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Poets Corner

Group comprising (from left) Lieutenant Colonel W B Lesslie, a Canadian officer attached to the Royal Enginers; Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick, 3rd Field Ambulance; Lieutenant-Colonel Edmund Bowler, Beach Commander Gallipoli; and Major C H Villiers-Stuart, Intelligence Officer. In front is Kirkpatrick's donkey "Murphy". Bowler has his arm in a sling because of a wound incurred upon landing. Photograph taken before 17 May 1915, in front of Bowler's dugout, by an unknown photographer. Villiers-Stuart was killed on 17 May 1915. Private Kirkpatrick was killed on 19 May 1915. Photo via digitalnz.org
Poets Corner 

A Donkey’s Tale

07/02/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 129 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

I’m just a little donkey, standing four foot four It was never my intention, to serve in the First World

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Australian Fusiliers of the 45th Battalion in Russia, 1919. Photo AWM 04700
Poets Corner 

THE FORGOTTEN ARMY

21/01/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 361 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

It was a time of revolution, with monarchs on their knees Freedom and the rights of man, were carried on

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Australian National Flag. Courtesy PM&C.
Poets Corner 

Australia Day

20/01/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 470 Views 0 Comments By George Mansford

The night before the historic day, campfires were well alight Burning with true blue flickering flames so bright Creeping warmth

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Poets Corner 

THE TRAIN

08/01/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 481 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

THERE’S A PASSAGE IN THE BIBLE, I TRUELY DO BELIEVE A TIME TO LOVE, A TIME TO LAUGH AND A

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Australian soldiers in France. Photo by Sergeant Janine Fabre
Poets Corner 

Memoirs of an Infantry RSM

08/01/2023 Mick Shave 811 Views 0 Comments By Michael Shave

In 1961, as a 17 year old, my service (REME) began amongst some very intelligent and witty National Servicemen. Against

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'T-wall' art in Tarin Kot, Afghanistan. Photo by Brian Hartigan
Poets Corner 

A MOTHERS PRAYER

01/01/202301/01/2023 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1074 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

There are those in this great country, who stand out in a crowd And overcome adversity, to make our nation

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C-130J Hercules aircraft from No.37 Squadron fly in formation over RAAF Base Richmond. Photo by Corporal Craig Barrett.
Poets Corner 

THEY’D BE LOST WITHOUT US

21/12/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 265 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

No one gives a second glance, as we fly through the sky When we cruise overhead, few will wonder why

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Trooper Jakob West from Rifle Company Butterworth Rotation 137 fights through the final objective, covering arduous terrain through dense jungle. Story by Captain Diana Jennings. All photos by Bombardier Guy Sadler.
Poets Corner 

A Reflection

18/12/2022 Mick Shave 529 Views 0 Comments By Michael Shave

Beside that track in jungle green (Bare the bayonet, beat the drum.), Sweat-soaked, dirty, thus unseen (Bare the bayonet, beat

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Poets Corner 

When the copper’s back is turned

14/12/202214/12/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 380 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

When night falls like an evil veil, you’re out there on patrol To protect the weak and uphold the law,

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Poets Corner 

The Misery of War Never Ends

12/12/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 489 Views 0 Comments By George Mansford

Soldiers are trained to kill and endure battle din No second chance, no shoulder shrugging or apologetic grin They bayonet,

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The wreckage of Lockheed Hudson A16-68 near Dight Street, Richmond. National Archives of Australia, via Australia @ War
Poets Corner 

THE TEARS AT CHRISTMAS

10/12/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 578 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

IT WAS THE FESTIVE SEASON, SO MANY YEARS AGO WHEN A TALE OF HAPPINESS, WOULD SUDDENLY TURN TO WOE THEY

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The Montevideo Maru
Poets Corner 

The Montevideo Maru

30/11/202230/11/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 490 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton, Montevideo Maru

How easy to forget, the slaughter that raged here For what was once a place of peace, became an abyss

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Australian Army Sergeant Tarese Heath (operating ventilator) and US colleagues transfer a wounded patient from a medical evacuation helicopter to the Emergency Department of the Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad, Iraq. Photo by Major Patricia Anderson, US Army.
Poets Corner 

Space Age Angels

14/11/202214/11/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 431 Views 0 Comments By George Mansford

You ask this old soldier where I’ve been Oh, to see the space age medics and their teams So many

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Placing a poppy on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial. Photo by Corporal Nunu Campos.
Poets Corner 

DO WE REALLY HONOUR OUR PAST?

14/11/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 396 Views 0 Comments By George Mansford

Stand tall and proud for all those yesterdays When our flag of unity was first flown to lead the way

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The State Gun Carriage, pulled by the British Royal Navy, carrying the coffin of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as it moves along the procession route in London, during the state funeral of The Queen. Photo by Sergeant Jarrod McAneney.
Poets Corner 

Our Late Queen

30/10/202230/10/2022 Mick Shave 597 Views 0 Comments By Michael Shave

Tap, pause; tap, pause; tap, pause. A lonely sound which echoes round an ancient hall. And to its beat In

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Poets Corner 

The Power of Kokoda

07/10/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 549 Views 0 Comments By Dean Trevaskis

I’ll never known the sickening sound a fifteen-pounder makes That blows a mate to pieces as the ground around you

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Australian soldiers from 8th/12th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, fire M2A 105mm howitzers as part of a reenactment during the 80th anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin commemorative ceremony in Darwin, Northern Territory. Original photo by Leading Seaman Shane Cameron, digitally altered by CONTACT.
Poets Corner 

THE STOCKMAN’S DAUGHTER

03/10/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 605 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

This town is still familiar, for I lived here long ago Gazing down Kelly St, the memories begin to flow

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A Mk VIII Spitfire, sporting the 'Grey Nurse' moniker used by 'Bobby' Gibbes, flying at the Australian International Airshow at Avalon, Victoria (2011). This aircraft is now part of the RAAF's No. 100 Squadron, also known as the Air Force Heritage Squadron. Photo by Brian Hartigan.
Poets Corner 

THE GHOST OF BOBBY GIBBES

30/08/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 914 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

Wartime fighter pilots, gallant knights of the air Few would ever make that claim, they wouldn’t ever dare Bobby Gibbes

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Australian Task Force Base at Nui Dat.
Poets Corner 

The Final Wakey (last night in Nui Dat)

18/08/202231/07/2022 Posted by Brian Hartigan 699 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

For twelve months, this place has been, the sum of all our fears But sadly, for many, it was their

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A headstone of an unknown Australian soldier. Photo by Corporal Jake Sims.
Poets Corner 

To the ones who didn’t come home

15/08/2022 Tom Liddell 562 Views 0 Comments By Tom Liddell

To the man who volunteered To fight a noble war In a country far away He’d never heard before He

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Contact Publishing Pty Ltd is an independent veteran owned and operated Australian publishing business that curates this daily blog, a fortnightly newsletter and a quarterly magazine – only available by subscribing free (above).

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