Anzac Day

On 25 April every year, Australians commemorate ANZAC Day. It commemorates the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. The date, 25 April, was officially named ANZAC Day in 1916. It now more broadly commemorates all those Australian Servicemen who died and served in military operations all over the world.
This morning my father, eldest daughter and I attended our local Dawn Service to honour these men of our defence forces. However,the minute I hear the first note of the bugler playing the Last Post memories of my grandfather come flooding back. When I was a child we marched with Pa every Anzac Day - it was our special moment with him. He never spoke of the war but even back then we knew this day was very important to him. It was in November last year, when my family and I traced my grandfathers footsteps on the World War 1 battlefields of France and Belgium that I really understood the huge sacrifice he, and all the soldiers before & after him have made for our freedom.
Lest We Forget



This is Pa's official war portrait - he is not yet 17 years old - but very handsome!



This page above I created today - my Anzac Day memorial layout to honour Pa & his mates of the 3rd Division AIF.




...and here is a page from the Storybook I did of our trip - laying poppies at the
3rd Division Memorial at Sailly–le–Sec in the Somme France.





and here is Pa and Nana on their Wedding Day - this layout was created with the beautiful Vintage Romance Kit from Creative Memories.






We also have another connection to the WW1 battlefields of the Western Front...my great uncle sadly lost his life on these battlefields - his wife was my grandfather's eldest sister and he left behind 2 children including a daughter who was 1 month old. That daughter is just about to celebrate her 94th birthday. It was a special moment for us to visit his resting place - pay our respects and in pictorial form; reunite him with his family....here are a few pages from the same Storybook of this visit.





and below is a page done this afternoon using the Digi Kit - A Little Luck designed by the clever Janet Carr - perfect colours to showcase this special photo.



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.