on the weekend i went to Guns Guns Guns

Greetings all,

Sunday was Open Day at the Australian War Memorial annex/ archives/ storage hold & it was like walking into Guns Guns Guns, Guns'R'Us & Guns Galore.

 They had WWI & WWII allied & enemy guns, guns from planes & anti air craft guns off ships.

 Then it was Planes Planes Planes with Bombs Bombs Bombs, the odd torpedo & the G for George Lancaster Bomber mission board - i've seen a documentary on this RAAF plane & crew - incredible work against the odds (read: superior German Air Force.)

Then it was Tanks Tanks Tanks.  Little boys were running around asking their fathers a million questions, except my little boy, who has grown up around tanks & armoured personnel carriers, so we focused on the history (my husband knows EVERYTHING) but considering we'd just spent 3 hours at the Australian Institute of Sport in the sun, running & jumping, nerves were frail.

 If you listened, you could hear parents & grandparents telling their children who in the family would have used which equipment - tanks, planes, helicopters, trucks, cars, motorcycles & my favourite - the Light Horse.  My great uncle Rupert was a Light Horseman at Gallipoli (he was a jockey) taking his own horse with him & heart breaking, had to leave him there.

It was fascinating to see the restorations, archaic equipment & how advanced warfare has come.  There was amazing brass band music as we walked in & the Federation Guard Precision Drill Team spinning their weapons & doing tricks, fantastic entertainment while in the queue to get into the hangar.  I think we'll go again next time (has taken us 5 years to get in there) & take the good camera.  More free activities/ gold coin donation in Canberra.  Love Posie

ANZAC Day from a present day point of view

Greetings all,
It's fantastic to see crowds at marches & blog posts celebrating ANZAC Day.  I grew up in a military family, including iconic Light Horsemen at Gallipoli, yet they never marched or made a big deal about ANZAC Day.  My father is a very open, warm & friendly gentleman, yet has never spoken about the Korean or Vietnam Wars.  In turn, we children have unspokenly respected it & only asked about all the other adventures of his 32 year career in the Navy.

My children have questioned Grandad if he was a pirate sailing the high seas & admire his medals & memorabilia, including photos with Queen Elizabeth & launching new ships into the fleet.  By coincidence or just a matter of the WW2 generation, my brothers' wives & sister's husband are all children of servicemen too - Greek/ Australian; Austrian & French.  We have a family story of when my eldest nephew was in Kindergarten & took his 'other' Grandfather's medals to school for ANZAC Day, only to be told "that Grandfather was on the wrong team".  I guess the Iron Cross stood out against the Pacific Stars which his class mates brought in.       

You'll find most people remembering/ discussing/ celebrating on this day - the humour, the mateship & the courage they sought to get through war . . . dealing with the horror, the waste & the pain of their experience in a personal private way.  ANZAC Day is a good prompt to show them we appreciate their sacrifices & we're proud.   

 The ANZAC Day commentators say "remember there are still current service men & women deployed to war zones right now" as they talk about all the history of each unit marching.  Why yes, i don't need a reminder thank you.  This is how my husband spent last ANZAC Day, a simple but extremely meaningful ceremony in Afghanistan.

 This ANZAC Day handsome soldier is with us, snuggled up on the lounge, belly filled with Easter eggs & watching family movies, then an afternoon swim with Army friends.  Last year he was in a gun pit overlooking the Chora Valley.

I was uncertain about putting this last image in - as a housewife, mother, lover of all things homemade, crafty, pretty, girlie & nice (read: opposite to battle, guns & war) - this is not how i think of my loving husband & father of our 4 kind hearted children, who plaits hair, plays games, bakes cheesecakes & sneezes around flowers.  Your husbands might be interested - i know my brothers find his line of work & equipment fascinating.  Alas this is what he looks like, a pistol where his wallet should be, a beard (icky), in the desert for 8 month tours.  Today, soldiers have amazing equipment, body armour, resources, technology, support, therapy, education, medical treatment & training . . . war is still war . . . there are decisions, ethics, relationships & cultural factors i could never imagine & we still need a Defence Force.  Love Posie