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Old April 22nd, 2023 #1
jagd messer
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Default World War 2 / WWII

Wreck of Japanese WWII ship on which 1,000 Australians died found


The Montevideo Maru.


The ship was sunk on 1 July, 1942, by a US submarine unaware it was carrying prisoners of war.


DEEP-SEA EXPLORERS said that they had located the wreck of a World War II Japanese transport ship, the Montevideo Maru, which was torpedoed off the Philippines, killing nearly 1,000 Australians aboard.

The ship – sunk on 1 July, 1942, by a US submarine unaware it was carrying prisoners of war – was found at a depth of more than four kilometres, said the maritime archaeology group Silentworld Foundation, which organised the mission with Dutch deep-sea survey firm Fugro.

The sinking of the Montevideo Maru was Australia’s worst-ever maritime disaster, killing an estimated 979 Australian citizens, including at least 850 troops.

Civilians from 13 other countries were also aboard, the foundation said, bringing the total number of prisoners killed to about 1,060.

They had been captured a few months earlier by Japanese forces in the fall of the coastal township of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea.

“At long last, the resting place of the lost souls of the Montevideo Maru has been found,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. “Among the 1,060 prisoners on board were 850 Australian service members – their lives cut short,” he said on social media. We hope today’s news brings a measure of comfort to loved ones who have kept a long vigil. After five years of planning, explorers began searching for the wreck on 6 April in the South China Sea, northwest of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon. They made a positive sighting just 12 days later using high-tech equipment, including an autonomous underwater vehicle equipped with sonar.

“When we saw those images it was the moment of a lifetime, very exciting,”
Captain Roger Turner, technical director of the expedition, told AFP by phone from aboard the Fugro Equator survey vessel.

‘Two torpedoes’


The ship had split into two sections, with the bow and stern lying about 500 metres apart on the seabed, he said. “We think that she was struck by two torpedoes. The first one was what caused her to sink, the second one actually blew off a part of the accommodation.”

The wreckage will remain undisturbed on the sea floor, where it lies at a greater depth than the Titanic, out of respect for the families of those who perished, the foundation said. No artefacts or human remains are to be removed.

“We’re very conscious that it is a grave, it is a war grave for some 1,100 people – both our Allied military and civilians but also the Japanese crew and guards,” Turner said. “It is being treated with appropriate respect.”

Andrea Williams, an Australian whose grandfather and great-uncle were civilian internees who perished on the ship, was also with the team that found it. “It was very emotional but it is also a very proud moment to have been able to find the wreck,” she told AFP. “The relatives have often said: ‘Will the Montevideo Maru ever be found?’,” Williams said. Locating the vessel was “hugely comforting” to the perished prisoners’ relatives, many of whom had contacted her after the news broke, she said.

Australia’s Chief of Army Lieutenant General Simon Stuart said finding the wreck had ended 81 years of uncertainty for the loved ones of those lost.
“A loss like this reaches down through the decades and reminds us all of the human cost of conflict,”
he said. Australia’s military had assisted in the search.

Those who perished aboard the Montevideo Maru included 33 crew from the Norwegian freighter the Herstein and about 20 Japanese guards and crew, the Silentworld Foundation said.

Other nations affected by the sinking included Britain, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Sweden and the United States, it said.


Wreck of Japanese WWII ship on which 1,000 Australians died found




 
Old April 22nd, 2023 #2
Ray Allan
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That is the Pacific war's version of the Laconia incident. Only the German U-boat crew that torpedoed it attempted to rescue the Italian POWs and other civilians aboard when the Germans realized what they inadvertently did. Then American planes showed up and started attacking the U-boat and survivors in boats and in the water, killing more people even after Red Crosses were displayed and Werner Hartenstein, the U-boat commander, tried to contact the Americans on the radio saying it was a rescue operation. That was a war crime, but the US and other All-Lies went unpunished since they were WWjew's victors.
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"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy."

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Old April 25th, 2023 #3
jagd messer
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Default ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day: Australia and New Zealand Pause to Remember the Sacrifice of War

Australia and New Zealand will pause Tuesday to mark ANZAC Day, a time to remember all those who made the supreme sacrifice in time of war while saluting the veterans of today.

The solemn event commemorates the pre-dawn beach landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) on Turkey’s Gallipoli peninsula on April 25, 1915, at the start of an eight-month push against the Ottoman Empire. The unsuccessful British-led campaign aimed to secure a naval route from the Mediterranean Sea to Istanbul through the Dardanelles, and knock the German-backed Ottomans out of the war.



An Australian soldier lies wounded in the foreground as hundreds of others move among the dead and wounded on the beach at Anzac Cove on the first day of the Gallipoli landing. Many soldiers wear red cross arm bands and are tending to the wounded.

Some 8,700 Australians and nearly 2,800 New Zealanders lost their lives but its legacy lives on because the trans-Tasman neighbours decided that sacrifice should be honoured.

Every year since Aussies and Kiwis are given a public holiday and hold marches, church services, parades, and solemn tributes to those forces in 1915 and all the others since who have paid with their lives in countless other wars and armed conflicts across the globe.




People participate in the ANZAC Day March in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

The commemorations now extend to honour every conflict the countries have joined in the ensuing decades, including wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan as well as multiple peace keeping operations from East Timor and Somalia to Cambodia.

The ANZAC dawn service starts the day. It has its origins in a military practice known as “stand-to”, in which soldiers are woken before dawn to avoid the vulnerability that comes with the early light, which is notorious for playing tricks on the eyes.

A dawn service was first held on the Western Front by an Australian battalion on the first anniversary of the Gallipoli landing on 25 April 1916. Historians agree that in Australia dawn services spontaneously popped up around the country to commemorate the fallen at Gallipoli soon after. In later years the tradition developed of a march of veterans from all wars who are applauded as they traverse cities and country towns to the sound of massed bands and cheering supporters.

“On this particular day we honour those who fought for our liberty and freedom,” former Prime Minister Scott Morrison said last year as the sun rose over the Northern Territory capital of Darwin at the top end of Australia.



A red poppy and sprigs of rosemary are seen alongside names on The Roll of Honour at the State War Memorial at Kings Park on April 24, 2021 in Perth, Australia.

“Coercion travels our region once more,”
he added, in a nod to China’s growing political and military sway in the Indo/Pacific region.

The day traditionally ends with meetings in pubs and restaurants, backyards and public places, where those veterans who marched can take their rest and those who watched can add their thanks.

Lest we forget.


I was in Melbourne in 2015 on Anzac Day for the 100th anniversary. What a huge procession going to their massive Anzac Monument. Aussies and Kiwis have shown their bravery in multiple wars. Their descendants have not kept up. They are slackers and socialists.


Over the last few days it was announced that the Japanese SS Montevideo Maru, a covert prisoner-of-war transport ship had been found. 864 Australian soldiers were on board and all perished when it was torpedoed by a US Sub.

One of the Japanese sailors that managed to survive said that as he escaped the ship he could hear the Aussie PoWs trapped below singing Auld Land Syne as the boat sunk in to the water.


ANZAC Day: Australia and New Zealand Pause to Remember the Sacrifice of War 25 IV 2023.

Never bought into the Anglo / American / Globalist Wars against Germany and Russia.
 
Old April 25th, 2023 #4
Ray Allan
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Let's not forget that jew-tool war criminal Winston Churchill, who was responsible for that debacle, and probably the Lusitania sinking the following month on May 7, 1915, which ultimately caused the jew-tool on the other side of the Atlantic, Woodrow Wilson, to drag the US into the war against Germany.
__________________
"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy."

--Henry A. Kissinger, jewish politician and advisor
 
Old April 26th, 2023 #5
Ray Allan
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We're probably all familiar with the 1981 Gallipoli movie with Mel Gibson. I didn't know there was a Turkish movie showing the Ottoman side. I'll give it a watch.

__________________
"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy."

--Henry A. Kissinger, jewish politician and advisor
 
Old June 3rd, 2023 #6
jagd messer
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Default Conscription referendum | National Museum of Australia

Australia's contribution to WW1 & 2,

Conscription referendum


Conscription referendum - 1916–17: Conscription for military service overseas defeated in two referendum


Labor Party anti-conscription advertisement.

The 1916 and 1917 conscription referendums were among the most divisive moments in Australian history. Throughout 1916 Australia had experienced problems meeting the troop supply commitments it had made to the British Government. Prime Minister Billy Hughes believed the only way to achieve the numbers needed was through the controversial approach of conscription.


A referendum to determine public support for conscription was held in October 1916 where it failed by a slim margin; a second took place in December 1917 and again most Australians voted against it.



Prime Minister William (Billy) Hughes, 30 August 1916:
To falter now is to make the great sacrifice of lives to no avail, to enable the enemy to recover himself, and, if not to defeat us, to prolong the struggle indefinitely, and thus rob the world of all hope of a lasting peace … Our national existence, our liberties, are at stake. There rests upon every man an obligation to do his duty in the spirit that befits free men.


Prime Minister William (Billy) Hughes.

Prewar compulsory service

The Defence Act of 1903, which provided for the raising and servicing of the new Australian army, was one of the first pieces of legislation passed by the new Commonwealth Government. One of the provisions of the Act was the government’s right to conscript men for the purpose of self-defence.

In 1909 at the invitation of Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, Field Marshal Kitchener of Great Britain visited Australia to inspect the defence preparedness of the young nation. In February the following year he submitted a report that recommended the introduction of compulsory military training within Australia. From 1911, males between the ages of 12 and 60 had to enrol in the scheme.


Australia goes to war


On 5 August 1914 Australia joined other countries in the British Empire and declared war on Germany. Men quickly enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), which was to fight alongside the British Army. Unlike the major European military forces, the AIF was entirely a volunteer army as compulsory military service was still limited to service inside Australia. Official recruitment began in August with the government initially committing 20,000 troops to the campaign.

By the end of the year, more than 50,000 men had enlisted at a rate of nearly 10,000 per month. Men were enlisting for a number of reasons: patriotism, the excitement of action, travel, and for the pay, which was among the most generous of any Allied army. This pay was particularly attractive as Australia was in the midst of a drought and depression.

However, after news of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign made its way back to Australia, enlistments started to decline.


Billy Hughes and the Somme


William (Billy) Hughes replaced Labor Prime Minister Andrew Fisher who resigned on 27 October 1915. Hughes had publicly stated in July 1915 that he would ‘in no circumstances … send men out of the country to fight against their will’.

However, in February 1916 Hughes travelled to Europe to consult with British and European governments on Australia’s contribution to the war effort. Just before he left, the British parliament passed conscription legislation, then in May the New Zealand Government followed suit and in July the catastrophic Somme offensive in Belgium got underway.

The Somme saw a dramatic increase in Australian troops killed or wounded. In the seven weeks after the attack began, the AIF lost close to 6000 men and another 17,000 wounded. It seemed impossible that the AIF could replace its huge losses through voluntarism alone.

At the same time, enlistments in August were down to 6345 and according to the British War Council the AIF immediately needed a special draft of 20,000 men and a further 16,500 per month over the next three months to keep its numbers up to agreed levels.

Hughes returned from Europe believing that conscription was essential for Australia to fulfill its commitments. However, the Labor Party was split over the issue of compulsory overseas military service.

Because of a hostile Senate, Hughes could not amend the Defence Act 1903 to allow for overseas service. He decided to take the matter to the public by holding a popular vote. Although Hughes used a non-binding plebiscite to try and obtain a mandate, it was commonly referred to as a referendum.

Even though public support for conscription in the referendum would have no legal force, Hughes felt it would give him a mandate with which he could pressure the Opposition as well as opponents within his own Cabinet.


Anti-conscription referendum rally, Yarra Bank, Melbourne.

First referendum

The referendum was set for 28 October. The campaign incited, in the words of historian Joan Beaumont: a public debate that has never been rivalled in Australian political history for its bitterness, divisiveness, and violence … What was at stake it soon emerged was not simply a disagreement about military need for conscription, but an irreconcilable conflict of views about core values: the nature of citizenship and national security; equality of sacrifice in times of national crisis; and the legitimate exercise of power within Australia’s democracy.

The debate split the country. The working class and unionists felt they were bearing the brunt of the war and voted predominantly against conscription. Protestants with a connection to Britain voted in the majority to assist the Empire by introducing conscription, while Catholics, most of whom were of Irish background and opposed to the British handling of Irish independence, mostly voted against it. Yet for all the animosity around the issue, most Australians still believed the war was a just cause.

The vote took place on 28 October after two months of feverish campaigning. The question put to voters was: Are you in favour of the Government having, in this grave emergency, the same compulsory powers over citizens in regard to requiring their military service, for the term of this War, outside the Commonwealth, as it now has in regard to military service within the Commonwealth? The result was ‘no’ by a margin of 3.2 %, but considering the entire apparatus of government and most of the media had been campaigning for ‘yes’ it was a significant victory for grassroots activism.

The political fallout from the referendum was profound. On 14 November the federal Labor caucus met and a vote of no-confidence in Billy Hughes’s leadership was successfully moved. Throughout the morning bitter debate ensued. In the afternoon Hughes called on those, ‘who think with me to follow me’. Twenty-four Members of Parliament supported him and it was around this rump of the party that the incredibly resilient Hughes formed the new National Labor Party and, with support from the Liberals, formed a new government.


Unlike the major European military forces, the AIF was entirely a volunteer army as compulsory military service was still limited to service inside Australia. Official recruitment began in August with the government initially committing 20,000 troops to the campaign.




On 11 November 1918 peace was finally declared. During the four years of the war, more than 420,000 Australians volunteered for the AIF, the Navy and the Nursing Corps, and 60,000 of that number died serving their country.






Conscription referendum | National Museum of Australia

https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-mome...on-referendums
31/08/2020 • Conscription referendum 1916–17: Conscription for military service overseas defeated in two referendums Labor Party anti-conscription advertisement The 1916 and 1917 conscription referendum were among the most divisive moments in Australian history.


Australian Population in 1914 | World War 1 in Australia
australian-population.com›australian…in-1914/

The population of Australia in 1914 was 4,940,952 people. This was split by 2,551,431 males and 2,389,521 females.[Australian Bureau of statistics – Historic Data]. 1914 was a significant year in Australian history as it started Australia’s involvement..


60,000 out of 2,551,431 is 2.35% of the then population of Australia.

Like the EUssr if you don’t get the result the politicians want you vote again and they’ll rig it.
 
Old June 14th, 2023 #7
jagd messer
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Default Christy Dignam - 'The Band Played Waltzing Matilda'


Aslan front man Christy Dignam captivated the Late Late Show audience with an emotive rendition of Waltzing Matilda.
The singer also performed Gilbert O’Sullivan’s Alone Again Naturally before talking to host Ryan Tubridy about his parents, grandparents and his own health.

Speaking about Waltzing Matilda, Dignam said that the song was of significance to him as his grandfather had fought in World War One.
 
Old 20 Hours Ago #8
jagd messer
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Default This company of brave men: Gallipoli VCs - Australian War …

This company of brave men: Gallipoli VCs

On 25 April 1915 Australians and New Zealanders – the ANZACs – were part of the historic landings on the Turkish Gallipoli peninsula. During the ill-fated eight-month-long campaign that followed, these men displayed courage, endurance, initiative, discipline, and mateship. Such qualities came to be called “the ANZAC spirit”. Nine Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross, with most of the awards made for actions performed during the battle of Lone Pine. The first of these men, Lance Corporal Albert Jacka, immediately became a national hero.

On 19–20 May 1915, in an almost superhuman effort, Jacka successfully attacked the enemy soldiers who had occupied his trench. He did so single-handedly as those around him had already been killed or wounded. Later in the war this extraordinary soldier performed more brave deeds, two of which are often described as being as important as that for which he received his Victoria Cross.

Second Lieutenant Hugo Throssell won his award for bravery at Hill 60 in late August, thereby becoming the only light horseman to be so honoured. In heavy action, he fought on despite receiving numerous wounds, inspiring all those around him. Even after his wounds were dressed, he continued to fight.

The Battle of Lone Pine


The battle is remarkable in that seven Australians won the Victoria Cross on a small stretch of ground on the Turkish Gallipoli ridge – with four going to a single battalion in just 24 hours. It was here on 6 August that a bayonet assault was launched against the enemy lines. Reaching the trenches, the Australians found them covered with stout logs and had to fight their way in. The Australians then had to hold on for four days against heavy counter-attacks. Losses were heavy.

These were furious actions. Captain Alfred Shout had been one of the heroes of the original landing at ANZAC in April. Now at Lone Pine he personally led attacks until a grenade exploded in his hand, mortally wounding him. At one point Lieutenant Frederick Tubb and Corporals Alexander Burton and William Dunstan fought side-by-side. Tubb was wounded, and Burton was killed in the savage fighting. All three got the Victoria Cross. Other awards went to Private John Hamilton, Lance Corporal Leonard Keysor, and Lieutenant William Symons. Hamilton was just 19.



Albert Jacka

Hugo Throssell

Alfred Shout

Frederick Tubb

Alexander Burton

William Dunstan

John Hamilton

Leonard Keysor

William Symons





This company of brave men: Gallipoli VCs - Australian War …

27 III 2024.


Australia's Gallipoli Victoria Crosses



For ninety four years the story of Gallipoli has galvanised Australians to remember, on ANZAC Day, those that have served, and continue to serve, in conflicts around the globe. The description by poet John Masefield in 1917 of the landing on Gallipoli creates an indelible backdrop to the fighting:

Those who wish to imagine the scene must think of any rough and steep coast known to them, picturing it as roadless, waterless, much broken with gullies, covered with scrub, sandy, loose, difficult to walk upon, and without more than two miles of accessible landing throughout its length...Then let them imagine the hills entrenched, the landing mined, the beaches tangled with barbed wire, ranged by Howitzers, and swept by machine guns...

(See rare movie footage of Anzac and Suvla here)

The landing was just the beginning. Later, Australians fighting at Courtney's Post, Lone Pine and Hill 60 would become immortalised by the awarding of the Victoria Cross. The Victoria Cross symbolises signal acts of valour "that neither rank, nor long service, nor wounds nor any other circumstance or condition whatsoever, save the merit of conspicuous bravery shall be held to establish a sufficient claim to the honor [sic]." (extract from original warrant 29 January 1856)

The stories behind the nine Victoria Crosses won by Australian soldiers on the little known peninsula almost a century ago, all of which are held and displayed in the Memorial's Hall of Valour, helped in the creation of the ANZAC legend:

Courtney's Post 19 May 1915:



Private Albert Jacka, who killed seven of the enemy at Courtney's Post when he was the only man left standing to defend his position. He was the first Australian to be awarded a VC in the First World War. Later, Jacka was awarded the Military Cross and Bar while serving in France.

Lone Pine 6-9 August 1915:



Captain Alfred Shout , a Boer War veteran, who for hours engaged the enemy in close combat before being mortally wounded.

Private Leonard Keysor, who fought a pitched battle for a mammoth 50 hours during ‘days and nights of slaughter...of men struggling through dark tunnels toward the enemy.' In 1927, he re-enacted his actions for a silent movie only to be wounded again when a simulated trench prop exploded in his face.



Lieutenant William Symons who was sent to recapture a trench when his own commanding officer expected him to die in the attempt.

Private John Hamilton, who remained in the open, sniping and directing bomb throwers for six hours in the face of intense fire. Hamilton went on to serve in the Second World War.



Lieutenant Frederick Tubb and Corporal William Dunstan who refused to cede their position, even though wounded and under heavy bomb attack, and Corporal Alexander Burton who was killed in the same action.

Hill 60 21-29 August 1915:



2nd Lieutenant Hugo Throssell, already a survivor of the suicidal charge at The Nek, his body peppered with bomb fragments and torn by bullets, who kept fighting and inspiring his men throughout a night of determined enemy counter-attacks at Hill 60. He remains the only member of the Light Horse to have been awarded a VC.



Australia's Gallipoli Victoria Crosses
27 III 2024.
 
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