Today has easily been one of the most powerful experiences I've ever had. Definitely up there with the best things I've done on my travels.
Got up at 2am after managing to get to sleep at 9 which I thought was a fair effort!! I got dressed in all my warm gear and my Collingwood jumper, scarf and hat. One of the men on the tour made some comment about it being disrespectful. Unsure if he was joking, but I replied by saying that 57 of our players died in WWI, and that to me my Collingwood jumper represents all the important elements of the Anzacs - teamwork, endurance, courage and strength.
As I got up it was strange to think that at that very moment 100 years prior the Anzacs would have been in their boats heading towards Gallipoli, not knowing that they would land at the wrong beach and be ambushed and suffer so many casualties.
We set off at 2.30 and got our bus for an hour to Villers Bretonneux. So did about a million other people! The queue for the buses took us half an hour. They had to put special restrictions and a new bus system involving numbers and a big screen in place due to huge numbers this year.
Once we arrived it started to rain. I got out of the bus and due to it being dark and wet lost the whole group pretty much straight away!! Luckily I spotted Liz and Helen so I stuck with them. We walked into the cemetery through the rain to the crowd forming. Most of the seats were already taken, Liz and Helen sat down and I stood up immediately behind the last row of seats. This turned out to be a great spot. I was a little far away but could just see the people talking and had a nice view of the memorial lit up.
I go to the dawn service in Melbourne most years, but it was really interesting coming to one in another country. Most of the service was in English but some in French. A band played some music from war times (including 'Danny Boy' and 'You Raise Me Up') as we were held up waiting for the Gallipoli service to finish so both could be televised. Then the service began and we had some speeches, the ode and the last post.
The last post normally gets me a bit teary, but today was so powerfully emotional that I soon found myself with tears streaming down my face. It was beautiful, so well played. The bugle player was up the top of the tower on the memorial. After five successive days of learning about the huge scale of loss, tragedy and pain in this area and the war in general, and seeing so many graves and memorials, it was so much more real and powerful being there.
We had a minute of silence (a full minute, none of this 30 seconds business we get at the footy sometimes!) and then various official people laid wreaths. One of our local MPs did - what are the chances! And our guide, Rod, did as part of the British armed forces.
They then asked for members of the public who wanted to to come up. I was meant to walk up with Neil and Michael but lost them very early on in the piece so went by myself. We had split the card in three and each written a message. I walked up and again found myself crying. By this stage I was saturated and cold as it rained the entire service. But I didn't care, the Anzacs went through much worse so standing in the rain for two hours was the least we could do to honour their memories.
I asked a man to take a picture of me with the wreath and found I couldn't even talk properly because my voice was shaking so much due to tears and cold!! He gave me a hug and took my photo. You'll know the one, I've got a really weird smile on my face from trying not to cry!!!
Today was as I predicted the furthest away I've felt from home all year. I was already a bit emotional due to seeing the battlefields, graves etc all week. As well as that, for some reason I grew up imagining most of the soldiers that died as always being older than me, maybe being middle aged or even older men. Not sure why, I think maybe because it was so long ago. But after this week that's all changed and I now picture John Thompson the way he would have been when he died - a young man of only about 20 who should have had a long future ahead of him full of happiness. It's terrifying to think how all that was cut so short, and for so many millions of others as well. Pair all that with the fact that my entire family (who I haven't seen in nearly four months!) were all together having our traditional breakfast at the Hilton followed by the footy, and I was a bit of a wreck to be honest!! But knowing you were all together having your coffee and chatting to Barry (hi Barry - mum told me you're reading!!!) also made me smile because I am so lucky to have such a great family who all share a common interest that brings us together. Plus I know I can remember last Anzac Day very clearly, and next year today will be just that - a memory!
We go back to the memorial tomorrow so Liz, Helen and I walked into Villers Bretonneux. As much as the new bus number system was good in theory, we were much better off walking. It took us 15 minutes while the others waited 1-1.5 hours for the bus.
The path was muddy and gave you a tiny bit of an idea what the terrain must have been like fighting here. Eventually we got to the town. I had been told by our guide that people in this town love Australians because in WWI the people here got along really well with the Aussie soldiers. And we quickly saw how kind the people are here to Aussies. Not only were there pictures of kangaroos, koalas etc everywhere, but we walked past a man's house and he said "coffee?". We politely declined but asked if he knew where a toilet was, and with his limited English he insisted on us coming upstairs to his flat to use his toilet. He wouldn't take any money and even gave us all biscuits! He kept saying "love Australie!". So very kind.
We stopped for some lentil soup in a cafe - it was amazing! Then went to watch the smaller service at 8.30 in the town. It was very similar to the main service but much easier to see those speaking. I filmed the national anthem but all you can hear is me belting out the words - oops!!
It was here that I started seeing heaps of AFL supporters. Saw some other Collingwood, some North Melbourne, West Coast, Richmond and Brisbane. At this point I knew it was one point the difference at half time but had decided to turn my phone off and watch the second half with the result a surprise. But that plan failed when I turned around just as a man in an Essendon scarf said "oh CRAP!" while checking his phone, and then looked at me and laughed. I told him I forgave him because it was a good surprise, and turned my phone back on. Got the message from mum that we won (and that my favourite player Paul Seedsman won the medal!) a few minutes later. GO PIES!!! Absolutely stoked and can't wait to watch.
For the rest of our time in VB you couldn't wipe the smile off my face due to our victory! Ran into some really friendly North supporters and chatted footy with them. God I miss talking footy!!! There was an Australia vs France game on at 12 but unfortunately our tour was leaving to see other things and it would have been too hard to get back by myself (2 hour journey + train strikes). Never mind.
We then went to the Australian Corps Memorial Park. 100,000 men served in the Australian Corps in France, and the memorial was situated where the Battle of Hamel took place. This was the first attack planned and directed by Sir John Monash. Felt a bit stupid having been to Monash University for four years and not actually knowing who he was. But now I do!
The memorial had a really nice quote that epitomised how the French here felt about Aussie soldiers (see photos). Then we had our picnic brunch of sandwiches, apple purée and egg.
Now I'm sitting on the bus back to Arras. I wanted to type this so I can quickly post it when I'm back and get stuck straight into the footy. I think Troy and I are going to watch it while having a beer or two! I'll have to go and hang all my clothes up first though. Everything is saturated and I'm fairly sure my leather gloves are ruined. But it was all worth it!
I hope you all had a good Anzac Day, was thinking of you all. Missing home a lot today but I just keep reminding myself what an amazing experience we had today and that I'll be back in Melbs for every other Anzac Day! Today was one of those experiences that in the future I'll be able to tell my kids and grandkids about and be really proud of the fact that I made it over here. Missing out on the Gallipoli ballot really opened up the door for me to come to the western front and learn so much about WWI that I didn't know.
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
Got up at 2am after managing to get to sleep at 9 which I thought was a fair effort!! I got dressed in all my warm gear and my Collingwood jumper, scarf and hat. One of the men on the tour made some comment about it being disrespectful. Unsure if he was joking, but I replied by saying that 57 of our players died in WWI, and that to me my Collingwood jumper represents all the important elements of the Anzacs - teamwork, endurance, courage and strength.
As I got up it was strange to think that at that very moment 100 years prior the Anzacs would have been in their boats heading towards Gallipoli, not knowing that they would land at the wrong beach and be ambushed and suffer so many casualties.
We set off at 2.30 and got our bus for an hour to Villers Bretonneux. So did about a million other people! The queue for the buses took us half an hour. They had to put special restrictions and a new bus system involving numbers and a big screen in place due to huge numbers this year.
Once we arrived it started to rain. I got out of the bus and due to it being dark and wet lost the whole group pretty much straight away!! Luckily I spotted Liz and Helen so I stuck with them. We walked into the cemetery through the rain to the crowd forming. Most of the seats were already taken, Liz and Helen sat down and I stood up immediately behind the last row of seats. This turned out to be a great spot. I was a little far away but could just see the people talking and had a nice view of the memorial lit up.
I go to the dawn service in Melbourne most years, but it was really interesting coming to one in another country. Most of the service was in English but some in French. A band played some music from war times (including 'Danny Boy' and 'You Raise Me Up') as we were held up waiting for the Gallipoli service to finish so both could be televised. Then the service began and we had some speeches, the ode and the last post.
The last post normally gets me a bit teary, but today was so powerfully emotional that I soon found myself with tears streaming down my face. It was beautiful, so well played. The bugle player was up the top of the tower on the memorial. After five successive days of learning about the huge scale of loss, tragedy and pain in this area and the war in general, and seeing so many graves and memorials, it was so much more real and powerful being there.
We had a minute of silence (a full minute, none of this 30 seconds business we get at the footy sometimes!) and then various official people laid wreaths. One of our local MPs did - what are the chances! And our guide, Rod, did as part of the British armed forces.
They then asked for members of the public who wanted to to come up. I was meant to walk up with Neil and Michael but lost them very early on in the piece so went by myself. We had split the card in three and each written a message. I walked up and again found myself crying. By this stage I was saturated and cold as it rained the entire service. But I didn't care, the Anzacs went through much worse so standing in the rain for two hours was the least we could do to honour their memories.
I asked a man to take a picture of me with the wreath and found I couldn't even talk properly because my voice was shaking so much due to tears and cold!! He gave me a hug and took my photo. You'll know the one, I've got a really weird smile on my face from trying not to cry!!!
Today was as I predicted the furthest away I've felt from home all year. I was already a bit emotional due to seeing the battlefields, graves etc all week. As well as that, for some reason I grew up imagining most of the soldiers that died as always being older than me, maybe being middle aged or even older men. Not sure why, I think maybe because it was so long ago. But after this week that's all changed and I now picture John Thompson the way he would have been when he died - a young man of only about 20 who should have had a long future ahead of him full of happiness. It's terrifying to think how all that was cut so short, and for so many millions of others as well. Pair all that with the fact that my entire family (who I haven't seen in nearly four months!) were all together having our traditional breakfast at the Hilton followed by the footy, and I was a bit of a wreck to be honest!! But knowing you were all together having your coffee and chatting to Barry (hi Barry - mum told me you're reading!!!) also made me smile because I am so lucky to have such a great family who all share a common interest that brings us together. Plus I know I can remember last Anzac Day very clearly, and next year today will be just that - a memory!
We go back to the memorial tomorrow so Liz, Helen and I walked into Villers Bretonneux. As much as the new bus number system was good in theory, we were much better off walking. It took us 15 minutes while the others waited 1-1.5 hours for the bus.
The path was muddy and gave you a tiny bit of an idea what the terrain must have been like fighting here. Eventually we got to the town. I had been told by our guide that people in this town love Australians because in WWI the people here got along really well with the Aussie soldiers. And we quickly saw how kind the people are here to Aussies. Not only were there pictures of kangaroos, koalas etc everywhere, but we walked past a man's house and he said "coffee?". We politely declined but asked if he knew where a toilet was, and with his limited English he insisted on us coming upstairs to his flat to use his toilet. He wouldn't take any money and even gave us all biscuits! He kept saying "love Australie!". So very kind.
We stopped for some lentil soup in a cafe - it was amazing! Then went to watch the smaller service at 8.30 in the town. It was very similar to the main service but much easier to see those speaking. I filmed the national anthem but all you can hear is me belting out the words - oops!!
It was here that I started seeing heaps of AFL supporters. Saw some other Collingwood, some North Melbourne, West Coast, Richmond and Brisbane. At this point I knew it was one point the difference at half time but had decided to turn my phone off and watch the second half with the result a surprise. But that plan failed when I turned around just as a man in an Essendon scarf said "oh CRAP!" while checking his phone, and then looked at me and laughed. I told him I forgave him because it was a good surprise, and turned my phone back on. Got the message from mum that we won (and that my favourite player Paul Seedsman won the medal!) a few minutes later. GO PIES!!! Absolutely stoked and can't wait to watch.
For the rest of our time in VB you couldn't wipe the smile off my face due to our victory! Ran into some really friendly North supporters and chatted footy with them. God I miss talking footy!!! There was an Australia vs France game on at 12 but unfortunately our tour was leaving to see other things and it would have been too hard to get back by myself (2 hour journey + train strikes). Never mind.
We then went to the Australian Corps Memorial Park. 100,000 men served in the Australian Corps in France, and the memorial was situated where the Battle of Hamel took place. This was the first attack planned and directed by Sir John Monash. Felt a bit stupid having been to Monash University for four years and not actually knowing who he was. But now I do!
The memorial had a really nice quote that epitomised how the French here felt about Aussie soldiers (see photos). Then we had our picnic brunch of sandwiches, apple purée and egg.
Now I'm sitting on the bus back to Arras. I wanted to type this so I can quickly post it when I'm back and get stuck straight into the footy. I think Troy and I are going to watch it while having a beer or two! I'll have to go and hang all my clothes up first though. Everything is saturated and I'm fairly sure my leather gloves are ruined. But it was all worth it!
I hope you all had a good Anzac Day, was thinking of you all. Missing home a lot today but I just keep reminding myself what an amazing experience we had today and that I'll be back in Melbs for every other Anzac Day! Today was one of those experiences that in the future I'll be able to tell my kids and grandkids about and be really proud of the fact that I made it over here. Missing out on the Gallipoli ballot really opened up the door for me to come to the western front and learn so much about WWI that I didn't know.
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
No comments:
Post a Comment