Once Upon a Time

ANZAC - 25th April

Every year in Australia and NZ, on this day, we commemorate the men and women who risk/risked their lives for peace. It is known here as ANZAC Day for those who do not know of this.

Last year hubby and I went to Canberra for a break, and spent some time at the National War Memorial. I was particularly interested as I have two Great Uncles killed in WW1, and my Dad was in WW2: after serving in Syria for two years, he was captured in Java by the Japanese and spent three and a half years as a POW on the infamous 'Burma Railway', including at Hell Fire Pass. So I have a passing interest in the War Memorial. We found the names of my two Uncles (William and James) on the honour boards: William was killed in Gallipoli at Lone Pine and of James, who also was at Gallipoli  but who went on to fight and die in France. I purchased a poppy for each one and like so many before me placed it besides their name on the honour boards. 

A year before we had been in Canberra for Anzac Day and had got up at some unearthly hour to travel into the city for the Dawn Service at the War Memorial.  It was an amazing experience as we and thousands of others stood in the growing light of dawn and listened to the sound of the Last Post being played and the magpies and other birds falling silent along with  the huge crowd for the minute's silence. I took some photo's  of that event too.

There are many other exhibits at the War Memorial, and this last visit we enjoyed looking particularly at the exhibit of the Lancaster bomber G for George, which is there.  We were reminded of this over Easter when we went to Brisbane to visit a man who is the last surviving bomber pilot in Queensland to fight in WW2, and who also happens to be a friend of my husband. I took some photo's of this visit and of the War Memorial last November. 

I have decided to make a small album and include all my War Memorial photo's in it.  I have only managed to get the front cover done so far - here it is. 

I think I need to border the whole again - maybe in black? The photos are either copy/paste off the War Memorial's website (background picture and the face) or my own photo - the poppies and names. All have been manipulated a bit in photo-shop and the face has been slightly coloured with copic pens - in particular his blue eyes. I used blue Copic pen on the metal bits too.  The poppies were layered once, the top layer is recoloured with Copic and then the whole of the poppies covered with Dimentional Clear.