Anzac Day: 25th April

Peter Roberts

Well-Known Member
52-IMG_2735 - Copy.JPG
Australian Memorial Park, Fromelles, France


11-IMG_2548 - Copy.JPG
Pheasant Wood Cemetery, France


IMG_0003 - Copy.jpg
Australian Cemetery, Nunhead, UK


And I can't help but wonder, now Willie McBride,
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you the Cause?
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?

Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.

No Man's Land: Eric Bogle

 
Er fiel im Oktober 1918, an einem Tag, der so ruhig und still war an der ganzen Front, dass der Heeresbericht sich nur auf den Satz beschränkte, im Westen sei nichts Neues zu melden.
 
I was thinking of Bertolt Brecht.
Yes, those are powerful words. They all express how a human life seems to be a negligible quantity to those who plunge nations into war. There is no respect or appreciation, let alone awe for the preciousness of each single life, all the effort, care, hope and love that goes into raising each one of our kind. All that is so easily forgotten once a dictator decides he doesn't like a line on a map...
 
Er fiel im Oktober 1918, an einem Tag, der so ruhig und still war an der ganzen Front, dass der Heeresbericht sich nur auf den Satz beschränkte, im Westen sei nichts Neues zu melden.
Und sehr wirklich gesprochen, Stefan.

My subject is war, and the pity of war: Wilfred Owen (Died 4th Nov 1918)
 
I know a bit of Brecht poetry because my wife graduated with a thesis about him. Remarque, I haven't read him, but I listened to an extract from "All Quiet On The Western Front" at the radio, and it was a strong/powerful experience.
 
I am impressed by your wife's achievement! I know very little Brecht and am not very well versed in literature at all. However, I read Remarqu and he has given a powerful account of the experience of a generation. He is on one side of the spectrum of the German post war literature, yet there were more controversial authors such as Ernst Jünger and also pro-war authors. I have no idea at all about the literary reception of the first world War in Italy - I'm just guessing you are Italian, Gianluca?
 
Back
Top