ANZAC Day is a special day for Australians and our close New Zealand allies. It’s a day born out of one of Britain’s greatest military mistakes. However, when faced with enormous adversity, our Australian and New Zealand troops literally dug in and bravely held their position for 8 months before a carefully planned withdrawal was carried out. At this point, I should add that it was the ANZAC’s ingenious creation of a counterweight trigger mechanism that kept firing the guns at random intervals to give the impression that they were still there whilst secretly they withdrew.
Many lives were lost on both sides at Gallipoli, on the Western Front, in the Middle East and throughout the stalemate that lasted years. Even as the world tried to move on from the horrors of a war that shattered so many lives and devastated our country towns, the next massive conflict was already in motion. It’s easy for us to look at conflicts and demonise those we fought. In fact, a quick look at propaganda from the time, that’s exactly what was done to encourage so many to enlist and fight. However, those we fought against were not savage looking demons hell-bent on destroying the world. Their experiences of war and the stories of soldiers from both sides of these global conflicts, as reflected in personal journals and letters home, show how similar the experience and loss was no matter on which side they were. The story of the soccer game in no mans land between the allies and the Germans on the Western Front at Christmas time, just goes to show the conflict wasn’t between the individuals. In fact, given other circumstances, amazing friendships could have emerged from such experiences. However, all the conflicts in which our nation has been involved since the dark days of WWI have been driven by our values and beliefs in what is right and wrong in this world. As Australians, we don’t tolerate political tyranny in any form. It’s always been in our DNA as a nation and a global leader to fight for what we believe is right. The sacrifices our soldiers made and continue to make, are to ensure we can live in a society that’s free of tyranny, dictatorship and oppression and filled with opportunities for everyone to live a long and enjoyable life of their own making. The world is far from perfect and conflict rages on throughout the globe, driven by twisted ideologies, desire for power, influence and greed. Not everyone has the same opportunities we’ve had as Australians, but all of this comes down to those who have given their lives, so we may live free. This is an impossible debt to repay and we can never truly understand the losses that so many families and communities suffered as a result of war. Every year on ANZAC Day, we as a nation get the opportunity to say thank you to those who have so selflessly given their lives to protect us and our way of life from tyranny. Lest We Forget.
0 Comments
It’s not often that I write about history, however, having studied mediæval history at uni, many aspects of it really didn’t make sense until I went and visited some of the places where these events occurred. Half of what goes on in Game of Thrones, was just daily life for many people throughout this period. At one point, the Pope was concerned about the level of violence throughout Europe. To deal with this issue, he made a decree that on a certain day nobody was to carry a weapon, therefore the world would have a break from violence and be made safer. Sadly, only the honest people followed this edict and were horribly slaughtered as a result.
From the age of the Vikings to the end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, we covered a lot of ground at uni and there are so many places left to go to be able to put the pieces together. However, as I was in Wales, it was time to get a greater understanding of the expansion of the Normans and Edward I’s conquest of Wales. This conquest brought Wales under the control of the English monarch in 1283 and despite skirmishes and uprisings, its remained as part of the United Kingdom to this day. To establish and maintain his power base in Wales, Edward built a series of castles to fend off the Welsh princes. The scale of one of these castles is hard to understand until you’re actually there. Despite Cardiff being the capital of Wales today, with its own amazing castle, for Edward I, due to a Roman legend about a foreign king coming and falling in love with a Welsh princess and ruling the land, it was important to build his capital in Cænarvon the centre upon which the legend was based, which helped him gain, or appear to gain, legitimacy in his kingship. All of Edward’s castles were designed by the architect James of St. George. James was a Savoyard (from modern Italy), and he incorporated elements in his design from Europe and the Middle East. The fact that he built so many so quickly is amazing. I spent the morning climbing up and down the various towers, which I’m sure at one point were all linked together. However, due to the castle being in ruins, not everything remains intact. The time and energy required to get up and down the dizzying spiral staircases is surprising. If you could imagine trying to do that in full armour whilst being attacked by someone with a sword, you start to appreciate not living in mediæval times, add to that the Black Death and infant mortality and a six hour wait in a modern hospital waiting room doesn’t seem so bad. What’s really important however, about going to a place such as Cænarvon Castle, walking through the dark halls, peering out from the battlements and standing on the towers looking out over the surrounding township and the sea, is that you start to gain a real understanding of history. Through technology, we can now travel places without leaving the classroom, which is good in some ways, but the virtual world can never replace the real world experience of going somewhere. You can’t feel the icy wind on your cheeks, smell the dank odour of the dungeons and be amazed at the sheer enormity of the structure, as you walk through the gates. All of this is lost in the virtual experience. Although taking your class overseas to tour the various castles, monasteries and cathedrals of Europe may be a more challenging task than switching on a virtual world, the difference this will make is enormous. At the very least for your own teaching, travel far and wide to as many places as you can to see and experience sites such as Cænarvon Castle. This will have a huge impact on your ability to better understand and teach that part of history. A short one this week, just to let you know that the Xperiential Education Podcast is Live!
The first two episodes are out and another will go live tomorrow! It’s been a wonderful educational experience for me traveling to meet the different educators and cover a huge range of topics and educational contexts. Please join us on this great journey for updates and some key links check out the website & twitter feed: Web - www.xperiential.education Twitter @XpedPodcast @dxgregory Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/experientialeducationpodcast/ You can subscribe to the Podcast on: iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/xperiential-education/id1355283223 Stitcher http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175873&refid=stpr Blubrry https://www.blubrry.com/xperientialeducation/ If you’re running a cool experiential education program, please get in touch, I’m always searching for great new ideas for shows and exploring different techniques and strategies for experiential education. Each year, the number of people attending Anzac Day ceremonies is growing higher and higher. Unfortunately, at the same time the number of veterans diminishes. Although age and infirmity take its toll on the courageous men and women who so diligently served and protected our country, age will never diminish the sacrifices they and so many others made to ensure our nation remained free from tyranny. Tomorrow, I’ll be returning, as I do every year to Kangaroo Valley to march for my grandfather and take part in the ANZAC Day Service. However, it’s not just the experience that my grandfather had that will be at the forefront of my mind. It’s the sacrifice of every single young man who is named on the Kangaroo Valley cenotaph that moves me each year. Often we can go to war memorials and be overwhelmed by the sea of names before us. Each and every one of them deserves our gratitude. However, with over 102,000 names on the memorial in Canberra, the sheer volume can blur into obscurity the true stories of the individuals who died, so that we could enjoy the lives we have today. No matter how hard we try, we often miss the important details of each soldier’s life and the lives of those they left behind when they went away to fight. Yet in Kangaroo Valley, I know the stories of every young man who left, never to return. What started out as a history assignment many years ago when I first lived in Kangaroo Valley, turned into something more real and more important than I could have ever imagined. As part of year nine history, the students had to do a local study. One day when walking in town, I stopped to look at the cenotaph. In WWI, there were 58 young men who left for war and 21 of them were never to return. Another 8 were lost in WWII, many of whom were from the same families. I decided to let the students choose one of the names from the cenotaph and research his background prior to the war, as well as his experience of war. I didn’t know what to expect. However, the deeper the students researched into each young man’s background, a series of wonderful and heartbreaking stories emerged. No longer was this just a collection of names on a memorial that so many people unknowingly pass by every day. Their stories came alive and now we were starting to understand the motivations, ambitions and lives of young patriotic men who sought adventure and had a selfless desire to serve their nation. Helping the students with their research, we were able to gain access to military service records of every single soldier, providing a fascinating insight into their background, their family, what gear they were issued, where and how they trained, to which regiments they were attached and in which battles they fought. The vivid stories of their lives became even more real when we located the Red Cross records, many of which gave heart wrenching accounts of how each young man from the Valley died. Over the years, we found letters, journals, family photos and newspaper articles about the men, which added to something that was becoming a very personal understanding of the lives and experiences of each and every young man from the Valley. For me, no longer were they a name on the cenotaph. They were wonderful, recognizable members of our small community who lost their lives fighting to protect our values and way of life. I was so pleased to see in 2012, their stories published by Geoff Todd in his history titled, “The Valley Boys.” When the Last Post sounds and we stand in silence remembering those who fell, I don’t think of the Great War and all its generals. I don’t think about the landing at ANZAC Cove and the deadly rush to get off the water and onto to the beaches. I think about Thomas Edward Scott (20yrs) and his brother Peter Joseph Scott (18yrs), both killed in action. I think about Joseph (32yrs) and David (22yrs) Beacom, brothers whose graves were never known. I think about Eric Austin Tate (26yrs) and every other one of the brave young men who never truly had the chance to live their lives and who never saw home again. Whilst the years roll on and new generations of Australians come together to commemorate the sacrifices of those who went to war, I encourage you to look deeper into each and every one of the names that are forever etched in your local Roll of Honour. Understand who those young men and women were, so we can honour their lives, dreams and ambitions as a living memory of what they did and what they gave up to protect our communities and our way of life.
They shall grow not 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 From the snow to a stunning winter’s day in Sydney, last week I took a group of year 7 students to Middle Head for a geography and history excursion. There were all the elements of a fun day out of the classroom as well as to get a real feel for the natural and built environment and how it changes over time. Even though the kids are all from Sydney, I was surprised how many hadn’t been to Middle Head, or anywhere around there, especially when Taronga Zoo is just down the road. Thinking of Taronga Zoo, I must pay another visit, as the last time I was there, was on a school excursion when I was 5! I do remember that there were giraffes and a koala, but I’m sure there’s more animals there than that and I’m getting side-tracked. Middle Head, its history and military usage is fascinating. Much has been preserved as National Parks are now responsible for the area. What could be better than spending a day in a beautiful National Park that’s located right in the middle of Australia's biggest city! The Disappearing Gun Emplacement As with much of Australian history, it starts with the aborigines. Middle Head is no exception. If you're looking for an amazing place to live, with beautiful beaches and stunning views, you can't go wrong here. Whilst it’s not entirely clear which tribe based themselves on the headland, the Camaragal (Cam-mer-ray-gal) lands took in a signification area of Mosman and North Sydney. Hence the suburb Cammeray! After settlement and before Fort Denison was built, a fort was built on the southern side of headland next to Obelisk Beach as a means of providing early warning for the colony when ships entered the harbour and to surprise them with a shot over the bow if they had hostile intent. However, due to the distance from the colony, it was soon abandoned. Today however, this is a nudist beach, which can still provide an equally shocking a surprise to passing ships. In 1815, with Governor Macquarie in charge, busily building the colony and naming things after himself, he granted Middle Head to Bungaree, an aboriginal who accompanied Flinders on his circumnavigation of Australia. Named the ‘Chief of Broken Bay’ and the ‘King of Port Jackson,’ Bungaree was a colourful character who was an important intermediary between the European Settlers and the local aborigines. Whilst it was probably a noble gesture for Governor Macquarie to ‘give’ Bungaree this land, which he probably already ‘owned,’ this quickly fell apart, as the soil on Middle Head isn’t much good for farming. The site was soon abandoned until its (no apostrophe!) rebirth as a military fort in 1853 when NSW was getting worried about the prospects of being invaded by Russia. In terms of success, this fort was amazing! It protected us from invasion by Russia right throughout the Crimean war. We won’t dwell on the fact that Russia didn’t even bother sending out anyone to New South Wales, because that would ruin a good story. Main Middle Head Fort Middle Head as a fort was of great strategic importance. As the headland is positioned right in the middle of North Head and South Head, you can see and track everything that comes into Sydney harbour. The fort had several key areas and gun placements built throughout and many of the remnants can still be seen. Over the years, the fort was upgraded for each subsequent war in which Australia was involved. The cannons changed to artillery pieces and at the height of its military use, it was covered by 71 guns. The most important period of operation however, came in World War II when the Japanese posed a real threat to Australia and managed to get two midget subs through the anti-submarine net and into Sydney Harbour. The military base on Middle Head was finally abandoned after the end of the Vietnam War. It was then handed over to National Parks in 1979 and has been cared for and developed into a wonderful natural and historic tourist attraction. The added bonus that we had during this excursion, was to see the air ambulance conducting training exercises on and around the headland. It was awesome to see them doing a moving boat rescue exercise as well as landing and taking off right in front of us. Whilst I can’t guarantee that you will have the same amazing experience with a helicopter, you can be assured that a trip out to Middle Head is well worth it to explore the fascinating geography and history of such an important site in the development of Sydney. If you’re not feeling up to guiding this yourself, give National Parks a call and talk to them about school options. Banksia
|
Categories
All
Archives
April 2021
|