Australia

[Akhenaten]

I'd have to give it some thought. We probably do, but I don't really know of anything off the top of my head...

On the other hand, I can tell a little story. (Like Old Bob's stories, it's anecdotal, so I don't know how true it is.)

Note the bars over the graves in the picture. I asked a local guy who was about my age what they were for. He said that during a specific season, people would place offerings of food on the bars for the ancestors. The local kids (himself included) would take the food right after it was placed, and everybody was happy: he'd get a snack, whoever placed the food felt that the offerings were accepted, the ancestors were honored.

I just like the fact that this particular cemetery has a gorgeous view...

This reminds me very much of cemeteries I've seen around Australia's former (and current) goldfields, particularly around Ballarat and Bendigo.

Many, many Chinese workers were employed on the goldfields and the cemeteries they constructed contain monuments similar to the one in your picture. The food offerings to ancestors were also similar to your description, although I can't attest to the "foraging"

As far as I know, this practice continues today, even in some of the very oldest Chinese cemeteries. I guess ancestors don't age very much.


Here's a picture of a Chinese cemetery at Beechworth in Victoria. The tower thingies are where the food (and money) offerings go, before they they set fire to them.

Beechworth Secondary College

I've been here a few times, chasing bunnies, and I imagine Old Bob has been here as well. I find things like this to look quite bizarre when they turn up in the middle of the Aussie bush.


ETA: There are also a number of Japanese cemeteries in Australia, but they aren't generally as old as the Chinese ones I'm describing here. Next post

 

[Akhenaten]

Further to the link with Hawaii is fact that the carrier group that launched the attacks on Darwin was made up of the Akagi, Kaga Soryu and Hiryu – all of which participated in the Pearl Harbour raid.

And HBS thought she was OT. Ha ha! Thank you for this snippet.

This is true of at least the first attacks on Darwin Harbour. There were a total of 64 raids on Darwin and its environs, including Adelaide River and various airfields. This is according to “Darwin’s Air War” which is an NT Aviation Historical Society publication I picked up from their great museum in Darwin. The centre piece of the museum is USAF B-52 – once at least a frequent visitor to Darwin.

Yay! I get to tell another warry story.

I've seen a few B-52s doing their thing, but I was on an exercise near Kununurra once and the USAF sent one to help out with an "air strike" against some sheds that were pretending to be enemy tanks or something.

We knew the bomber was coming, so luckily knew where to look for it. In she came about 50 feet above the trees (NOE) and almost whispered straight over the top of us.

It was absolutely awesome, and I couldn't help thinking how deaded you'd be if they launched one of those things at you. You'd be in a billion pieces before you even saw the '52.

I spent a lot of fun times as a kid camping around those northern airfields on Society expeditions to locate and recover various aircraft and parts. Unfortunately some of the old planes, including Spitfires, were bulldozed into pits and buried after the war – something to do with war loans and Australia not really owning them as I remember.

I've done the same thing in the course of playing soldiers. I, and a lot of other people, dream about finding some of those lost aircraft. My own home airfield at Oakey in Queensland was a second-line repair base during the War, and its rumoured cache contains 'Stangs and Liberators.

A bloke dug up the local drive-in theatre once, looking for them.

We shouldn’t forget our Dutch friends in all this and the contributions of the Netherlands East Indies Air Force, who had a squadron of B-25 Mitchells based at the Batchelor strip (Gould) near Adelaide River.

http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/nei-af.htm

A Dutch B-25 Mitchell Bomber

Peter Dunn's AUSTRALIA @ WAR


I ho(i)sted this pic from your link. Thanks.


Cheers,

Dave

 

[Damien Evans]

Check out todays featured article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

It's Lt Colonel "Mad" Harry Murray, who I'm sure Akhenaten at least has heard of.

 

[lionking]

Yesterday was the anniversary of the battle of Long Tan, one of the greatest feats of military valour in Australia's history. Just over 100 Australians and a few New Zealanders took on around 2,500 Viet Cong - and won. 18 Australians died, which was a tragedy for a small nation, but 245 of the enemy were killed.

Yesterday was also Vietnam Veterans Day. A salute to aussie Vietnam vets, and all others for that matter.

http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/longtan/

There were 18 Australians killed - 17 from D Company and one from the 1st Armoured Personnel Carrier Squadron - and 21 wounded. The Viet Cong insurgents left 245 dead and many more wounded. In later years, it was found out that D Company had run into a reinforced regimental force waiting to attack Nui Dat.

 

[Akhenaten]

Check out todays featured article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

It's Lt Colonel "Mad" Harry Murray, who I'm sure Akhenaten at least has heard of.

I do indeed Damien. LT Col Murray was an outstanding soldier. Personally, I admire the fact that he was able to work his way up from being a private soldier to commanding a battalion. His heroism and his single-minded devotion to duty are an inspiration to all, quite apart from the pride his nation has for his actions.

I'll do an article for the thread on him.

Thanks Mate

Yesterday was the anniversary of the battle of Long Tan, one of the greatest feats of military valour in Australia's history. Just over 100 Australians and a few New Zealanders took on around 2,500 Viet Cong - and won. 18 Australians died, which was a tragedy for a small nation, but 245 of the enemy were killed.

Yesterday was also Vietnam Veterans Day. A salute to aussie Vietnam vets, and all others for that matter.

http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/longtan/

Thanks for that lionking. As it happens, I met up with a few mates for a Long Tan drinky at Pucka today and I'm only just coming good again.

Long Tan is a large chapter in our military history. I've been putting off articles about the Vietnam era until we'd drifted through our WWI and WWII history, and it seems the appropriate time has arrived. I'll get something together to introduce Australia's Vietnam war in a bit more detail.

Is there anything from the two world wars that anyone would like covered, before I sort of move on? I know I promised an article on Sir John Monash, but I'm saving that for next Anzac Day.

Also, there's been a fair bit of news regarding Fromelles lately, and I wouldn't mind doing a write-up on that. I think that's an area of interest for you, lk?


Thanks again fellas,

Dave


PS This thread's doing rather well isn't it? There's some weird **** going on in those other threads and I have to wonder why I don't just stay in here all the time.
How come everyone but Australians are as mad as cut snakes?

 

[Damien Evans]

Almost anything you could want to know about Australia on the Western Front can be found in Les Carlyons excellent history The Great War.

Of course, this is also a good spot: http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/first_world_war/

But no-one could ever remember all of that.

 

[Akhenaten]

You do a pretty good job

 

[HawaiiBigSis]

How come everyone but Australians are as mad as cut snakes?

Not exactly sure what a cut snake is, nor how mad they are, but I'm pretty sure I'm not Australian... (unless there's a category for honorary Australians reserved for people who've never been there).

Should I be insulted?

 

[lionking]

Not exactly sure what a cut snake is, nor how mad they are, but I'm pretty sure I'm not Australian... (unless there's a category for honorary Australians reserved for people who've never been there).

Should I be insulted?

Yes you should be.

Anyway, I resent Akhenaten's disgraceful stereotyping of Australians. I get as mad as a cut snake sometimes, and I'm proud of it.

 

[Old Bob]

Not exactly sure what a cut snake is, nor how mad they are, but I'm pretty sure I'm not Australian... (unless there's a category for honorary Australians reserved for people who've never been there).

Should I be insulted?

No,not at all it's just the way we talk, example would be I could call lionking a "dopey wanker" and he would take no notice, so on behalf of Akhenaten I'm sure nothing insulting was meant.

 

[Akhenaten]

Not exactly sure what a cut snake is, nor how mad they are, but I'm pretty sure I'm not Australian... (unless there's a category for honorary Australians reserved for people who've never been there).

Should I be insulted?

1. Obtain snake.
   
   
2. Cut.
   
   
3. Observe snake's reaction.
   
   
4. Compare to behaviour of religious zealots, faith healers, YECs and most of Africa.
   
   
5. Realise that HBS is not like that.
   
   
6. Decide not to be insulted.

By the power vested in me as Pharaoh of the Upper and Lower Lands and Pi-Broadford I declare you, HawaiiBigSis, to be an honorary Australian, with all the rights, priveleges and stereotypes obtaining thereto.

Raise your tinny and repeat after me:

"Do you come from a land down under?

Where women glow and men plunder?

Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?

You better run, you better take cover."​

I dub thee "A Good Sort".

Yes you should be.

Anyway, I resent Akhenaten's disgraceful stereotyping of Australians. I get as mad as a cut snake sometimes, and I'm proud of it.

Me too! It's a good thing that snakes of the same species are immune to each other's venom.



Cheers Mate.

 

[Akhenaten]

No,not at all it's just the way we talk, example would be I could call lionking a "dopey wanker" and he would take no notice, so on behalf of Akhenaten I'm sure nothing insulting was meant.

Too right, Cobber

 

[arthwollipot]

No,not at all it's just the way we talk, example would be I could call lionking a "dopey wanker" and he would take no notice, so on behalf of Akhenaten I'm sure nothing insulting was meant.

Only in Australia can you call your best friend "a complete bastard" and your worst enemy only "a bit of a bastard".

Ya drongo.

 

[HawaiiBigSis]

By the power vested in me as Pharaoh of the Upper and Lower Lands and Pi-Broadford I declare you, HawaiiBigSis, to be an honorary Australian, with all the rights, priveleges and stereotypes obtaining thereto.

w00t!

(wait...does it mean I have to start drinking Foster's or something like that? I don't do beer. But if I ever get there, I'd be happy to sample local-grown wines. Actually, I think I might've already. Is Yellowtail from Australia?)

 

[arthwollipot]

w00t!

(wait...does it mean I have to start drinking Foster's or something like that? I don't do beer. But if I ever get there, I'd be happy to sample local-grown wines. Actually, I think I might've already. Is Yellowtail from Australia?)

Do not, whatever you do, do NOT start drinking Fosters.

The local Chardonnay will be just fine.

 

[HawaiiBigSis]

Do not, whatever you do, do NOT start drinking Fosters.

No worries. It would have to be the only thing between me and certain death from dehydration for me to drink a beer.

However, the Yellow Tail wines I've had, I've enjoyed.

Now that I'm an official honorary Australian, I looked into how much it would cost for me to get from here to there.

Yikes!

I'll start saving my pennies now. Maybe I'll live long enough.

 

[Old Bob]

Yellow tail is from Aussi along with dozens more (all great) We do make beautiful wine no doubt helped by the Italian born Australians who brought there wine making skill here. North east Victoria near Myrtleford has wine processing plant that looks like a oil refinery. My wife bought good quailty red for the special price of a $1.99 ( a happy night in every bottle) Bush fire smoke in the fall can taint the grapes and does spoil a lot.

 

[MG1962]

w00t!

(wait...does it mean I have to start drinking Foster's or something like that? I don't do beer.

Thats alright, Fosters isn't a beer, so you wont be disapointed

 

[Sideroxylon]

Yellow tail is from Aussi along with dozens more (all great) We do make beautiful wine no doubt helped by the Italian born Australians who brought there wine making skill here. North east Victoria near Myrtleford has wine processing plant that looks like a oil refinery. My wife bought good quailty red for the special price of a $1.99 ( a happy night in every bottle) Bush fire smoke in the fall can taint the grapes and does spoil a lot.

German immigrants also made a big contribution in South Australia's Barossa Valley.

 

[Akhenaten]

German immigrants also made a big contribution in South Australia's Barossa Valley.

They also built wineries in Queensland. Some of the remnants of these have been mis-identified as signs of a much older civilization, and some even as Pyramids.

More to follow, over.