ANZAC Day

[sandgroper]

And one last pic, my uncle, Sgt Jack Briggs 2/4th Australian Machine Gun Battalion, the bloke out front in the photo. He is also the man pictured in my avatar.

[AIF]

Great pictures!! And not a bad little turn out at all... 10th Lighthorse mate you can't get much more WA than that!! Although I think old mate on the left needs to find a better belt

I took my camera this morning and had plans of taking pictures but It was so damn packed I didn't have a chance until the end but then as everyone was leaving I spotted my uncle who never usually goes to Anzac day anymore, he was there with his Vietnam war buddies so I got side tracked talking to them and missed out on taking any pictures at all.

[AIF]

And one last pic, my uncle, Sgt Jack Briggs 2/4th Australian Machine Gun Battalion, the bloke out front in the photo. He is also the man pictured in my avatar.

Fantastic picture mate!! Any info on when it was taken? It looks to be early war by the old ww1 Patt 08 webbing

[AIF]

Was your uncle taken POW at Singapore?

[sandgroper]

It is difficult to get good pics unless you get in really early and get a good front spot where no one can get in front of you. The good thing is that the reason you cant get good pics is because there are so many people there and thats got to be a great feeling for the old diggers to see how highly they are thought of. I think it is the best day of the year, I'm always happy to be a mongrel breed colonial but I'm never prouder than on ANZAC day!

[sandgroper]

Was your uncle taken POW at Singapore?

Yes he was mate. I have done quite a bit of research on him and know the full story of what happened to him. It is too long to write here but briefly he was captured at Singapore and sent to work on the Burma railway. He died on the 11th of September 1943 at number 55 camp on the Burma end of the railway from mistreatment by the Japanese.

The photo of him in the above post is taken in S.A. prior to coming back to W.A. and heading to Singapore.

[davesap250]

sometimes the Daily Mail can be interesting!!

Allied forces during disastrous 1915 Gallipoli mission as Australia marks Anzac Day | Mail Online

- - Updated - -

sometimes the Daily Mail can be interesting!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2314289/Allied-forces-disastrous-1915-Gallipoli-mission-Australia-marks-Anzac-Day.html

[AIF]

I don't think anyone today can even begin to imagine the horrors those poor guys went through they were brave men forced into a really really sh*tty situation and It is a wonder any of them came out alive at the end at all. I have read a few really good first hand accounts of those camps the only way to describe them is an absolute hell on earth... Even then that would be an understatement

[sandgroper]

Jack actually had a brother, Roy, who was also in the 2/4th, he was also forced labour on the Burma railway but on the Thai end. Roy survived and returned home to Australia but refused to speak about the war or anything that took place. I spent a long time trying to find out what happened to Jack, no one in our family knew but we know now. I have been lucky enough to speak with some of the men of the 2/4th and actually have an extremely accurate picture of what Jack went through from the minute he and his brother reached Singapore to the day of his death. It will take a long time to write it out and this is not the right thread for that but maybe I'll start a thread on it one day. I tend to get somewhat fired up so it will have to be something I write over a period of a few days or I'll end up getting myself banned from here, not what I want. I might send you a PM mate, that way I can't get into strife!

Back to ANZAC day........

[AIF]

Yeah mate you really need to write it down one day if you want to PM or email me I'd love to hear the story!

My Great uncle Harold (Grandfathers brother) was in the 2/28th and so was my grandmothers cousin (Both West Aussies) They were both badly wounded and left for dead when the 2/28th was over ran at El Alemain. The Germans picked Nans cousin up and tried to save him but died not long after. Harold was found by an Italian medic and they managed to save him but he spent 3 years in a POW camp in Germany. I remember him telling a story about when he was a POW It was towards the end of the war and rations were pretty tight but the camp commander had a chicken coup with these big fat black chooks in them so he came up with the idea that he would steal one and cook it for up him and his mates because they were starving... Anyway one of the British POW's wanted a bit of the chook and they told him to bugger off and get his own as they took the risk and there wasn't enough to go around between his mates as it was... So the guy walked off and dobbed him in he got busted and was flogged in front of the whole camp as to make an example out of him the beating was so bad that for the rest of his life he had back problems and later in life It was even hard for him to walk. Anyway one day I asked him what he thought about the Germans in the war and his experiences in the camp... His reply was lets put it this way... I would rather shake the hand and drink a beer with a German soldier than a bloody whinging Pom any day LOL