ANZAC Day 2020

ANZAC Day is an Australian holiday which looks back at the people who served in the military. It was originally held to remember the World War 1 soldiers but later was expanded upon for all military. This is held every April 25th and the ceremony starts at exactly 6am. To attend we would have to get up between 2-3am to get a parking spot and be in place by 6am.

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Below are 2 different years we attended the Shrine in the city. You never know what the weather's going to be like as you can see.

Credit: J. Fitzgerald

Credit: J. Fitzgerald

We had been attending the Shrine of Remembrance in the city each year since 1997 with very few missed. The last two years, we felt the Melbourne ceremony, and access, was too difficult, so we've been attend our local council's ceremony at Bunjil Place. It allows us to sleep in a bit and leave our house about 5am.

This year, due to CoVid, is going to be very different for the start. There will be no public ceremony this year. There are different ideas people can do - hold a candle or light and stand in the front of your yard, backyard, or inside your house are some of the ideas. Another idea is turning on the outside light of your house. This is to be done at 6am. Then tune in via online, TV, or radio to listen to the smaller ceremonies which will be held and can be viewed online.

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My Reflections
This is the one day I look back on my family history as World War 1 and 2 are very meaningful in my family history. This is mainly due to where my family lived during these times. True, by World War 2, my family was already in the US, but those cousins and other relations who stayed were there during those times. It does mean something, because those branches, while not direct, still were affected by these events. A few of the pictures of those relations which served and/or were in Belgium are below. Also, I had relatives in Poland, Germany and France as well.

Due to the current pandemic called Coronavirus or COVID-19 (first reported by WHO on December 31. 2019), I can imagine what those ancestors must have felt. I'm in Australia and they are around the world each dealing with the virus the best they can depending upon their situations. We do have one benefit more than my ancestors ever had - I can talk or correspond more directly and quickly with my family than they ever could during those times. Sometimes the mail could get through, sometimes it couldn't and sometimes it never made for various reasons.

During my research when people ask, what else should I look for or think of when researching, I always tell them to look at what external things could have influenced them. Many people go for the wars which were going on at that point. How about diseases going around? Political forces which might have played a part in their decisions. Accidents? Other disasters? These all have to be looked at and explored.

I use a spreadsheet I made up and I put in these types of things into the spreadsheet as events. For instance, many people remember World War 1 ending, but many don't understand when it officially ended nor the circumstances around them. Then when you add the pandemic during this time to the mix sometimes things add up.

For instance, many of the troops returned from Europe in 1918 and 1919 keeping in mind the war officially ended in November 1918. It took a long time to get all the troops from Europe back to the US. Then add in the official start of the Spanish Flu started in January 1918 and it lasted until December 1920. That was a full 2 years.

Like today, 2020, governments and people are doing exactly what they did back in the Spanish Flu - social distance, social isolation, and masks. However, areas of the US lifted these requirements too early and they had a second wave of it, and it was much deadlier. The poor soldiers now had this to attend with after such a long battle of war.

A picture taken during the 2nd wave of the Spanish Flu. Credit

You need to understand what was going on in the world during the time of each of your ancestors because even though things were happening in other parts of it might have affected your ancestors.

I hope everyone is staying safe and has a happy ANZAC Day. Lest we forget...

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The writing on the poster reads:
"Crew members of the RAN light cruiser HMAS Sydney (II) peer through a hole in the forward funnel. The damage was sustained in action against the Italian Cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni off Cape Spada, Crete. AWM 002435"