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Sunday, April 25, 2010

Lest We Forget - ANZAC Day 2010, Singapore


This morning Jaime and I woke up at 5:30am and braved the early morning humidity to head out to the ANZAC Day Dawn Service and 'laying of the wreaths' at the Kranji War Memorial at Woodlands Road 9, Singapore.

The service itself was extremely moving. Although I had heard stories of Australia's involvement in World War 2 from my late Grandfather, and have seen numerous documentaries and movies on the subject, and of course studied in history at school the role that the ANZACs played in defending Singapore, it still really hits home when I visit the Kranji War Memorial - to see the sheer number of grave stones honouring the Australian and New Zealand serviceman who so bravely sacrificed their lives... the monuments stretch for as far as the eye can see!! Just reading a few of the stones - the names, young ages and regiments... thank God for these men and women - and prayers to their families.

In this video, I sincerely apologise to the serviceman (who was one of many) that succumbed to the humidity this morning by fainting - I did not intentionally capture you on video.



More pictures:
(Click thumbnails to enlarge)


The Australian National Anthem - "Advance Australia Fair":



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7 comments:

tpjkevin said...

Lest We Forget.

RIP to the brave men and women.

Unknown said...

I too was there, visiting family in Singapore. I have been to other War Cemeteries for Anzac Day; this was tje mose moving/ What made the day was going on a nattlefield tour of Singapore

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately not too many Singaporeans today know or care about ANZAC Day or events relating to the war. Don't look like the government is doing too much about it either.

Lynda said...

Hi
I'm visiting Singapore on Anzac Day 2011 and would like to be able to pay tribute to the brave Australians who died there, and elsewhere. Can you advise where I can find information about the local ceremony?
Regards
Lynda

Aussie Pete said...

Hi there Lynda. As the date gets closer, more information will become available. I think the best place to get the information will be from AustCham, but just checked and see they haven't posted any information yet. Having said that, the memorial service is usually always on at dawn at the kranji war memorial. Anyway - here's the URL for AustCham - http://www.austcham.org.sg

cheers - will post more info here also once it's available!

Anonymous said...

Dear Aussie Pete,

I read your blog with much interest and thank you for sharing.

You may be interested to hear that my late Father, Maj (Retd) Derrick John Coupland OBE, used to lead the ANZAC Day and Remembrance Sunday ceremonies for many years. As a child, I used to accompany him and his fellow veterans of the Ex-Services Association of Singapore early morning. I will NEVER forget the sacrifice of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers (SO many of them were young men) of the Commonwealth for our freedom.

God bless them.

Lest we forget.

John Coupland UK :.-(
http://on.fb.me/axPheP

Aussie Pete said...

John - thanks so very much for sharing!! Lest we forget!!