Two days separate me and my journey of a lifetime, and it's exciting to say the least. But although there is so much excitement and anticipation coming from both myself and others around me, it's impossible to forget the real reason why I am going...To commemorate and remember the ANZACs who made us who we are today.
100 years ago, the soldiers and nurses would not of had the luxury of air travel to get from one place to another. A similar route that is going to take us 21 hours or so by plane would have taken them months by boat - not to mention the threat of being torpedoed by enemy submarines at any moment. I was talking with one of the Assistant Principals from my school the other day, and he said that one of his ancestors was killed in a German torpedo attack before he actually made it to the battlefield. This has not been the first time I have heard of this type of situation - James "Jim" Martin was one of the youngest soldiers to die in WW1 (as mentioned in my blog titled 5479 Days), and he was also involved with a torpedo attack before he arrived in Gallipoli, but he died for other infection-related reasons after surviving that attack.
As much as I hate to admit it, I have spent some time investigating the dining menu and in-flight entertainment available on my flight, and it seems a bit ironic considering the horrific conditions that the soldiers and nurses would've put up with a century ago. So while I am following the footsteps of the ANZACS and other military personnel, it's quite obvious that what we are going through is absolutely nothing in comparison to what they went through. I guess to put it metaphorically, although we may be in their shoes, they don't exactly fit.
So, to embrace my inner nerd, I thought I'd make a Venn Diagram to show how the ANZACs would have felt in comparison to us...
100 years ago, the soldiers and nurses would not of had the luxury of air travel to get from one place to another. A similar route that is going to take us 21 hours or so by plane would have taken them months by boat - not to mention the threat of being torpedoed by enemy submarines at any moment. I was talking with one of the Assistant Principals from my school the other day, and he said that one of his ancestors was killed in a German torpedo attack before he actually made it to the battlefield. This has not been the first time I have heard of this type of situation - James "Jim" Martin was one of the youngest soldiers to die in WW1 (as mentioned in my blog titled 5479 Days), and he was also involved with a torpedo attack before he arrived in Gallipoli, but he died for other infection-related reasons after surviving that attack.
As much as I hate to admit it, I have spent some time investigating the dining menu and in-flight entertainment available on my flight, and it seems a bit ironic considering the horrific conditions that the soldiers and nurses would've put up with a century ago. So while I am following the footsteps of the ANZACS and other military personnel, it's quite obvious that what we are going through is absolutely nothing in comparison to what they went through. I guess to put it metaphorically, although we may be in their shoes, they don't exactly fit.
So, to embrace my inner nerd, I thought I'd make a Venn Diagram to show how the ANZACs would have felt in comparison to us...
This is certainly not all of the emotions that the soldiers and nurses were experiencing, but it's a pretty basic overview that I like to keep in mind when preparing for our trip.
We mustn't forget the kind of conditions that our noble ANZACs were under, so I think it's important to make sure that all of us Australian and New Zealander representatives stay humble and never forget the real reason why we are going to Gallipoli, and the importance of such a trip to all of us alike.
TWO DAYS UNTIL WE LEAVE - 6/7 DAYS UNTIL ANZAC DAY
Bronte :)
We mustn't forget the kind of conditions that our noble ANZACs were under, so I think it's important to make sure that all of us Australian and New Zealander representatives stay humble and never forget the real reason why we are going to Gallipoli, and the importance of such a trip to all of us alike.
TWO DAYS UNTIL WE LEAVE - 6/7 DAYS UNTIL ANZAC DAY
Bronte :)