Yes Anzac Day.
Gosh, I can remember when it was only 30 years previously that what the day commemorated had taken place.
We still had The Empire then.
We celebrated it at school , later in the Sixth Form doing Greek( very badly,)
the teacher pointed out the connection to The Trojan Wars.
Gallipoli ,the beaches and cliffs which trapped the Empire’ sAnzac troops between the Turks and the sea,with the supposed site of Troy above.
Achilles and Patrocles fighting over a slave girl and Patrocles donning Achilles posh armour and getting killed .
The Anzaks’ bravery in France and Belgium, my Dad’s ashes are scattered at Hill 60, which was left as it was,all churned up from the tunnels set with explosives under our and the German trenches ,The Australian and New Zealand troops have lovely memorials as do The Canadians who all fought in that area — amongst any others.
So far from home and very few families could make the journey to visit graves, but there are no individual ones.
Still full of unexplored and unstable explosives it was impossible to move the huge mound of earth.
Hill 60 is the memorial site with a stone monument at the roadside .
Dad is under a Hawthorn tree tree - self seeded
Grazed by sheep and full of wild flowers,a natural wildflower meadow.
He thought it really peaceful and expressed the wish re his ashes.
We still lived in Belgium when he died 1974.
Well a bitter wind but bright and sunny.Washing dry and ironed in no time.
Tuna Pasta bake for tea .
Friend phoned to say her pretty little cat cat died in the night ,all alone ,but perhaps and hopefully in her sleep.
Don’t they break your heart!
Well a tin to open - pasta to cook ,breadcrumbs to crumb and mushroom sauce to slave over, ——- well Campbell’s’ condensed mushroom soup to open .
I still have to slave over the crumbs!
Cheerio.
Viktoria.
