Ming The Merciless was a nick name given to one of our most outstanding Australian military commanders of WW2.
His name was Lieutenant-General Sir Leslie Morshead. He was the Commanding Officer of the 9th Division of the 2nd AIF, Commander of the garrison of Tobruk during its period under siege from April to December, 1941, the chief Rat of Tobruk one might say, and still in command when the 9th got around the German defences to break the deadlock in the Battle of El Alamein in October, 1942.
He has been rightly described as “The Hero of Tobruk and Alamein”
His greatest achievements were against the German General Erwin Rommel, known as The Desert Fox but Morshead outfoxed him at every throw of the dice.
Read more: Ming the Merciless - a Hero of Tobruk and Alamein
It is the 25th April, and a German man and his wife from Munich are taking a motoring holiday to the South of France. They pass through the northern French city of Amiens. They observe much gaiety among the populace and are wondering what it is all about.
They pass through the city and 15kms down the road they approach a small town. On the outskirts, they pass a cemetery which has a sign “Adelaide Cemetery”.
Says the man, " that is not a French name. What does it mean? "
The 25th of April is a very important day for Australians and New Zealanders. It is called ANZAC Day and stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. It is the day that we stand still for a minute's silence at dawn and remember our fallen in times of war.
Throughout our two countries, millions of people will stand in quiet contemplation remembering those in our past who we knew or never got to know. It is about Courage and Patriotism and Unity. Many will march in solidarity for those who are worthy of honour to this day.
It is a day of giving thanks and showing respect for our forbears. It is one of the most important days on our calendar.
Read more: The Face of a Soldier - the Face of Courage - the Face of a Dying Country?
It has been truly said that Australia arrived in Gallipoli as six separate States and returned as a Nation with its own national identity. In achieving this, of the over 50,000 Australians who served at Gallipoli during a period of 260 days, there were 8,159 deaths in total, comprised of 5,482 killed in action, 2,012 deaths from wounds, and 665 deaths from disease.
To the armchair Revisionists, these are merely numbers and not men who gave their lives for their country and are buried in a far-off land.
Read more: The Lead Up to the ANZAC Diggers - the road to ANZAC Cove
More than a hundred years ago, in the fields of the Somme, a whole generation of young men who came from the other side of the world fought and fell
Among them, out of a population of five million souls, 416,000 young Australians answered the call of duty under the banner of the Commonwealth and 295,000 served bravely on the Western Front in the mud and poppies of northern France where they paid a heavy price.
Read more: A tribute to those who gave their today for our tomorrow
What has happened to the relationship between some Women , fortunately, a minority, who seem to have a very bad feeling about all men. They feel they can say anything from calling all men rapists and then wonder why a rather pointed comment comes back in reply.
Or Racists and bigots. Or any other name that flies off their tongues with such hatred.
Read more: Women With Bad Attitudes - 50 years of Life and not a Lesson Learned.
The clandestine activities of our two most famous but unsung units of the Pacific war were the M & Z Units of the Australian Army commonly referred to as Commandos. The lack of knowledge about these units was due to the fact that they were clouded in secrecy by the sheer nature of their existence and The Official Secrets Act (OSA). Their most well-known exploits were the two raids made on shipping in Singapore Harbour. (See also my article named Heroes and Headhunters)
One was an outstanding success. The other was a tragic stuff up.
It is with horror I read articles about what is going on in the world right now.
As a 90 year old woman, I find it unbelievable that we have sunk so low and so fast.
What is the world coming to. We need to talk about what is happening to our young women and young men. Girls are surgically destroying their bodies to become men? And boys are shopping for bras?
Read more: Boys want Bras and Girls want Boxing Gloves? Redhead 's Boot Camp would sort them out!
The Scrap Iron Flotilla was an Australian destroyer group that operated in the Mediterranean during WW2.
Its story is synonymous with the Rats of Tobruk. It was the means of supply to the beleaguered town under siege between 10th April, 1941 and 7th December, 1941.
Its name was conferred on it by Dr.Goebbels, the German propaganda minister intending to demean and undermine morale of the five Australian ships that made up the flotilla. As happened with the conferring of the name “Rats of Tobruk” on the garrison troops by Lord Haw Haw, instead of depressing morale it spurred them to greater acts of defiance. Neither understood the make-up of the Australian character.
Read more: The Scrap Iron Flotilla - The Tobruk Ferry Service
I belong to the group known as Baby Boomers – the ones that were born in the post war years and lived through the “ burn the bra “ and early feminist days of the pill, the equality of the sexes and the general liberation of women from the kitchen. At the time, I did not realise that my life had gone from one of comfortable domesticity to one of 5 am starts, 10 pm finishes and a pay cheque that largely went to childcare providers.
As a woman, I was proud of what we achieved then. But now, I am not so sure we did anything other than bite ourselves on the bum. And in turn our menfolk into pawns, pansies and poofters.
Read more: A Baby Boomer Biting Back at Bonkers Blokes and Weirdo Women . Bud, What Have You Done?
I would venture to say that the two most famous and well known phrases of our military history are “Gallipoli” and “The Rats of Tobruk”. One was a magnificent defeat. The other was a magnificent triumph.
Field Marshall Sir William Slim, 13th Governor General of Australia and at the time, General commanding the 14th Army said after the triumph over the Japanese at Milne Bay that “…..Some of us may forget that, of all the Allies, it was the Australians who first broke the invincibility of the Japanese army and it was the Australians who first broke the invincibility of the German army.”
In speaking of the defeat of the German Army he was speaking about Tobruk. 14,000 Australian soldiers embarked on an eight month siege defending the harbour town of Tobruk, beginning on April 10-11 1941.
Read more: A tribute to our " Rats of Tobruk " - A Magnificent Triumph
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