They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, or the years condemn, at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.
Hi everyone, welcome back to the Calamvale Chronicles podcast! In this week’s article we’ll be talking about Anzac Day.
In week two, the school came together to commemorate the fallen men and women who served and represented Australia during the First World War, or as we know them, the Anzacs.
Anzac Day falls on the day when the Australia & New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) first landed on the shores of Gallipoli on April 25th, 1915. It is a commemorative event that makes us remember and reflect on the courageous sacrifices made by our soldiers that is observed by both Australia and New Zealand.
This year, we wanted to learn more about the students at our school who play a part in the ceremony every year so, we interviewed the cadets about their experiences being part of the ceremony and Lejandre, the student who had the honours of playing the last post.
The Australian Army Cadets (AAC) are a youth development program that is built on the values of the Australian Army, working to build on stronger community partnership. It is a program supported by the Army that aims to develop key attributes like identity, purpose and belonging. They’re pushed to participate in community efforts, and perform ceremonial duties, like we’ve seen during Anzac ceremonies every year.
We were able to interview Alex and Bhan, the sergeants and leaders of the Cadet squadron. Firstly, we wanted to know, “What do you do as a Cadet?” Bhan said…
“So, you’ve got to instruct, so you’re teaching your fellow cadets. It could be field craft, aviation, it could be drills like marching — it could be anything. A lot of the independence actually comes from going out bush because, when we go out bush, you’re by yourself for majority of it. Like when you sleep, you have to set up your butcher tent by yourself. You might just think, ‘It’s just setting up a tent, how does it teach you anything?’, but it teaches you a lot about independence the hard way, and once you get that sense of pride, you want want to do more stuff like that, you want to be more independent.”
Is there any preparation done prior to the ANZAC ceremony for the march? Alex answered, saying…
“[It takes] Weeks, hours, showing them the roles, organising who’s doing what and what role they’re taking up, and on the day itself just constant practice, re-doing the whole ceremony, fixing up any issues we find, and if there’s a roadblock we can’t go over, we just have to adapt and find something that will essentially fix it.”
What is it like doing the march for ANZAC ceremony every year like? Bhan shared his experience, and he said…
“Stressful. It’s very stressful. It makes you very nervous because you’re up in front of the entire school, and especially for the person doing the commaņd it’s very scary because you don’t want to mess it up. If you mess it up not everyone will know because not everyone knows what you’re saying, to them it just sounds like gibberish but to the people in front like our commanding officer, Brian Turner, he’ll know when you mess up, and it’s scary because that’s your commanding officer. Also, something that people will notice is your voice cracks. It’s just scary being in front of so many people.”
Every year, the school’s concert band plays the national anthem for Australia and New Zealand, and this year one of the seniors got the chance to play the Last post, Lejandre.
How did you end up playing the last post for this year’s ceremony? Lejandre answered…
“Usually, this is something that grade 12’s has the honour to do if they hold the highest position in their section. So, if you’re a first trumpet you have the opportunity to ask to do it, and then it’s a process of going through your history to see if you have the capability of doing it. Last year I asked if I could have the opportunity to do it, and after two weeks of processing I was told I could.”
What was it like playing in the ceremony? Lejandre said…
“Very nerve wracking, very off putting as-well since I’m right in front of the first row of people and the guest parties and they’re all seriously looking directly at me. I look to the side to see the camera guy and I’m thinking just breathe.”
Lastly, do you think playing for this year’s ceremony provided a valuable experience? Lejandre answered with…
“I did, it’s not only a very big honour to do it, but it’s also something big that everybody knows about. It’s something that holds significance to our country. I think giving a student the responsibility and honour of doing this is nice because it gives them a boost of confidence and it becomes a life experience.”
As the years get further away from the day the Anzacs landed in Gallipoli, the memory of our fallen soldiers lives on in the coming generations that will uphold traditions that we have held close to ourselves and country to commemorate and acknowledge their sacrifices.
Thanks for tuning in, and we’ll see you again next week!
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