A poem for Anzac Day
Dennis Ringrose, 87, ex Sherwood Foresters and Royal Warwickshire Regiments, shares his thoughts on Anzac Day in this deeply moving poem.
I was born in 1929 in Nottingham in the UK, the youngest child in a family of six. I started work at 14 at John Player and Sons, where I stayed for four years, before leaving to start my National Service. After 20 weeks of infantry training I was sent to my country regiment, the Sherwood Foresters, before I was sent overseas to Jerusalem Palestine and transferred to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. I stayed there until it became Israel so in a way I saw history being made. I then travelled to Salonika, Greece to become a batman (an officer's personal servant) to Roman Catholic Padre, who had been wounded at the great battle at Arnhem; he was a great fellow to look after. After two years I was released from National Service and started work at the Raleigh Industries where I met my wife Doreen. We’ve now been married 64 years and have three children, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
My dabbling in poetry did not start until about 2000. I have always been interested in the military side of things and as an Australian citizen for many years, I decided to try my hand at capturing the most important national occasions in Australian history. I’ve always had an affinity with Australia, one that was struck up when as a teenager I watched the film Forty Thousand Horsemen. The moment when the horsemen come over the sand hills singing Waltzing Matilda always stuck in my mind. I hope you enjoy my poem.
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As Anzac Day draws near
Trumpets call for all to hear
Of an event that happened in the past
About a campaign that could never last
When two nations of the Commonwealth
Approached a shore with silent stealth
Then with enthusiasm and great gallantry
Landed on the beach at Gallipoli
Through countless attacks with great loss
Many would never again see the Southern Cross
As the sick and wounded figures grew
God bless the nurses staunch and true
After retiring shattered and forlorn
A new national spirit was born
And each year at this day’s dawn
Groups of people stand on sacred lawn
G’Day Bill, how are you Frank,
Remember the days in that bloody tank
Before the monuments memories revived
Of their mates who never survived
Altogether later in the day
With banners flying bands begin to play
Proudly marching in lines abreast
Shiny medals clinking on their chest
Sailors who had sailed on the morning tide
Soldiers who had fought in countries world wide
Aircrews flying high in the sky
These are the people who made Australia proud
As years go by and memories dim
Older groups begin to thin
Through the years since our federation
There arrives a new generation
Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam too
The fight for freedom begins anew
And as we proudly sing Advance Australia Fair
Let us keep all these veterans in high revere
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