We were reminded of this scene recently as it was Remembrance Day on the 11th of November. However, I took this photo when we went to the War Memorial in July with one of the local homeschooling groups.
Seeing the honour roll, going into the tomb of the unknown soldier and hearing some of the stories of what the soldiers did in battle is a poignant reminder that our freedom has been bought at a great price, and also that war isn’t all that glamourous.
Steve went with the older group and they mainly concentrated on the WWII galleries. The younger group was looking at Gallipoli, the ANZACs and WWI and as I stayed with them, I’ll be writing more about that side of the trip. Even though I have a book on Gallipoli and we often talk about this campaign at the time of ANZAC Day, it was great to be at the Memorial and get a broader and deeper perspective of what this meant to the soldiers at the time.
The boys were amazed by this boat, taken directly from the beaches at ANZAC Cove and riddled with bullet holes from the Turks.
The model displaying the rugged and steep coastline and narrows of the Dardanelles showed the incredible disadvantage at which our troops fought.
The ration packs and woolen uniforms brought home other challenges faced by the men in the trenches. Other displays demonstrated the difficulties in other theatres of war. Having recently studied Belgium for the Geography Night held in late June, seeing images of the soldiers in Flanders was a natural integration in their learning.
I could talk about a lot more of the displays but there’s just so much at the War Memorial and we did look at so many things! From scaling the heights in the Gallipoli campaign, to being stuck in the mud and filth of the trenches on the western front, to charging into the desert with the Light Horse, we then ended up looking at the skies overhead and the flying aces.
Peter Jackson, of Lord of the Rings fame, has put together an amazing, 8 minute long "dog fight". It’s impressive, not just for the scope of the sequence but also because it spans a huge, curved screen, giving an incredible 3D effect. It opened in November last year and is played at regular intervals throughout the day. We were all transfixed watching this! It’s a wonderful addition to the War Memorial and we’ll go back and watch it again, I’m sure.
We have such a rich, interesting and memorable resource right at our fingertips here in Canberra. Maybe there’s something similar where you live. It’s great when History can come alive and be made meaningful.
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