ANZAC Day and a wonderful 90 year old lady

Wakened up this morning to .........rain! Yes looks just like a dark, grey, rainy morning at home. Took the bus to Warringah Mall and  a wonderful lady on the bus spoke to me. She brought sunshine instantaneously onto that bus and I learned such a lot in a relatively short time.

Her name was Sue and she told me she was 90! ( I would have said she was in her early 70s, very upright  only needing slight support from a cane).  Her skin was beautiful, hair silky and very elegant and she had stunningly, twinkling, hazel eyes.  Having told her how fantastic she looked and what an advert for Australia she proceeded to tell me she had been to Scotland, had travelled all over the world and was a veteran of World War 2  having served in the forces in Europe. She said she was so looking forward  to participating and marching on ANZAC Day on 25 April this year.

Feeling somewhat ignorant  and only having a vague notion of what she was talking about I asked her to tell me more. We arrived at the mall before she had finished her story so we carried on over a cup of coffee! I felt very humbled when it was time for her to leave. I wish I had been able to ask if I could have taken her photograph but somehow it seemed an intrusion and I couldn't have put it up on this blog. Sadly both her husband and children are dead and she has no family but, although she obviously has such an indomitable spirit, she was also quietly assured and accepted what life had dealt her.

She has made a lasting impression on me and I've  been reminded that people are so  amazing and never to make assumptions based on appearances! Thanks Sue for a wonderful history lesson explained with such pride and articulation.

A brief summary of the importance of ANZAC day to Australians.

ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It 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 quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they took in that name endures to this day.

When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only 13 years. The new national government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in order to open the Dardanelles to the allied navies. The ultimate objective was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany.

The Australian and New Zealand forces landed on Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated, after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers had been killed. News of the landing on Gallipoli had made a profound impact on Australians at home, and 25 April soon became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in the war.

Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the Australian and New Zealand actions during the campaign left us all a powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as the “ANZAC legend” became an important part of the identity of both nations, shaping the ways they viewed both their past and their future.

With the coming of the Second World War, ANZAC Day also served to commemorate the lives of Australians who died in that war. In subsequent years the meaning of the day has been further broadened to include Australians killed in all the military operations in which Australia has been involved.