Monday Milestone: Brothers in Arms
“Now the sun's gone to hell, and the moon's riding high,
Let me bid you farewell, every man has to die,
But it’s written in the starlight, and every line on your palm,
We’re fools to make war on our brothers in arms”
– Dire Straits, ‘Brothers in Arms’
This Week in History:
1915, April 25,
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps land before dawn at Gallipoli, Turkey during the Great War, losing over eight thousand men. The battle has now become a symbol of all Australian conflicts all over the world during the twentieth century.
The haunting bugle of the Last Post sounds. Collingwood and Essendon, with heads bowed, line up arm in arm. A nation stops to remember.
Anzac Day is a day of two halves. It begins in silent contemplation, with Australia considering the atrocities and the crippling war stories, and concludes with an appreciation of victory, through a few drinks, some two-up, and traditional football matches. It’s a special day. But while reflecting on those that gave their lives for freedom here at the Milestone this Anzac Day, we also remember those who lived.
Like many Australians in their thirties, my grandfather, Don fought in WWII. Away for the full length of the war, he spent the prime of his life in New Guinea, the Middle East and Africa. Don was just 21 when he left and, after convincing his parents and vouching for the safety of his younger brother, Jack, my great uncle, went with him. Talk about a dichotomy. Whilst many Collingwood or Essendon players this week are roughly the same age, instead of heading to a packed MCG, Don and Jack grabbed their slouch hats, their guns, and headed to war, brothers in arms.
Six harrowing years later in 1945, Don returned to pick up the pieces of his life, and marry my grandmother. But like 40,000 other Australian heroes, Jack never made it home. His parents were devastated and never forgave Don, who lived with this burden, this guilt, for the rest of his days.
Recently in Canberra, I found Jack’s name, part of the Australian Infantry, among the many thousands that adorn the interior walls of the Australian War Memorial, one of so many young lives forfeited. Placing my poppy next to his name, I reflected with a newfound reverence that transcends bloodlines, of the sacrifice around me, then of Jack’s story, and finally of my grandfather’s as I realised I was uncovering my own piece of the Anzac legend.
Don also passed away before I was born, so I never heard his stories first-hand. I can only imagine what he witnessed, the guilt he felt on his return, and his struggles helping build Australia with other returned soldiers into the nation we know today. But every April, I feel his medals with the weight of history, I reflect on those six years, the loss of his brother, and all the burdens that he and many others shouldered for decades afterwards…
I know plenty of Australians have a similar story to mine – it perpetuates the Anzac legend. But when the bugle sounds on Anzac Day at the MCG, and the Bombers and Magpies line up together, shoulder to shoulder in their traditional clash, a long way from the Last Post, generations ago, the Milestone commemorates brothers in arms.
Because they are able to play this great game thanks to men like my Great Uncle Jack, who never made it home.
And men like Don, my grandfather, who did.
Lest we forget.
The Milestone Five: Great Anzac Traditions
5. The Ode – From the poem For the fallen by Laurence Binyon, it is believed it has become synonymous with Anzac Day since the 1920s. It reads: “They will not grow old, as we that are left grow old, Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them. Lest we forget”
4. The Anzac March – Since the first anniversary of the Gallipoli landings, commemorative services, parades and marches have been held mid morning to remember the fallen and to honour those heroes that survived.
3. Last Post – A bugle call played in British Army camps during the Great War to signal the end of a day when the duty officer returns. It also signalled to those out or wounded on the battlefield that fighting was done, and to follow the sound to find safety and rest.
2. Dawn Service – Since 1927 people have officially gathered at cenotaphs across Australia to remember those pre-dawn moments at Anzac Cove in the Gallipoli landings. Among the most humbling moments on the Australian calendar.
1. Two up – only legal on Anzac Day, a coin toss played in pubs and Returned Soldiers Leagues clubs across the country, the most unique betting available where two complete strangers find opposing sides of the coin, with winner taking all. First played in the trenches in the Great War.
With thanks to Mark Dadswell/Getty Images AsiaPac for the photo
