Rememberance day

[Lancer 17]

Today is Rememberance Day,

I have attended the service held by the Upwey-Belgrave RSL at the Belgrave War Memorial.

40 to 50 people attended the service held in beautiful sunshine to pay their respects.

We did Remember Them

Lest We Forget.

Phil

[slick_mick]

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

[Donny B.]

We did pause to reflect at the appropriate time this morning but much of our remembering of them was done a week or so ago, at Albany.

I Man

[Hussar100]

I no longer stop for remembrance as illness prevents me. I did watch the Albert Hall ceremony however and realised, not for the first time, that I've turned into a critic of drill and musicianship.

I don't enjoy the modern ceremonies so much because they've been made broader to appeal to a broader audience. I understand why they've done that - and agree with it, and it seems to have worked. It's just that I'm an old stick-in-the-mud who prefers his music to be military.

[Lancer 17]

Hi Donny

Well done sorry I couldnt be there its a long days march from Melb to Albany, but yes we remembered then too and the men of the HMAS Sydney on the 9th November 1914.

Hussar 100, time waits for no man and will catch up with us all in due course. At least you to remembered.

For our brothers who dont understand about Albany, its on the South West tip of Western Australia and our first convoy sailed from here on 1 November 1914. These men went on to train in Egypt and were in the first troops to land at Gallipoli. However the men on Gallipoli were not the first Australians to die. This occurred at Rabaul in New Guinea on the 9th September 1914 in the capture of the German radio station in the battle of Bata Pika where 6 Australian lives were lost. We remembered them as well at the Upwey-Belgrave RSL.

[REMEVMBEA1]

Originally Posted by Hussar100

I no longer stop for remembrance as illness prevents me. I did watch the Albert Hall ceremony however and realised, not for the first time, that I've turned into a critic of drill and musicianship.

I don't enjoy the modern ceremonies so much because they've been made broader to appeal to a broader audience. I understand why they've done that - and agree with it, and it seems to have worked. It's just that I'm an old stick-in-the-mud who prefers his music to be military.

So am I to take it that you too were less than impressed by Joss Stone wailing that song which I'm told she left two verses out of but which I didn't realise because I couldn't understand a word she sang and was disgusted to see that she wasn't even wearing a poopy. As you say it's becoming more of a pop concert every year.

[johnG]

Originally Posted by REMEVMBEA1

So am I to take it that you too were less than impressed by Joss Stone wailing that song which I'm told she left two verses out of but which I didn't realise because I couldn't understand a word she sang and was disgusted to see that she wasn't even wearing a poopy. As you say it's becoming more of a pop concert every year.

Thank you. My thoughts on the matter precisely, but you put it far better than I could have done.

Regards,

John

[Hussar100]

Originally Posted by REMEVMBEA1

So am I to take it that you too were less than impressed by Joss Stone wailing that song which I'm told she left two verses out of but which I didn't realise because I couldn't understand a word she sang and was disgusted to see that she wasn't even wearing a poopy. As you say it's becoming more of a pop concert every year.

It doesn't float my boat, is all I'm saying. I realise however that the Legion is doing all it can to modernise and as one of the complainers since the days of my service that the Legion was a closed shop run by crusty old stick in the muds who only wanted their own pals in each club I'd have to say I think that RBL HQ is doing a great job. They even have a youth wing now.

I never want to be known as a crusty old stick in the mud so rather than try to be one I'm happier to admit that the current situation doesn't suit me through my own fault but I recognise it as the correct way forward. It doesn't stop me supporting the legion or receiving support from them. It just means I'm from a different generation to the one which matters now.

[wardog]

I don't know much about Joss but I remember seeing a clip of her on TV when she was an Army cadet. I think she has her heart in the right place. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...py-Appeal.html
I didn't think much of her song- but then I didn't like Rod Stewart's Auld Lang Syne a year or 2 back. Regards, Paul.

[Hussar100]

I think she's a fabulous artiste but sometimes certain arrangements don't always hit home with everyone. The song she sang was "The Green Fields of France" based on Eric Bogle's "No Man's Land" and brought to mass attention in the British Isles by Davy Arthur and the Fureys. I recorded my own version of it for BFBS in the Waggoners Folk Club in Senden in about 1984 which was more or less based on the Fureys arrangement which I think is the classic version.

Had I liked Joss Stone' arrangement I would have embraced it but I think the quieter version is more in keeping with remembrance.

See what you think yourself. Here's the Fureys version.

And here's the original by Eric Bogle.

Bogle is an Edinburgher btw who moved to Australia as a young man and became very associated with anti-war songs such as this. His best known song was "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda."

[blackdraggon11]

Lest We Forget

[GriffMJ]

I got a bit choked watching this....
http://youtu.be/GzVjwyiiIA4

[Donny B.]

I can see why!

I Man