Anzac Day

25th of April we celebrated Anzac Day.My dad was an Anzac from the New Zealand 2nd Echelon in the 2nd World War, I am very proud of him for his efforts and so happy he returned relatively unscathed, he was hospitalised with shrapnel wounds and got a bullet clean through his calf muscle. My father fought in the 8th army with Britain, he was in the battle of Crete, one of the hardest fought battles, which they were forced off the island in a big hurry with bombs attacking their troop ships constantly. He then went on to fight in the battle of El Alamein against the infamous Desert Fox (Rommel), the eighth army won this battle and it was viewed as the turning point of the war.

I also admire my dearest mothers bravery and fortitude. When my dad left New Zealand on the troop ship for the other side of the world, my mother was pregnant, and while my dad was on another troop ship from Britain (he was also in the battle of Britain) to Crete, when my baby brother was born only to live about 24 hours. My mother wasn't let out of the hospital for his burial and never knew where he was buried. She left our home town of Gisborne and went to Petone to work in the munitions factory there. Above is a treasured photo of her with fellow work mates. She is the one on the right, back row. She wasn't to see my dad for over three years, this must of seemed like a lifetime, not knowing if he would come back at all, in fact he was reported as missing in action at one stage. When he finally came back to New Zealand on furlough, they wanted to send him back again so he went AWOL until the end of the war, he felt he had done more than his duty and it was time to send new recruits, by this stage my Mum was pregnant with me and there was no way he was going back to war and leaving her to cope on her own again. Anzac is a day to remember these men and women who fought to make a better world for us. To reflect on the time they missed out on of their youth, the dangers they experienced.

I will be unable to blog for the next few weeks as we go to Dwellingup to spend a week with Nina Bagley and then off to Melbourne to run the Art Retreat where we will have Nina, Misty Mawn and Tracey Batista as Tutors, can't get better than that. Will have plenty to blog about when we get back.