Anzac Day Origins:
Canon DJ Garland and Trans-Tasman Commemoration
by John A. Moses and George F. Davis.
ISBN: 9781921577161
Listen as Neil Johnson interviews author John Moses, courtesy of Vision Christian Radio.
Part 1:
A discussion of the Christian foundations of ANZAC Day.
Part 2:
This discussion about the Christian foundations of ANZAC Day continues.
Courtesy
Origins of Remembrance Day
Why is this day special to Australians? Read this article to learn more about Remembrance Day.
The Japanese Commander Responsible for the Bombing of Darwin Committed his Life to Christ.
The Power of Forgiveness
Japanese leader Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Darwin on the 17th November 2018, honouring those killed during the Japanese bombing of the city in World War II. He thanked Territorians for welcoming him with "heartwarming hospitality".
1st Battalion,1 RAR Colours Ceremony in Townsville - Another Example of our Rich Christian Heritage
The 50th anniversary of the Battle of Fire Support Base Coral, Vietnam War During Wednesday 16 May and Thursday 17 May 2018, 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) in conjunction with the 1 RAR Association - INC and the Townsville City Council conducted a series of ceremonial activities to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Fire Support Base Coral, Vietnam War.
Captains of the Soul by Dr Michael Gladwin
Inspiring stories of Aussie Army Chaplains and their men won Australian Christian Book of the Year Award 2015.
The judges described Michael Gladwin’s winning book as ‘a history of national importance and an insight into the Australian character’
Known affectionately as ‘Padres’, chaplains have been integral to the Australian Army for a century.
31 October Destiny's Date?
Kelvin Crombie's Latest Documentary
Kelvin is producing '31 October - Destiny's Date?' with a close friend, former BBC cameraman Tom Russell, who also edits and produces documentaries. Tom's camera work is nothing short of brilliant. Has done Antiques Roadshow for 30 years and every year does centre court Wimbledon.
For this documentary Kelvin have numerous very good interviews, including the heir to the German throne, Prinz Philip von Preussen, who is also an evangelical Lutheran pastor; plus Lord Balfour; Lord Simon Reading; Sister Joela of the Mary Sisters in Darmstadt, and others.
It endeavours to portray the bigger picture so that Aussies don't get too carried away and think it all revolved around us! Learn more at...
Beersheba Centenary Website
Commemorating the ANZAC achievements of the Palestinian Campaign 1916-1918
At 4pm on October 31, 1917 Beersheba lay 6 km across an open plain protected by 4,000 entrenched Turks with guns, artillery and German planes. Now daylight was fading and the weary, thirsty troops desperately needed to capture the town’s abundant water wells. 800 Light Horsemen lined up for a do-or-die charge.
The ANZAC soldiers’ successes in the World War 1 Palestinian Campaign remain largely unknown, overshadowed by the lives lost at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. This website hopes to change this. The victory at Beersheba was one of the pivotal events that turned the tide of history for the Middle East. The daring and adventurous spirit of the ANZACs brought the breakthrough that ultimately defeated the same Turkish armies that had annihilated them in Gallipoli.
The call is going forth for the nation to commemorate the centenary of the Middle Eastern Campaign from the Suez to Aleppo through 2016-2018, especially the heroic Beersheba charge. The courage, sacrifice, endurance and mateship of the ANZACs helped them overcome impossible odds to pull off unprecedented victories.
The Battle of Megiddo Centenary 19- 25 September 2018 and the Liberation of Israel
First the Battle of Beersheba led to the liberation of Jerusalem, the following year the Battle of Megiddo led to the liberation of Israel.
Read more about the Battle of Megiddo at the website of The National Army Museum, London
WW11
Battle of the Coral Sea - Lest We Forget The Coral Sea holds great historical significance for Australia and the United States. In May 1942, it was the scene of a naval battle that reversed the tide of World War II in the Pacific. The Protect Our Coral Sea campaign has produced an 8-minute documentary in honour of those who fought and died in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
You well might ask what relevance this World War II story has for us today. Arguably the 7 May 1942 marked the crucial day of the Battle of the Coral Sea and many military historians would assert that this battle was the turning point in the war.
WW1
The Story of John Ridley
The story of John Ridley as told by his daughter Ruth. Born to be a Soldier and the story of "Mr Eternity" Arthur Stace. Interviewed b y Neil Johnson on Vision Radio Network.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Courtesy
Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
- John 15:13
The Australian and New Zealand armed forces commonly known as ANZAC's have served in both WW1 and WW2 as well as other theatres of war. Amongst the major achievements has been the Australian Light Horse charge at Beersheba with 800 men on horseback on October 31st, 1917, when God used one of the most recent nations in the world to help take Jerusalem from the Turks and Germans, liberating Jerusalem from four hundred years of rule by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, - eleven Crusades throughout history had been unable to achieve, as well as the military genius of Napoleon. On 31st October 1917, the day of the Beersheba charge, the British Government drafted the Balfour Declaration, which was the foundation for the recognition of the State of Israel.
The Recessional used in ANZAC Services was an ode written by the English poet Rudyard Kipling in 1897. It was originally published in the Times of London for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. The poem struck a chord and speedily became an imperial hymn opening with the words God of our fathers, known of old and set to the tune Melita. It was composed just in time for use in the commemoration of the dead from the South African War and has since become even more famous as the source of the often quoted words Lest we forget in ANZAC Day ceremonies held annually on the 25th April to commemorate the sacrifice of those who gave their lives. During the eight months of the Gallipoli campaign the Australians sustained 26,000 casualties of whom 8,000 died.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
Many graves throughout the world remember the sacrifice of over 102,000 Australian military personnel who died with the symbol of the cross which reminds us of the verse in Colossians 2:15 "having disarmed the powers and authorities, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them on the cross".
A selection of videos
William McKenzie
Fighting McKenzie & Gallipoli The story of William McKenzie, a Salvation Army chaplain and one of the first to land in Gallipoli after the initial attack. Please click here to view this 21 minute video produced by Adventist Media Network. (See also audio's below)
Captain Mitsuo Fuchida
Watch this ten minute of the Japanese Commander Captain Mitsuo Fuchida who commenced the WW11 Pacific War later giving his life to Christ.
TP Bennet
Watch this 23 minute video on the Anglican Chaplain TP Bennet at Gallipoli produced by Adventist Media Network
Last Post Ceremony for Gallipoli Chaplain at Australian War Memorial
The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Captain Andrew Gillison, 14th Battalion, AIF, First World War
ANZACs: Gen. Harry Chauvel, The Liberation of Jerusalem, and the Influence of a Christian heritage.
By Harvey Brice
Field Marshall Montgomery
As a child watching Tasmanian soldiers depart for the Boer War, Bernard Law Montgomery told his mother he was going to be a soldier when he grew up.
Left for dead on the battlefield of Meteren during WW1 Captain Montgomery, not needing the grave already dug for him, went on to become the finest General in WW11, turning the tide against the previously invincible Rommel's German Axis forces in North Africa, with famous battles such as El Alamein and Tobruk.
Montgomery, now Field Marshal read two chapters of the Bible each day with devotions morning and evening, as observed by one journalist who wrote after the battle of El Alamein:
"This was total war, waged with more weight, power and concentration than the Nazi war machine ever had encountered and directed by a master of total war - a man who said his prayers in his desert tent night and morning and quoted the Bible to his troops to make them better fighters"
Montgomery's father had been a Bishop in Hobart at the turn of the 20th Century. His wife said this in a Bible Success band booklet written in 1945:
"I wonder how many of my readers have been brought up to learn a verse from the bible every day? I was brought up to do this and as a consequence know nearly all the Psalms and most of the New Testament by heart.
And I brought my children up to learn a verse from the Bible every morning before breakfast. It may be that Field Marshal Montgomery's knowledge and love of the Bible starts from the this fact. As is well known, the two books he carries with him are the Bible and Pilgrim's Progress.
England and America owe their greatness to the Bible. Let us pray that the Bible, God's Word to us, may again take its rightful place in our hearts and homes! I would urge upon all my readers to do your utmost to bring the Bible back to the nation. And the best way to do that is to begin in your own home and for you and your children to learn a verse of the Bible by heart each day"
MAY 16 1943 Montgomery Leads Prayers near front lines. Field Marshal Montgomery commenced prayer meetings when he arrived in Egypt. His father was a Bishop in Tasmania.
The Montgomery Old Testament Bible with the message "Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery, GCB, DSO, the gallant leader of the victorious forces by whose hand God has placed salvation in Zion in the days of El Alamein presented in token of the everlasting gratitude of Palestine Jewry by the Vaad Leumi, General Council of the Jewish Community in Palestine".
Download this GREAT little book on the life of Montgomery and his biblical upbringing
The Famous Fighting Mackenzie of WW1 - Podcasts
William McKenzie (1869 - 1947),
by unknown photographer, 1918, courtesy of Australian War Memorial. P00329.001.
Mackenzie Track 01
Mackenzie Track 02
Source: Salvos Media: ANZAC Radio Program, 2006
The First of the WW1 Recruitment Marches Centenary 2015 Commenced in Gilgandra October 1915 arriving in Sydney in November 1915
The Coo-ee March began with 26 men, multiplying ten times by the time it reached Sydney. Click the link to read more.
