Photos: ANZAC service, Kanchanaburi

[buksida]

Spent a few days in Kan with some bikers from Hua Hin and further south to attend the ANZAC day memorial events. I had never been to a service like this before and it was a very moving experience. The temperature was noted at 41 degrees and I couldn't imagine what it would have been like for the POWs working on the railway in this heat, all I had to do was wander round and take photos ...

More to follow ...

[oakdale160]

Good on ya mate, to all the Aussies who remember their boys who gave their lives.

[Bristolian]

Every time I visit the war graves it is a moving experience. I have no relatives buried there as far as I know but it is a very tranquil and well kept war grave. Each time I visit I am still shocked by the ages of the soldiers that are buried and remembered there......the majority were so young!

Well done for attending

[dtaai-maai]

^^ 100%.

I've been to the Kanchanaburi war cemetery twice, and there is a dignified peace and tranquility about this astonishingly well-maintained site that somehow makes you stop and think.

[oakdale160]

I have no family member there. Each time I go, I get some flowers, pick a grave at random, say a prayer, say 'thank you soldier' and place the flowers. 'At the going down of the sun, we will remember them"

[Ginjaninja]

Great service and excellent trip. Hope I make it back next year along with the surviving P.O.Ws.
Thanks for the photos Buksida...
GN.

[dozer]

It is a very moving service, I have been several times over the years, go with the bike, but had to miss it this year, as I am recovering from shoulder reconstruction surgery.
My uncle, my mother’s brother was a POW there he survived, but was never the same again. According to my mother prior to the war, he was very outgoing, but after he came back, he found it difficult to communicate, became a bit of a recluse and physically never fully recovered and he passed away in 1984.

There is a excellent book published in 2010 by a surviving POW, Alistair Urquhart, The Forgotten Highlander.

[buksida]

More pics ...

A Hakka was then performed in front of the Ambassador of New Zealand - it is quite a spectacle to see up close ...

After the service we went back to the river strip where the fooball was shown from the MCG and the beer flowed. To balance the somber atmosphere at the service the Aussies and Kiwis knew how to turn one on, we had a great time amongst friendly and welcoming people, its a shame us Brits don't do anything similar.

Full gallery: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 533&type=3

[Aussie Mark]

Great photos

Was in Melbourne on ANZAC day they had an excellent march through the streets with a lot of ex service men and women from all of the different confrontations

It was good to see how its not lost on the younger generation in Australia

Then it was on to the MCG to watch Essendon v Collingwood with 95000 people in an AFL match

[buksida]

Here is the first of the vids from the ride to Kan ... with a bit of editorial license I sped up some of the riding to shorten the video.

[Big Boy]

Nice video - thanks

[Vital Spark]

Phew! That was a lovely speedy ride, Buksi. I was pinching in my knees several times...

I'm also surprised that the British don't join in the ceremony. Lots of young guys from my neck of the woods (the Anglian Regiment) are buried in the cemetery. Although I have no members of my family buried there, I always walk away from the cemetery in tears. It's a beautifully kept and serene place to ponder about the futility of war.

VS

[dozer]

Phew! That was a lovely speedy ride, Buksi. I was pinching in my knees several times...

I'm also surprised that the British don't join in the ceremony. Lots of young guys from my neck of the woods (the Anglian Regiment) are buried in the cemetery. Although I have no members of my family buried there, I always walk away from the cemetery in tears. It's a beautifully kept and serene place to ponder about the futility of war.

VS

This is a very special day for the ANZACS and the British to join in the ceremony, but you will find more attend Armistice Day.

Held on the 11th of November at Hellfire Pass and the War Cemetery. I have been few times over the years and they are always very well attended.

http://www.demotix.com/news/3202612/bri ... nchanaburi

On Armistice Day last year a group of former prisoners of war from the UK revisit the locations where they were held during the Second World War.

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/pows-mark-arm ... river-kwai

[buksida]

Here is the second vid of the ride to Srinagarind Dam.

[PeteC]

It appears that you got stopped at that road block Buks, what did they do/want? Pete