.

The only spoiler for me was that the broadcast was affected by constant picture shattering / stuttering which was a shame.

Originally Posted by Bob38S

Watched the ceremony from the AWM this morning, pleased to see the SLR used for ceremonial duties, the "plastic fantastic" just doesn't cut it for these purposes.

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The SLR's were a great rifle....good for drill and ceremonies as well as an awesome weapon....

Originally Posted by crowie

The SLR's were a great rifle....good for drill and ceremonies as well as an awesome weapon....

what you hit stayed hit

Originally Posted by Bob38S

Watched the ceremony from the AWM this morning,

I was there at the Australian War Memorial for the service.

We were in Canberra all last week. Our primary reason for being there was to support friends who managed to get permission to hold a Poppy Service in one of the courtyards of Parliament House on the day before Remembrance Day. The purpose of this service was to make the politicians aware of the high rate of veteran suicide.

More Australian veterans who deployed over the last 13 years have taken their own lives just this year than have fallen in combat over that entire time (and the year is still not over and the holiday season is generally regarded by the Veteran Community as being "high risk"). The sad reality is that veterans were safer when deployed than they are when they return, having experienced what they went through and the mental strains this has put on them which has sadly driven them to self-harm.

We had over 40 politicians from the Senate and the House of Representatives attend the ceremony, many of whom were obviously moved when the scope of the problem was explained to them. My girlfriend had spent months crocheting 350 poppies, each representing one veteran who has taken his or her own life over the past four years after returning to Australia. These were laid out on a black cloth and really brought the message home graphically.

The next day at the service at the War Memorial the message from our group was echoed when Jeff Kennett made his address at the Ceremony. We had no idea that the main speech of the day was to be on the same topic as we were presenting the previous day.

Here's a link to a transcript of Mr Kennett's speech.

https://www.awm.gov.au/talks-speeche...-address-2016/

I am not a Jeff Kennett fan but on this occasion he hit the mark. I urge anyone with any interest in veteran's welfare at all to read his speech.

Cheers

Doug

You're a good man Doug!

fletty

I had some Swedish work visitors arrive on the day. I put my trip back a day so I could spend some time with them as I know they would, and have, done for me. As we finished a 'heavy' day we ended up at the Rocks just as the following appeared on the Opera House....

image.jpg

lest we forget!

fletty