Dawn Service at Gallipoli: Maoris?

[Texas Star]

Dawn Service at Gallipoli - YouTube


"Lest We Forget..."

This excellent, sharp video shows a dawn servce at Gallipolli, where Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard delivered an address about the Anzac sacrifices there in WWI. Besides the admiral (?) at the first, speakers include Cpl. Mark Donaldson, V.C., Australian SAS. (He received the Victoria Cross for gallantry under heavy fire in Afghanistan. Look for the medal with the maroon ribbon on his uniform. At 10:23 in the video. This is their equivalent to our Medal of Honor.)

This is an impressive service. But who are those mourners at the first, the two women? Are they Maoris, native New Zealanders? I know we have members from Australia and New Zealand. Maybe they'll see this, or Sipowicz will. I know that he recently visited relatives in New Zealand.

The celebrated opera singer, Dame Kiri te Kanawa is full or part Maori, and I've seen her. The appearance is basically Polynesian, rather like Hawaiians. (sp?)

After Cpl. Donaldson reads the poem, a bugler sounds, "The Last Post", equivalent to our, "Taps."

I wish that Americans took our ceremonies for the fallen so seriously as Aussies and New Zealanders take Anzac Day. We have students graduaring high school today who have never heard of Pearl Harbor & don't even know who we fought in WW II. Our Vietnam vets are just now being recognized for their bravery in a war in which the media and the liberal left undermined our forces and held them up to contempt.

 

[Cyrano]

The ANZACs went ashore at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915. So April 25 is ANZAC day in Australia and New Zealand. I've been fortunate enough to be in New Zealand twice on ANZAC day; it's impressive, I can tell you. Part of the ceremony is that you leave your memorial poppy at the monument to the WW I dead. If former military, you salue as you leave. When I left my poppy, I gave the American salute, palm down, instead of the Comonwealth salute, palm to the front. It turned a few heads.

I brought a poppy home; it's mounted in my guest room which has entertained a few New Zealanders.

One of the delightful customs of the Commonwealth is that you can wear your medals with civilian clothes. On occasions like this, you see many people with lots of medals. Unfortunately, except for the VC, which I've never seen worn, I can't identify them. Close relatives can also wear the medals, but they wear them on the right side. On ANZAC day it's wonderful to see young people, 10 or 12 years old, wearing medals. Wish we had something like that.

 

[M29since14]

...We have students graduaring high school today who have never heard of Pearl Harbor & don't even know who we fought in WW II.

The various academic "eggheads" in leadership/decision-making positions seem to have decided that today's students don't need to know about people like George Patton and Erwin Rommel - certainly not in any detail!

Until this morning I might have thought your statement extraordinary, but no longer. My daughter returned from college and just this morning over breakfast she mentioned that she had shared with some of her friends an email I had sent her about Doolittle's Raiders. They were not aware of the raid nor had they ever heard of Jimmy Doolittle. One student was so "impressed" that he used it as a subject for a history paper he had to write.

Now they know, but I doubt that any of them have any idea...

 

[jimmyj]

Very Impressive.
Question: The Military Personnel wearing the American type WWI campaign
Hats (smoky the bear) were New Zealand Soldiers ?

 

[Cyrano]

The 'Smokey the Bear' hats were Australian and New Zealand. The FALs were probably Turkish; both Australia and New Zealand use the Austrian AUG (awfully ugly gun) as their service rifle.

 

[jimmyj]

The 'Smokey the Bear' hats were Australian and New Zealand. The FALs were probably Turkish; both Australia and New Zealand use the Austrian AUG (awfully ugly gun) as their service rifle.

I all ways thought (?) that the "Aussies"wore the "Bush Hat" with the left side pinned up. I never knew that the "Smoky Hat" was also worn by the "Aussies".

Question: did the American "Rough Riders" copy the Aussie Bush Hat or did the Aussies copy the Americans ?

 

[Texas Star]

I all ways thought (?) that the "Aussies"wore the "Bush Hat" with the left side pinned up. I never knew that the "Smoky Hat" was also worn by the "Aussies".

Question: did the American "Rough Riders" copy the Aussie Bush Hat or did the Aussies copy the Americans ?

Jimmy-

You are correct: the Akubra bush hat with the side pinned up to clear a rifle on the shoulder is Australian. The Smokey hats are New Zealand.

I didn't know the Rough Riders wore either style, more the usual US cavalry hats. But I haven't especially looked, nor seen many photos. Col. Roosevelt may have just worn his rancher's hat and so might some of his men.

During the Boer War of 1899-1902, the British Chief of Scouts in South Africa was an American, Maj. Frederick Russell Burnham. He wore a Smokey hat. His exploits were probably the basis for Lord Baden-Powell founding the Boy Scouts. He had a lot of experience in AZ, some probably fighting Apaches.

In WW II, other soldiers copied the Aussie hat. You may see photos of such men as Brigadier Orde Wingate in Burma with that hat...and a No 4 .303 rifle. Our Maj. Gen. James Gavin also carried a M-1 rife. Some generals expected to see fighting and wanted to be able to engage the enemy at distance. Gavin also wpre a Randall Made Model 1 knife on his belt with his .45

Field Marshal the Viscount Montgomery, Lord Montgomery of Alamein, also sometimes wore an Aussie hat with many unit badges on it in the N. African desert. I think he did it to inspire the men under his command. He visited front line troops to inspire them and to let them in on some of his plans, to let them feel included. He wore that hat like Patton did his ivory-handled revolvers or Caesar did his red cloak, to make him distinguished and to be seen as a leader. Wingate and his Chindits probably wore the hat because it worked well for them in the Burmese jungle. Wingate was also photographed in a sun helmet.

Have you seen the distinctive hats of the Ghurka regiments? Those are nice. You can see them in John Masters's books, "Bugles and a Tiger" and, "The Road Past Mandalay." Masters received the Distinguished Service Order (just below the Victoria Cross) for his gallant command of an outpost called Blackpool. His troops virtually annihilated overwhelming numbers of Japanese who repeatedly attacked them.

I very much doubt that the Rough Riders copied the Aussie hats, which weren't widely known until at least the Boer War. The Spanish-American War was in 1898. I don't think it likely that the Aussies copied an American hat. But their RAAF airfield defense troops do wear a dark blue beret now, like USAF counterparts. I THINK we had that first, for those forces. The first to get them was the SAC Elite Guard at Offut AFB. They also had imitation stag grips on their .38's.

 

[jimmyj]

WOW !
Thank you, Texas Star for the information. It answers questions I have thought about for a long time.
Jimmy

 

[timn8er]

Very moving ceremony. It illuminates a period of history I know very little about. Thank you for posting!

 

[Texas Star]

BTW, I think Canadian cavarlry in the Boer War wore Smokey hats. Can Canadian members confirm that? At least some British units and colonial police wore the Australian style or sun helmets. I have a copy of John Alfred Jordan's, "Elephants and Ivory". It includes a photo of the author as a Cape Mounted Policeman in the Boer War. He wore the Aussie hat, with his revolver, probably a MKIV Webley .455, on a shoulder strap over the chest.

 

[timn8er]

I have to ask a couple of dumb questions here, so please forgive me. What, exactly, does ANZAC stand for? Australian New Zealand and then? Also is that where the appellation of Digger came to be?

 

[Texas Star]

timn8ator-

ANZAC = Australia-New Zealand Army Corps.

The video suggests pretty strongly where the name Digger arose. They had to dig a LOT of trenches.

I think the future great Turkish leader to whom the PM's speech refers was Kemal Attaturk.

Did you note the goosestepping Turkish soldiers in the wreath-laying ceremonies? Their helmets are also distnctive.

BTW, the Turks used German weapons in WW I.

 

[timn8er]

Thanks for the info sir! Yes I did notice the goose stepping. Freaked me out a little, even though I'm aware that there are more than few countries that use a goose step or a modified version of it.

 

[akjaeger]

I was lucky to be in Australia for ANZAC day last year.
It seemed like the entire population of the small town was waiting pre-dawn for the ceremony to begin. The sound of bagpipes marching toward the memorial park was very eerie and moving.
The surviving vets from the previous wars marched into the square following the pipes, then stood at attention during the ceremony while the fallen were honored.
It really choked me up, wish we had a similar ceremony to honor our vets.
That morning was one of the highlights of our trip, two weeks spent riding a motorcycle across OZ.

 

[wbraswell]

There are many ANZAC parks and memorials in the cities down under. They are very proud of them, but they also have their own ignorant and disinfranchised youth.