ANZAC Day 2008 - Lest we forget

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon

As a child I never quite got the full meaning of 'Lest we forget'. As an adult, I don't think it's just about remembering the individuals that fought in either of the world wars or any subsequent wars; or any of the events. It's about remembering the horror.

I have mixed feeling about the increasing popular enthusiasm about ANZAC Day. There was a time a few decades ago when it nearly slipped into oblivion. I think that that would have been a great shame. We should remember, but we shouldn't celebrate. We should commemorate, we should remember.

Today, I'm remembering not just the soldiers, but the knitters too. Those who 'knitted for victory'.

There is a little bit of Australian war knitting history on the Australians at War website

http://www.australiansatwar.gov.au/stories/stories.asp?war=W2

And if you want to know more about ANZAC Day itself, you can visit here http://www.acn.net.au/articles/anzac/