The man with the donkey

This bronze sculpture, by Peter Corlett, stands to the west of the Australian War Memorial. It is Simpson and his donkey, 1915. Private John Simpson (born John Simpson Kirkpatrick in Britain) enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in August 1914. He landed at Gallipoli on that fateful day - April 25, 1915 - and worked as a stretcher bearer, using a donkey brought in to carry water to instead carry wounded men back to ANZAC Cove. On May 19, less than a month later, and while carrying two injured men, he was killed by machine gun fire.

You can read more about Simpson's story in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

Politicians framed

If you turn around from yesterday's viewpoint, this is what you see. Anzac Parade, Lake Burley Griffin, Reconciliation Place, Old Parliament House, and new Parliament House with the huge flagpole. This photo was taken about two years ago, but the view hasn't changed much. Compare it with the view from Old Parliament House back to the War Memorial, which I took last September.

War Memorial - Hall of Memory

The Commemorative Courtyard in the Australian War Memorial. The copper-domed structure is the Hall of Memory, containing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Pool of Reflection is in the centre of the courtyard, and the Eternal Flame is immediately in front of the low wall at the end of the pool.

Australian War Memorial
Treloar Crescent (top of ANZAC Parade)
Campbell ACT 2612 

Phone: (02) 6243 4211
Open 10am-5pm daily, except Christmas Day
Free admission

War Memorial

The main entrance to the Australian War Memorial in the Canberra suburb of Campbell.

Searchlight

Bomber Command [Neil Dawson, 2005, stainless steel, glass and granite]

One more image from the Australian War Memorial. Bomber Command is a sculpture by Neil Dawson. Made of stainless steel, glass and granite, it was acquired by commission in 2005. This is a World War II Royal Australian Air Force memorial - the 16.5 metre column represents a searchlight reaching into the sky. Neil Dawson is the same artist responsible for Diamonds at the National Gallery of Australia.

Australian serviceman

Australian Serviceman (Ray Ewers, 1958, bronze cast 1959)

One of the statues in the Australian War Memorial grounds. The artist, Ray Ewers (born 1917, NSW) was an official war artist who served in the AIF in World War II.

Ewers did a lot of work for the Australian War Memorial, including dioramas and many smaller sculptures. If you're interested in his work, try searching the AWM's web site.

War - from another angle

An external view of the Australian War Memorial. You often see this building from the front, and it's a very angular, solid building from that direction. But from out here, in the grounds, it's softened by the green grass and the trees and hedges. There are many shaded, peaceful spots out here to contemplate just what this building represents, and there are some wonderful works of art as memorials to the people who sacrificed so much in various wars and battles. The one in the middle of this photo is the Sandakan memorial.

Reflection

This is the Pool of Reflection at the Australian War Memorial. The Eternal Flame is at the far end of the pool, and reflected in the water is the Hall of Memory, which contains the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This image was also taken on ANZAC Day.

ANZAC Day ceremony

This photograph was taken by a friend who attended this year's ANZAC Day ceremony at the Australian War Memorial. The mounted soldiers are wearing what I believe is the uniform of the WWI Light Horsemen, with slouch hats featuring the rising sun badge.

Lone Pine

From the nearby plaque:

This tree grew from a pine cone collected by an Australian soldier at Lone Pine on Gallipoli. His own brother died in the attack there on 6 August 1915, and afterwards he found the cone on the branches used by the Turks as overhead cover for their trenches. He sent it to his mother, who in time presented the tree to the Memorial in honour of her own son and others who fell at Lone Pine.

The artist  Bertram Mackennal was so moved by the Australians' bravery and sacrifice on Gallipoli that he wanted to honour the Australians who fought there. His sculpture, War, portraying Bellona, a Roman goddess of war, was presented to the Commonwealth of Australia in 1920 as a tribute to the gallantry of the Australian soldiers in the First World War.

War [Bertram Mackennal, bronze]

Lest we forget

Today is ANZAC Day, and it marks the 96th anniversary since the disastrous landing at Gallipoli, the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand soldiers in World War I.

Frank Augustus Beves joined the Australian Imperial Force on 22 September 1916. Born in Newtown, Sydney, he was 26 years and 8 months old when he enlisted. He worked as a fireman in civilian life, and lived at Camperdown with his wife, Ruby Florence Beves. Frank was 5' 9" tall, with fair hair and blue eyes. Having passed his medical, he was assigned to the 38th Battalion, 5th Reinforcements. He was shipped to England, and in April 1917, Private Beves was sent overseas to fight on the front line in France. Wounded in action later that year, he seems to have spent time in and out of hospital in England, and eventually came home to Australia in January 1919.  

[Information accessed from the National Archives of Australia online database]

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae (1872–1918)