This time last year by Amy Andrews

This time last year, I was in Frace, with my family. My extended family too - my brother and his family and my dad was there as well. 

We went for the 100th anniversary of the battle for Villers Bretonneux fought by the Australian army which just happens to fall on another very important day for Australians and NZ'ers - 25th of April or Anazac day. 

We spent 3 weeks in rural France travelling all around the old Western Front as well as Normandy and went to the dawn service at the war memorial at Villers which was very moving (also freezing and rainy..)

After that we spent 2 weeks in a tiny village in the Loire valley in a gorgeous old house where 2 sets of friends joined us over the course of that time. It was wonderful and relaxing. The weather was lovely and we drank French wine and ate French cheese in the lovely gardens and visted all the nearby markets and several of the chateaus that make the area famous.

It was the first time we'd really explored rural France and I cant recommend it highly enough! And I can't wait to go back.

So, what about you? What were you doing this time last year?

Lest We Forget: The Women of Gallipoli

I make no apology for writing a similarly themed post to last year.

It is 100 years since Gallipoli and we have mourned and celebrated the lives of the men who bravely fought there- and we should go on doing this in gratitude for their service for as long as we all can. Because of their sacrifice we can live our lives in relative peace and without fear.

What I did not know, however, was that there were 8 women at Gallipoli too. Seven Australian nurses and their matron were on board the hospital ship The Gascon moored off Anzac Cove. From the ship's deck these women had to witness the massacre, listen to the cries of the fallen and dodge shells fired at the boat. They then had to tend to the wounded, deal with serious overcrowding on the ship and cope with rapidly diminishing resources. There is a detailed account of one of those nurses here. Muriel Wakeford wrote letters to her local newspaper back home describing the Gallipoli campaign and telling of the need for more medical personnel, braving a backlash from the government who had been sending out propaganda that we were winning the war. Having worked as a nurse for many years I cannot begin to imagine what life must have been like there, the horror and the suffering and the utter helplessness and frustration at not being able to give the care needed.

But this is also a romance blog and we celebrate the triumph of love over all, and I'm happy to say that Muriel led a life befitting one of our heroines- dealing with conflict and disapproval from all and amidst the chaos of war she fell in love with a dashing officer on board ship (which was obviously forbidden, plus he was catholic and she was protestant), but she finally overcame all barriers and married her sweetheart in 1916. They moved to Kenya and then to London after the war and had (at least) one son.

So, on ANZAC Day, while remembering the men who gave up their lives, please add in a huge prayer of gratitude to the 8 amazing women who cared for the sick and tended to the fallen with as much respect and honour as they could. And send up a little extra cheer for Muriel Wakeford, a true heroine of the time.

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

ANZAC Day- Commemorating the fallen

Originally chosen to commemorate the fated Gallipoli campaign (that took place on the Gallipoli peninsula, Ottoman Empire) in World War One in 1915, ANZAC  Day, held on 25th April every year, is the day of Remembrance for all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in wars, conflicts or peacekeeping missions. The ANZAC acronym stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Like Remembrance Sunday in the UK and Memorial Day in US it is time for reflection and remembrance and thanksgiving for those who gave their lives for the freedoms we have today.

Anzac Cove

Being a newcomer to NZ we were unaware of ANZAC Day when we arrived here 12 years ago, but now we take part in one of the dawn services that are held around the country every year. This year we will be attending the service at the Auckland War Museum with a Turkish student, our guest, who has flown in for this specific event, although he will be staying with us for about 18 days.  He has come here as part a cultural exchange programme with our local high school and a high school in Tasmania. This exchange has been running for three years and both my sons were lucky enough to be selected to stay with the Turkish students and visited Gallipoli on the Turkish Day of Remembrance which is March 18th. I have their permission to share some of the photos they took in Gallipoli to give you an idea of the event there. (Unfortunately it is a military event so photos aren't allowed of the actual ceremony, but here are some they caught in between times).

War Memorial site, Gallipoli

The idea of the exchange is to foster positive and happy relationships between the countries who fought against each other and suffered many losses and casualties- a way of trying to heal the wounds and right the wrongs and of bringing three nations together. We have certainly enjoyed being a part of this programme and I know my sons have benefitted hugely from visiting Turkey and learning more about the Gallipoli campaign, the Turkish people and the beautiful country.

The exchange group 

Graves of the fallen on the Gallipoli hills

There is a strong military presence

Modern day uniform and 1915 uniform

Turkish flag

getting set up for the ceremony

One of the memorial cenotaphs

sail past

fly past

Remembrance garden

Commemoration to the ANZACS

Sunset over Anzac Cove

We can only hope that our children and their children and generations to come can learn from the blood shed and can take forwards the legacy these brave men and women fought for.

We will remember them

Love letters

Source

by Emmie Dark

Because today is ANZAC Day, a friend was telling me about a wartime story she heard. A New Zealand couple met just before he was called up to serve in World War II. They kept in contact all throughout the war and married as soon as he returned—she sewed her wedding dress while she was waiting for him. They then enjoyed almost 60 years of happy marriage. After their deaths – just three months apart – their children discovered a box of their love letters from during the war. They both signed each letter “yours forever and ever”.

Isn’t that just heart-melting?

It made me think about love letters and how special it is to receive words that let you know the place you hold in someone's heart.

I still have a box somewhere with letters from high school. I wouldn’t exactly call them Robert Browning quality literature, but then teenage boys aren’t always erudite. I also like to keep cards and notes from friends and family – those little notes where someone expresses how special you are can be so lovely to stumble across on a day when you’re not feeling your best.

Technology is, I think, helping bring the love letter new relevance.  Yes, you could complain that we don’t handwrite letters anymore. And you could argue that an email isn't as romantic as a letter.

But back in war time (or even back not so long ago) you couldn’t send an instant, quick message to let someone know you were thinking of them. A sweet, caring text message is a lovely way to brighten someone’s day. And as anyone who's posted their birthday on Facebook knows, you can't escape the happy birthday messages there -- and the reminder of how many people out there care about you!

I don't think that's a bad thing at all.  After all, it's the message that's important -- not the delivery. Wouldn't you agree? 

I did a bit of research into love letters to prepare this blog post. I have to share some of my favourites that I came across.

Robert Browning

"Dear Elizabeth: Do you know, when you have told me to think of you, I have been feeling ashamed of thinking of you so much, of thinking of only you--which is too much, perhaps." Robert Browning to Elizabeth Barrett.

“I love you, I love you. My Victor, I cannot reiterate it too often; I can never express it as much as I feel it. I recognise you in all the beauty that surrounds me  in form, in colour, in perfume, in harmonious sound: all of these mean you to me.” Juliette Drouet, French actress, to Victor Hugo.

It's too long for me to copy and past in it's entirety here, but you must read Lewis Carroll's letter to Gertrude Despite being posted on a site for romantic love letters, it's not a 'love letter' -- more of a 'get well soon' wish. (Gertrude Chataway was a child to whom he dedicated "The Hunting of the Snark" to.) It's typically Lewis Carroll in its eccentricity, but it's incredibly sweet.

How about this for a modern take on love letters?

“Can you all help me make her morning?” Ashton Kutcher made an appeal to the Twitterverse to surprise Demi Moore with hundreds of "good morning, I love you" tweets. (Okay, so I know that it’s over, but still, attempting to “crash Twitter with love” is pretty fabulous.) He succeeded. Demi replied: "I am feeling the love bomb and think I might explode! At least with a few tears of overwhelming joy."

I’m not going to include any quotes from James Joyce’s love letters to his wife Nora. Now they were eye-popping!! If you’re interested in having your horizons broadened (potentially in ways you didn’t want), Google “James Joyce love letters” and see what you find. I was going to put a link, but it’s really not LoveCats style stuff. :)

But, lest you fear I'm being too tame, let me leave you with the words of Gustave Flaubert to his wife, Louise: 


"I will cover you with love when next I see you, with caresses, with ecstasy.  I want to gorge you with all the joys of the flesh, so that you faint and die.  I want you to be amazed by me, and to confess to yourself that you had never even dreamed of such transports...  When you are old, I want you to recall those few hours, I want your dry bones to quiver with joy when you think of them."

Phew!