Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders “who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations” and “the contribution and suffering of all those who have served”. Observed on 25 April each year, Anzac Day was originally devised to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the Gallipoli Campaign, their first engagement in the Great War (1914–1918)
With the coming of the Second World War, Anzac Day became a day on which to commemorate the lives of Australians and New Zealanders lost in that war as well and in subsequent wars. The meaning of the day has been further broadened to include those killed in all the military operations in which the countries have been involved. Anzac Day was first commemorated at the Australian War Memorial in 1942, but, due to government orders preventing large public gatherings in case of Japanese air attack, it was a small affair and was neither a march nor a memorial service. Anzac Day has been annually commemorated at the Australian War Memorial ever since. In New Zealand, Anzac Day saw a surge in popularity immediately after World War II. – via Wikipedia
This video, Australian soldiers during WW2 singing ‘Waltzing Matilda’ while marching, is moving, and affected me. It reminded me of the huge contributions these countries and their people made towards sustaining freedom.
I thought I’d share it with all WUWT readers.
Thank you to all who have served, past and present.
Lyrics:
Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
Chorus:
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me,
And he sang as he watched and waited ’til his billy boiled,
You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tuckerbag
You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
Chorus:
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me,
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tuckerbag,
You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
Up rode the squatter mounted on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers – one, two, three,
Whose that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tuckerbag?
You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
Chorus:
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me,
Whose that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tuckerbag?
You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
Up jumped the swagman, and sprang into the billabong,
You’ll never catch me alive said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong
You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
Chorus:
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
For us Yanks, some information about the song:
“Waltzing Matilda” is Australia’s best-known bush ballad, and has been described as the country’s “unofficial national anthem”.
The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) with one’s belongings in a “matilda” (swag) slung over one’s back. The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker, or “swagman”, making a drink of billy tea at a bush camp and capturing a stray jumbuck (ram) to eat. When the jumbuck’s owner, a squatter (landowner), and three mounted policemen pursue the swagman for theft, he declares “You’ll never catch me alive!” and commits suicide by drowning himself in a nearby billabong (watering hole), after which his ghost haunts the site.
The original lyrics were written in 1895 by Australian poet Banjo Paterson, and were first published as sheet music in 1903. Extensive folklore surrounds the song and the process of its creation, to the extent that it has its own museum, the Waltzing Matilda Centre in Winton, in the Queensland outback, where Paterson wrote the lyrics. In 2012, to remind Australians of the song’s significance, Winton organised the inaugural Waltzing Matilda Day to be held on 6 April, the anniversary of its first performance.
The song was first recorded in 1926 as performed by John Collinson and Russell Callow. In 2008, this recording of “Waltzing Matilda” was added to the Sounds of Australia registry in the National Film and Sound Archive which says that there are more recordings of “Waltzing Matilda” than any other Australian song.
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Anthony,
From a ‘born-and-breed’ kiwi who’s spent the day at an ANZAC remembrance service laying poppies in front of crosses for fallen relatives, your sentiment and thoughtfulness in making this post is so deeply appreciated.
Very best.
Anthony,
Many thanks for remembering us down here.
We had a lovely dawn service here in Whitianga, NZ this morning. It was very moving with great views of Venus, Saturn and Jupiter overhead along with a lovely Moon. A fitting atmosphere to remember those who gave their lives so we could have normal peaceful ones-something so often forgotten by the younger generation.
For us tonight we get to see an rather rare occultation of Saturn by the Moon at half past midnight when Saturn will disappear behind the Moon and dramatically reappear out of the dark side at 1:42am. A wonderful illustration of the “music of the spheres” as the Moon continues its never ending journey around us dragging the oceans with it.
Thanks, Anthony, for a great video and commemoration with the song of Waltzing Matilda and footage of the Diggers marching, perhaps somewhere on the Road to Gundagai.
Thanks Anthony. It’s always been reasonably hilarious to me that our unofficial national anthem centres around a bloke who would rather commit suicide due to stealing lunch, than hand himself over to the coppers lol. ‘straya
And yes, spare a thought for those poor buggers, both past and present, who put their lives on the line in service to their country.
Thanks Anthony.
We used to attend every year while dad lived.
Lest we forget.
Thank you Anthony for a fitting tribute, and thank you for all that you do.
Thank you
And another big THANK YOU from down under.
Thanks to OZ and NZ for helping to keep the world free. You too have paid a heavy price for keeping the world safer and free of tyranny. Long live the Commonwealth and all our shared heritage!
Thank you.
So appreciated.
Thank you.
I’m old enough to remember attending ANZAC day remembrance as young kid when the deaths from WW2 were still very raw in peoples’ minds, later protesting intensely during the Vietnam War and now at a more reflective age understanding and appreciating the sacrifices made.
“And the band played ‘Waltzing Matilda'” is a song that has perhaps aged in much the same way.
You may like this version of “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG48Ftsr3OI
Neil
And here are the words:
AND THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA
Author: Eric Bogle
When I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover.
From the Murry’s green basin to the dusty outback,
Well, I waltzed my Matilda all over.
Then in 1915 my country said, “Son,
It’s time you stop rambling, there’s work to be done.”
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they marched me away to the war.
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
As the ship pulled away from the quay
And midst all the cheers, flag waving and tears,
We sailed off for Gallipoli
It’s well I remember that terrible day,
How our blood stained the sand and the water
And of how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk, he was ready, he primed himself well.
He rained us with bullets, and showered us with shell,
And in five minutes flat, he’d blown us all to hell,
Nearly blew us back home to Australia.
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
As we stopped to bury our slain,
and we buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,
Then we started all over again.
those who were living just tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
While around me the corpses piled higher.
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I awoke in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, sure I wished I was dead.
I never knew there were worse things than dying.
For I’ll go no more Waltzing Matilda,
All around the green bush far and free
To hunt and to pace, a man needs both legs,
No more waltzing Matilda for me.
They collected the crippled, the wounded, the maimed,
And they sent us back home to Australia.
The armless, the legless, the blind and the insane,
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And when our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thanked Christ there was no one there waiting for me
To grieve, to mourn and to pity.
But the Band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway,
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared,
Then they turned all their faces away.
So now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving their dreams and past glory,
I see the old men all tired, stiff and sore
Those forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask “What are they marching for?”
And I ask myself the same question.
But the band plays Waltzing Matilda,
And the old men still answer the call,
But year after year, the numbers get fewer
Someday, no one will march there at all.
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda.
Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts can be heard as they march by the billibong
Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
There is a fabulous rendition of this haunting song by Craig Johnston (Delsinki Records).
Your challenge is – try and listen through to the end with dry eyes!
Great video. From the landscape and vegetation, I’m guessing it was possibly filmed at Puckapunyal, a major WW2 training base north of Melbourne.
For the record, a jumbuck is any sheep, not specifically a ram (Wikipedia has got it wrong! My source is the Australian National Dictionary). This makes sense, since the hungry swagman would grab the first sheep he saw, and not wait around for a ram, given that ram to ewe ratios could be as low as 1:100 or less in the huge paddocks of outback sheep stations. The song was set in western Queensland, the main area of overlap of sheep and coolabah trees.
I went to the local ANZAC Day service this morning in my small Australian town (in sheep country) , and we sang the New Zealand National Anthem, God Defend New Zealand – for the first time in Maori! – and the official Australian National Anthem, Advance Australia Fair, but alas, not Waltzing Matilda.
Just noted the 24 April date stamps on the comments. It was of course already 25 April, ANZAC Day, in Australia and New Zealand this morning when we went to the services!
Thanks for the commemorative post. Very interesting.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Many years ago, maybe 1960 -’63, my nephew (we lived in Pennsylvania) mowed lawns and did other chores to earn about $12 dollars. Then, from the back page of a magazine, he ordered a guitar. It came with a small booklet of ‘how-to’ songs — including Waltzing Matilda. This was the song he chose to learn, and play, and play, … and play. His grandmother (my mother) insisted he learn a couple new songs, or he was going to driver her to drink.
Billabong was the first real OZ term I ever learned.
Waltzing Matilda was familiar to me, at least the tune, when I was very young but I can’t remember where it originated for me. I’m an American but that song used to play around in my head for some reason. Maybe it was a movie I saw or something. I never played the guitar so I didn’t get it from that direction.
I would personally like to thank all the Australian troops who served during the Vietnam war. We can always count on Australia.
I also want to thank Australia for getting me to the most beautiful place in the world, Hawaii.
I didn’t get to go to Australia on a seven-day Rest and Relaxation leave, and I really wanted to go. So after I got out of the army in Dec 1969, I decided I still wanted to go to Australia, so after relaxing for a few months at home, I hitchhiked (me and a friend) to Los Angeles and was planning on trying to find a ship to work my way across to Australia, and about that time I learned that I could fly to Hawaii for $75 dollars!, so I did, thinking I would catch a ship from there, but when I landed in Hawaii it turned out to be such a fantastic place that I decided to stay for a while. Loved every minute of it. I lived on the North Shore about halfway between Wiamea Bay and Sunset Beach. 🙂
Thanks Anthony for a very sincere acknowledgement of our ANZAC Day remembrance services. My Dad served with the RAAF in New Guinea, first at Milne Bay and later at Hollandia, Nadzab and other locations. The wonderful USAAC and US soldiers fought alongside our air force and “Diggers” in some of the least acknowledged actions in the Pacific theatre; battles of the Coral Sea, Bismark Sea and Guadalcanal aside.
There is a lot of deep respect, held by people “of a certain age”, for the USA’s support for Australia in dark times.
Once again, thanks Anthony.
Dave Sivyer
Narrogin, Western Australia.
Thank you Anthony. Anzac day is a special day “down under”. The bravery of those who went to war must be remembered, and the cost counted. We have not forgotten
Watch ‘They Shall Not Grow Old’ by a kiwi, Peter Jackson.’ It is the story of the WWI British soldier using 100 year old footage from hand cranked cameras. The footage was digitized, colorized, and matched with a sound track of audio histories of WWI veterans recorded in the 1950/60’s. No actors, no scripted lines — just the men who were there filmed while they were there. It is out on dvd; but, best if seen in a theater with 3D capability
I saw that recently in the theater, followed by a ‘making of the movie’ short featuring Jackson explaining how he put the film together. The best part was getting some Brits from the local consulate to sign “Mademoiselle from Armentieres” so they would not have Kiwi accents.
Fun footnote: A.B. “Banjo” Patterson derived his nickname from a racehorse not the musical instrument.
A.B. “Banjo” Patterson
==============================
Andrew Barton Patterson. He submitted ‘pars’ (paragraphs) to a weekly magazine – “The Bulletin” – under the non-de-plume “The Banjo”.
Billabong – “ox bow” lake –
Ref. “Gallipoli”: “Attack the soft underbelly of Europe” – Winston Churchill – as First Sea Lord of the Admiralty at the time. It was a disaster. As Prime Minister during WW2 he again tried to promote this policy.
Thanks Anthony. (Memories of marching in an Anzac Day parade – about 1956 – as a member of the Australian Army Cadet Corps.)
My respects, brothers.
K.McNeill Lcdr RCN Ret.
Thanks Anthony. Went to a dawn service this morning and watched my grandchildren march with their school in the parade later, wearing their great-grandad’s medals.
That clip may have been from a recruiting or similar film from WW2. The men are six abreast, an unusual formation (three abreast in WW2, four abreast in WW1 I believe- I may be wrong.) They are definitely serving troops, carrying rifles, and it was interesting to see the officer at the front turning to give orders!
Great to see another reminder of our past, when our freedoms were preserved at great cost.
I am wondering if they are getting ready for a parade in Melbourne, Very wide streets there, 4 abreast would not do the march parade justice.
Very moving that you shouldl respect our heritage and history so much to feature this on your website with such a lot else of importance to publish. We in Australia should never forget the role of the US Navy at the Battle of Midway which put an end to any possibility of a Japanese Naval invasion of Australia in the Second World War. I’m getting a bit empotioal sbout it now after many beers at an ANZAC Day lunch so I’ll just sign off by saynig thanks for your thoughts Anthony.
Dear Anthony,
thank you very much for this post.
My father was a company commander in the Kokoda campaign* in New Guinea after serving in the middle east. I never spoke much to him about his experience except for one conversation when I was about 19 ( when Vietnam was still going but tapering to its sad conclusion). ‘War is hell, boy’ was the extent of his advice with a couple of one sentence ‘anecdotes’ about bullets and men’s heads. He never said a bad word about the Japanese just that they were brave and ferocious opponents.
* The ‘ragged bloody heroes’ of the Kokoda campaign rank with the ‘rats of Tobruk’ in the Australian WW2 pantheon and roughly equate to say Guadalcanal or even Iwo Jima for the US let alone Omaha and Utah beach or Bastogne.
His younger sister told me he was no longer the happy go lucky big brother she had known when he eventually came home. That was the man I knew and grew up with, a much more haunted person than she had known.
My uncle, Dad’s younger sister’s husband, was a regimental medical officer ( i.e. a doctor) who lost his right arm at the elbow when a young Japanese soldier burst into his aid post, bayonetted him in the elbow joint then pulled the trigger of his rifle. ‘He was just a kid doing his job’ my uncle told me over a cup of tea one day. He had been on a path to be a surgeon but became a radiologist due to the ‘disability’. His son is a professor of orthodaedics though.
ANZAC is a day of remembrance of the awful reality of war Lest We Forget.
Thanks so much, Anthony.
Here in NZ, my bride of fifty years and I marched in eerie foggy darkness at six AM, with about seventy others. The short parade in Kerepehi village was kept in time by a single drummer.
During the brief service, the light slowly grew. After the bugle calls -The Last Post and Reveille, we marched back, our mood lifting with the light.
In honour of my father, I wore his WW2 campaign medals from Greece and North Africa. My late brother in his turn fought in Vietnam, so we honoured both men.
Anthony
I’m an older Aussie and that you posted that touches me deeply
For years I have kept that video on my phone and PC.
Thank you so much.
Lest We Forget. I was present today at the Flinders Street, Melbourne march. It was very moving to see those few WW2 diggers there. We were next to a man and his young 4 year old daughter and she asked ‘Why don’t they do this every day daddy?’ [she loved the bands playing] and he he explained.
Thank you Anthony.
And for those who have served… Thank you for your service!
Anthony
That you posted that touches me deeply.
I’m an older Aussie and that video has been on my sequential phones and PCs for years.
Thank you
Good job Anthony, ta.
It’s encouraging that Oz seems to be growing its appreciation over the past couple of decades for those who have served their country. ANZAC day observations went a bit quiet there for a while in the ’80s. (I don’t know if NZ experienced the same quiet phase)
And if there is one good sentiment we can all catch from you Yanks, it would be “Thank you for your service”, as expressed by ordinary citizens to our military personnel past and present.
Many thanks, Anthony. Others have referred to the USA’s crucial support for Australia and New Zealand in some of the less well-known engagements in WWII. Also not well-known, I suspect, is that the first US soldiers in WWI fought with distinction under Australian command. Probably also less well-known in the USA is the relationship between Australia/NZ and Turkey. Our enemy, Turkey, at Gallipoli in WWI, was led by Mustafa Kamal (“Ataturk”), who became the founder of modern Turkey. After the war, he made this statement which is displayed in both Australia and New Zealand:
“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives … You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours … You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.“.
It’s difficult to read that statement without having to wipe away another tear.