A cigar box was sitting on the dresser beside the bed at my Great Aunty Kitt McMillan’s house in Bronte when I went to visit her in 1968. Strange place for a cigar box, especially when she didn’t smoke cigars. Inside the box, there were old photos of some war torn place in Europe. The photos were the kind with zig zag edges. Amongst the photos was a pressed flower. It was a single Poppy. I own that box now, but the contents have long disappeared. Needless to say that the box now haunts me and I often grieve over the missing contents of that box, because I now know what that pressed flower represented. It was the done thing for soldiers to pick a flower and put it in with letters to be sent home during the War. There was an abundance of poppies on the battle fields of Europe.
Aunty Kitt told me lots of stories. One in particular makes me well up every time I think about it. She spoke about Uncle Alex waiting at the bus stop that was just around the corner where the neighbouring children would wait on their way to school. The old bus backfired one morning and the children were entertained as Uncle Alex would shake uncontrollably and looked as though he was doing a highland jig. He had never fully recovered from shell shock received in the trenches during the Great War.
Not everyone joins up to defend our country. Lest we forget the ones that did when their Fortitude transpired into respect and we, that remain, are now charged with the task of fulfilling those words…. “Lest we forget”. We utter those words as we do lip service to the Ode Of Rememberance. The question then arises … What are we asking Australians’ now and in the future to remember? … Amongst all the thousands of heroic stories, is there someone or something to single out amongst the flag waving, trained dogs, carrier pigeons, brumby horses, along with Simpson and his donkey? …. There is one person dubbed “The forgotten ANZAC” who I would recommend for all to discover and then set his story indelibly in our values and culture. He alone initiated the legend of the “Digger”.
A documentary is available on YouTube and will take you on a journey about this very person and may change the view of some Australians and the way we feel about the legend of ANZAC.
The link is as follows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGkRJHJ5juI
Allow me to slip past this section quickly because you have probably heard it all before, but it must be said. On April 25th 1915 a navigation error landed the AIF at the cliffs of Gallipoli now known as ANZAC Cove. The troops dug in and did what they could. With their courage they forged their well earned skills and the AIF earned the nickname “Diggers”. Resourcefully they evacuated and were deployed to the Western front and it was there under the command of General John Monash that the ANZACs became legends.
Ironically John Monash, a German Jew, became Australia’s Commander in Chief and won his own battles in the political arena of “The War to end all Wars”. As an engineer his tactics proved to be superior. He was the only general that was knighted by the King during war time for his actions. He was given the title of Sir John Monash. Under his command, the AIF totalled only 5% of the allied forces, but punching well above their weight, the AIF (Australian Imperial Force) achieved what the allies could not, by breaking the German defence known as the Hindenburg Line which ended the Great War. This feat earned the AIF a reputation acknowledged by the allied forces and feared by the enemy. On the 11th of November 1918 the German government signed The Armistice. 
Pressed Poppy Sir John Monash Decorated Cigar Box
It is worth noting that Sir John Monash was the first military authority to set up a rehabilitation scheme for his battle weary men as they waited to be returned home to Australian shores.
The Movie of Sir John Monash “The Forgotten ANZAC” available on DVD is a must see. The link is as follows: http://360degreefilms.com.au/productions/monash-the-forgotten-anzac/
Journalists at the time were intent on their own propaganda and would not publish the facts properly. As Monash put it “There were runs on the board and people back home needed to see the score truthfully”. The fact that our diggers and their allies were being slaughtered by the thousands was hidden from the homeland. To show the runs on the board meant that the slaughter needed to be exposed. Some of us may remember that the reality in Darwin during WW2 was not revealed until after the war and some of us are still held in disbelief about the reasons for its suppression. Similarly, staggered bombings in Northern Australia were not reported between 1942 and 1943.
As we try to remember the fallen for reasons of future prevention, we may struggle to understand why. Britain declared war on Germany eight months before Gallipoli on August 4th 1914. Historians clash to justify the reasoning. A clue may be found in the reason why they called it “The War To End All Wars”. Many factors were involved, such as gathering numbers in the struggle for world domination, economics for a strangle hold over contributing countries and pride in elite bloodlines. What triggered it was an assassination to gain an edge over all these reasons. Forensics reveal that there were many plots for murder from all sides. It leads me to ponder over the reasoning for Australia’s sacrifice. “Lest we forget”.
The ANZAC Day march is not a celebration of an event but a commemoration of the fallen, as we join in with their families who adorn their earned status as legends in Australian history. Banners and medals are proudly displayed to acknowledge them and in return we extend our gratitude to the current bearers for sacrifices made by them and their ancestors. Their legacy now includes the seeds for thought as we face our next involvement.
