Ed Said - History gaining momentum

 

The skirl of the pipes generally announces the arrival of a dignitary or conjures up images of dancing and gaiety until the first bugle notes of the ‘Last Post’ call us back to the sobriety and reality that is the remembrance of our war dead and heroes who form the fabric of ANZAC Day in a material that will never perish.

While the message is always the same, services change year to year and it is noticeable now the number of youngsters, teens and even pre-teens who pay homage to passed great- and great-great uncles and grandparents who served our country. This indicates that now, some seventy years after the end of WW2, the forming of the ANZAC movement is indeed an historical event gaining closer examination, study, interest and significance in schools and among our youngest generations when past history lessons featured the Roman Empire and the like.

Different areas have their own special events peculiar to their local people. At Hakaru this year we also saw, for the first time, a parade on horseback from the local pony club, a tribute to not only the horsemen who participated but also the million horses which, worldwide, were sacrificed in battle.

The Hakaru RSA also displays a plaque commemorating horses, mules and donkeys, dogs, camels and even pigeons which also played a significant part in war and ANZAC history and it’s pleasing to see this recognition as, with the passing of time we can perhaps look at these historical events still with some emotion but a little more objectively.

It’s often said to ‘shake up’ this crazy world economy we need a war to ‘clean the slate and start afresh’ where all countries, generally speaking, start with a clean slate. Theoretically good, practically disastrous.

Though we cling on to the tentative threads that were the ‘good old days’ we must accept that the world in2016 is a very different place from that of 1914-18, 1939-45 and a worldwide Depression in between and it’s unlikely we would want those days over again in sending or farewelling our most valuable generation of young men who willingly, if naively or through bravado gave their lives in a cause many did not understand.

ANZAC though is a more personal thing and despite our sporting aggravation and sledging and arguments over who owned Phar Lap or who invented the Pavlova Kiwis and Aussies form a bond of comradeship which is thoroughly deserving of recognition and celebration on that special day, 25 April.