...it's not dark yet, but it's gettin' there...

April 25, 2005

ANZAC Day

Happy ANZAC Day to all my visitors from Australia and New Zealand! ANZAC stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps, the colonial force that was sent to support the empire during WWI, most notably at the infamous battle of Gallipoli. The holiday mirrors our own Memorial Day.

Good Hope

James at A Western Heart posts about his great grandfather, a gunnery officer on H.M.S. Good Hope, the British flagship that went down on 1 November 1914 at the battle of Coronel. The opposing German force contained the original S.M.S. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau (not their more famous WWII namesakes). Scharnhorst hit Good Hope with her third salvo, and the older ship's magazine exploded twenty minutes later. All hands were lost.

A summary of Coronel is here.

Posted by annika, Apr. 25, 2005 |
Rubric: History



Comments

Talk about the twist of fate.

Churchill lost his position in the government because of the Gallipoli disaster. If the British had won the battle, Churchill would have been a hero. His fame would have got him elected Prime Minister during the 1930's.

Many of his speeches during the 30s implored the government to stop Germany from rearming. If Churchill had been Prime Minister he would have stopped the Nazis in the early 30s and WWII would not have occurred.

Churchill called WWII the "unnecessary war."

Posted by: Jake on Apr. 25, 2005

This does not really have to do with your post but I once worked for an old German who was a sailor on the WWII Shcharnhorst and survived and was picked up by a British ship. He always called Churchill the old Bulldog, and he called Nixon "Der Fuherer".
PS. I am new to your blog, it is very nice. I will bookmark and check it out from time to time.

Posted by: Kyle on Apr. 25, 2005

thank you Kyle, welcome!

Posted by: annie on Apr. 25, 2005

Thanks for linking to the post, Annika.

The real tragedy is that they all knew they were being sent out to die. My great grandfather mentioned in a letter (his last) asking his brother to take care of his wife and children. He knew they weren't coming back.

A terrible waste.

Posted by: James Ozark on Apr. 27, 2005

Ya Mum's hot.

Posted by: Bobbie on Sep. 19, 2005