Today is ANZAC Day here in Australia.
I popped into the local corner store late this afternoon to buy some cream for fresh scones, and casually asked the shop assistant what she did to celebrate the day. Her response was that ANZAC Day didn't apply to her because her parents were born in England.
Australians and New Zealanders will this week remember the sacrifice and courage of their forebears at Gallipoli 98 years ago but few will realise that far more British soldiers died in the ill-fated campaign.
While British generals get the blame for sending innocent Australians to their deaths at Gallipoli, more than 21,000 of their own soldiers died and another 198,000 were wounded.
A total of 8,709 Australians died and 2,707 New Zealanders gave up their lives in the campaign which came to define the character of the young countries.
But for Britain, Gallipoli was only a small - and unsuccessful - part of a large war and its legacy was overshadowed by the achievements and horrors of the western front in the ensuing three years.
In honour of today's anniversary, please remember the following people from my family:
Frank Albert Bramley
Birth: 1891
in Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
Death: 7 Aug 1915
in Lone Pine, Gallipoli.
Charles Andrew Bramley
Son of William Henry Bramley & Agnes Kilpatrick; husband of Elsie Robbins
Birth: 1883
in Mincha West, Victoria.
Death: 10 Aug 1918
in Rosiers, France.
Brother of ...
Henry (Harry) Thomas Bramley
Birth: 22 Aug 1879
in Durham Lead, Victoria, Australia.
Death: 26 April 1918
in France - buried in The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France.
John Edward Hodkinson
My Great grand uncle (brother of my gt grandmother, one of the lost in war).
Birth: 1870
in Maryborough, Victoria, Australia.
Death: Abt May 1915
somewhere in Egypt
Source: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90594486
Roy Clarence Lucas
Son of Elisha George William and Alice Lucas, of Goondiwindi, Queensland. My 1st cousin 2x removed.
Birth: 13 SEP 1899
in Goondiwindi, Queensland, Australia.
Death: 12 August 1918
in France.
Buried
in Heath Cemetery (Plot III, Row H, Grave No. 15), Harbonnieres, France.
Leo John Duffy
My maternal grandfather's brother
Birth: 1910
in Cobar, New South Wales
Death:3 April 1945
in Borneo.
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