ANZAC DAY - LEST WE FORGET

[user 4485]

https://www.army.gov.au/our-history/traditions/the-slouch-hat

THE SLOUCH HAT

Theres a Slouch Hat in my lounge-room
Pristine and never worn
Standing watch atop a globe
Dawn til dusk and dusk til dawn
It will never go to battle
Never ask the question Why?
But it sings to me A Sappers Lullaby

It wont play footy by The Pyramids
Wont taste Kokodas mud
Wont feel the heat of Vietnam
Wont be stained by good mens blood
It wont trade shrapnel in the chaos
On a beach at ANZAC Cove
But it tells me quietly why the rough men go

Men like my mate Coops,
Who gave the hat to me
Who back the Engineers
As they clear the IEDs
Thirty feet apart
Treading softly, staggered file
Under the Afghan sun they walk the danger miles

And Ive shared beers and laughs with Timmy
And Ive looked him in the eye
Heard him talk about lost mates
And Ive seen a tough man cry
Just like those whove gone before him
And they may go on forever
And the slouch hat, well, it binds them all together

With just a sideways glance
It can set my brain to work
Recall the deeds of Albert Jacka,
Hear the pledge of Ataturk
Eric Bogle sings Waltzing Matilda
And the lyrics haunt my mind
As I think of all the heroes left behind

But the Rising Sun will not forget them
As it shines on new recruits
Brave young men and women
Bold as brass in shiny boots
Duntroon and Kapooka
Passing every test
And beneath the Slouch Hats brim theyll do their best.

So that Slouch Hat in my lounge room
It wont travel overseas
But it takes me on great journeys
Reminds me that Im free
A symbol of Australia
No surrender, few regrets
And a shrine to those now gone, Lest We Forget

Murray Hartin
http://www.murrayhartin.com/

 

[user 4485]

I've travelled down some lonely roads,

Both crooked tracks and straight.

An' I've learned life's noblest creed,

Summed up in one word "Mate".


I'm thinking back across the years,

(a thing I do of late)

An' this word sticks between me ears;

You've got to have a "Mate".


Someone who'll take you as you are,

Regardless of your state,

An' stand as firm as Ayres Rock

Because 'e is your mate.


Me mind goes back to '42,

To slavery and 'ate,

When man's one chance to stay alive

Depended on 'isMate.


With bamboo for a billy-can

An' bamboo for a plate.

A bamboo paradise for bugs

Was bed for me and "Mate".


You'd slip and slither through the mud

And curse your rotten fate,

But then you'd 'ear a quiet word:

"Don't drop your bundle Mate."


And though it's all so long ago,

This truth I 'ave to state:

A man don't know what lonely means

Til 'ehas lost his "Mate".


If there's a life that follers this,

If there's aGolden Gate,

The welcome I just want to 'ear

Is just,"Good on y' Mate."


An' so to all that ask mewhy

We keep these special dates,

Like "Anzac Day"

I answer:"WHY??! - We're thinking of our MATES."


An' when I've left the driver's seat,

An' handed in me plates,

I'll tell ol' Peter at the door,

"I've come to join me Mates."

Authoruncan BUTLER,2/12th Field Ambulance.

 

[Wishfull]

Remembering the brave today.
Lest we forget ..........................

I honor you today my Father.
R. W. Johnson Darwin WW2

 

[Guest]

yep i miss my dad
Baden "Chummy"Hulm WW2 ANTI AIRCRAFT GUNNER PNG I M JUST HAVING A WHISKEY AND MILK FOR HIM

 

[OzzieAu]

Just listened to the dawn service... sitting in my van in the middle of nowhere. Made me choke up 8.(
Lest we forget. :rainbow:

 

[7.62marksman]

https://www.nine.com.au/quizzical

You got 14 out of 20 correct.

 

[mineallmine]

Lest we forget. :beer:

 

[Manpa]

 

[Ramjet]

LEST WE FORGET

 

[Tathradj]

I honor my Grand Father
Norman Cecil (Jim) Spindler
Service Number 6438
18th Battalion.
Military Medal.

Passed away 1977 still pulling
Shrapnel out of his legs.
" Lest We Forget. "

My brother is actually in Europe and
he has gone and visited the area
where he fought. Including the road he
crawled along with his Lewis Machine Gun
to wipe out the enemy.

Pretty sobering thing.

 

[RM Outback]

Lest we forget :beer:

 

[kemjak57]

LEST WE FORGET :sunny:

 

[Jaros]

Ditto Gents.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...9x7oX_EUr4_2y0qF-sVdvpCQqrPXzdsCiKSbc2ifVbzwA

 

[BigWave]

Just back from the Warrandyte march and service at the RSL.
Misty eyed and very sobering.
Was a great turn-out, and thankfully the pollies stayed silent.
Lest We Forget erfect:

 

[MegsyB007]

Lest we forget.

 

[7.62marksman]

 

[Ded Driver]

to those who gave all, & to those who continue to give
Lest We Forget
:trophy:

 

[WalkaboutOz]

Lest we forget

 

[Mackka]

Lest We Forget
Mackka

 

[Billy]

We will remember them :flowers: