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Anzac Day
► ANZAC Day 2008: The spirit of the Digger in all of us
By Melissa Gunn & Hope Skinner
ANZAC Day 25th April 2008 in West Flanders was a very special and significant day, marking 90 years in Australian history. “Us” Australian exchange students had the honour to represent our country by participating in the special ceremonies in Belgium hosted by the Commune of Zonnebeke and the City of Ypres.
To start off the day, we arrived at the Zonnebeke Chateau and were welcomed with a complimentary breakfast and speeches given by the Mayor, Mr Dirk Cardoen, and the Australian Ambassador, HE Dr Alan Thomas, who both expressed their happiness in maintaining the relationships between Australia and Belgium. This was also a chance to casually meet the fellow Australians who came to participate in the ceremony. We then listened to the buglers and laid wreaths at the Municipal War Memorial in Zonnebeke.
Afterwards we took the bus to the Tyne Cot Cemetery located in Passchendaele where we listened to Mr Kirk’s very moving testimony and the story of his father who fought in Passchendaele and back in Australia named his citrus orchard by this battle that meant so much to him, though he never spoke about it to his son who concluded that all should share their memories with their families, not matter what. Australian Commander Dunchue read the exhortation followed by a minute’s silence. Then, the St Andrew’s Cathedral School Choir from Sydney sang while wreaths were laid.
We then took the bus to the Ypres Town Hall where we were met by the Mayor, Mr. Luc Dehaene and other officials, and marched to the Menin Gate preceded by the Scherminkel Band from Ypres. We continued with another ceremony and more laying of wreaths, to the National Anthems of both Australia and New Zealand.
The official party reformed in a procession to the Belgian War Memorial and then on to the Ypres Town Hall for an event which included speeches delivered by Australian exchange students (Brooke Gabriel and Tom Quaid) and also by a New Zealand exchange student. The official ceremony concluded with an exchange of gifts and a reception during which the St Andrew’s Cathedral School Choir performed.
We, the exchange students, then had free time for one hour, to walk around and to see another part of this region of Belgium.
At 2pm, we participated in an informal program: walking through the Polygon Wood cemetery and Tyne Cot Cemetery, to gain a realistic idea of the battles fought on this land and to pay respects to those who rest there.
After a day of commemorating, all of the Australians said that they ‘felt true pride in being Australian’. Experiencing ANZAC Day in another country has brought out the Digger in all of us.
Thank you to the community of Zonnebeke and that of Ypres, and the Australian and New Zealand Embassies for making such an enjoyable and memorable day possible.
Melissa Gunn and Hope Skinner are WEP (World Education Program) exchange students. Melissa goes to school in Belgium at Athénée Royal Jourdan in Fleurus and in Australia at Chairo Christian School, Drouin, Victoria. Hope goes to school in Belgium at Athénée Royal Prince Baudouin in Marchin and in Australia at Kingscliff High School, Kingscliff, New South Wales.
To see pictures of ANZAC Day 2008, click here
► ANZAC Day 2007
In the early morning of 25 April 2007, about 100 Australian citizens, including 20 Australian exchange students, set off from Brussels for the annual ANZAC Day commemorations on the Western Front in Flanders. The day was very sunny and warm, the atmosphere likewise – a far cry from how it must have been for those young Australian soldiers in 1917.
The commemoration of ANZAC Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps; the soldiers in those forces became known as ANZACs very quickly, and the pride they soon took in that name, as well as the ideals of courage, endurance and mateship, still prevail to this day.
This year the delegation was joined by the Western Australian Premiers 2007 Student ANZAC Tour and a group of 40 Australian tourists, forming a very large delegation led by the Australian Ambassador Dr Alan Thomas. All were warmly welcomed by the Zonnebeke officials with a breakfast followed by speeches from the Ambassador, the Western Australia Minister of Education and Training Mark McGowan, and the First Alderman of Zonnebeke Mr Franky Bryon. Subsequently there were services at the Passchendaele (Passendale) Municipal War Memorial and at Tyne Cot Cemetery. In Ypres (Ieper), all marched together with the New Zealand delegation and local officials from the Cloth Hall in procession towards Menin Gate for a Last Post ceremony, and back to the Belgian War Memorial in Ypres. The local youth band Scherminkel and the buglers from the Fire Brigade added more lustre to all ceremonies. All were then welcomed by the Ypres officials for a reception at the Town Hall.
The commemoration services held in Passchendaele and Ypres were moving and serene. When marching in Ypres along the Cloth Hall towards the Menin Gate, Australians realised that they were following, 92 years later, the footsteps of the young Australian Diggers on their way to the battlefield. That realisation made a big impression on today’s young Australians. The growing number of young Australian and New Zealand people participating in the ANZAC Day commemorations each year, is a reflection of this sentiment.
The afternoon program consisted in a walk along and exploring a strategic defence line of the Australian troops in the region, ‘The Old Railway’, with local experts and guides. Disused since 1952, a foot and cycle path has been traced out along the former railway track, and one can see the remains of several German bunkers excavated since 2005. The tour ended at Tyne Cot Cemetery where the group visited the cemetery and its new Visitor Centre, with the main focus on the Australian involvement and the two Australian VC.
At the end of the day, although as sunny and warm as at its beginning, those who participated could sense an extra dimension of the cold and gloominess of those days when so many young people came to this region, all the way from Australia and New Zealand, often to lose their lives in the most appalling circumstances, in order to defend freedom.
To see pictures of the day, click here.