Buckshot Bear

Ya' all just a bunch of old farts.....but ya' young at heart

‘WOODCHOPPING’ The sport of woodchop has its origins in 1870 in Tasmania, where legend has it a wager of £25 was made between two men, Joseph Smith and Jack Biggs. In the backyard of the Sprent Hotel in Ulverstone they chopped three-foot tall standing blocks, but a dispute broke out over the winner, resulting in a free-for-all-brawl. Impromptu contests became common, however, and the sport gradually organised, gaining in popularity as it spread to all states. In 1891 the United Australasian Axemen's Association was formed to establish rules. The first woodchopping event at the Show was held in 1899 in a paddock which doubled as a cattle ring. Programmed on the last day of the Show as an attraction to boost attendance, the match was an instant success with a crowd of 8,000 turning out to watch. Twenty-six competitors vied for prizes which ranged from £5 to £25. Four of the eight Heckenberg brothers from Green Valley, near Liverpool, were favourites, but the day was won by a Victorian named MacKinolty, who had won championships in three colonies. Despite their initial defeat, the Heckenbergs were to become stars of the sport, finishing their careers with eleven championships between them. The suburb of Heckenberg is named after them. Family dynasties of competitors have been common ever since. The Woodchop competition was successfully staged again at the 1900 Show, but was then discontinued until 1906, possibly due to the lack of an appropriate venue. Every year thereafter, Woodchop has been a feature of the Show – except for a brief, unexplained disappearance in 1910.

There's untold amounts of references by Aussie troops at Gallipoli from the day of the landing in 1915 of the Turks using Dum Dum rounds (the Aussies were also accused) - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-24/wwi-soldiers-letter-provides-vivid-account-of-gallipoli-landing/5401882

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Greatest Generation alright! I don't think it will be the same when China takes the West on

The idea of Anzac Day Image: The Dawn Service at the Cenotaph circa 1931, AWM The earliest use of the term and concept of 'Anzac Day' probably occurred in Adelaide on 13 October 1915, when the South Australian Government authorised 'a patriotic procession and carnival' to temporarily replace the traditional Eight Hours Day celebration. The name 'Anzac Day,' was chosen through a competition, and was suggested by Robert Wheeler, a draper of Prospect. Melbourne observed an Anzac Remembrance Day on 17 December 1915. Both of these days were used to raise funds to provide comforts for soldiers. The Mayor of Brisbane organised a public meeting in January 1916 to discuss commemorating Anzac Day that April, where it was resolved 'it was desirable that the first anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli should be suitably celebrated in this State, and that other States of Australia be invited to consider similar action.' This idea soon expanded to include a public holiday, of solemn observance. •••The idea of Anzac Day in Sydney In Sydney, the idea of commemorating Anzac Day on 25 April 1916 appears to have occurred to many people at the same time. Sydney City Council began discussing the commemoration of the first anniversary of Anzac in February 1916. At a meeting of the Sydney City Council Finance Committee, Alderman James Joynton Smith said he was in favour of commemorating the day, as 'there was no doubt Anzac Day would ultimately become one of the great days in the calendar of the British Empire.' On 29 March, Premier WA Holman announced the Government supported the idea of a national commemoration, including church services and a minute's silence, and was keen to see the day devoted to fundraising for a memorial, and recruiting. He also said 'the whole of the arrangements' had been placed in the hands of the Returned Soldiers' Association. •••The first Anzac Day Sydney's first Anzac Day proceeded on 25 April 1916. At nine in the morning every train and tram was brought to a standstill 'in order that the passengers may give three cheers for the King, the Empire, and the Anzacs.' At 10am, 5,000 returned soldiers paraded through the city. All government offices, and many business firms, closed from 11:30am until 2pm to enable staff to attend a combined commemoration service in the Domain, or memorial church services. One minute's silence was declared at noon. The Lord Mayor entertained the troops at a luncheon, and various theatres held matinee performances. Returned soldiers assisted with recruiting campaigns in city and suburbs. The Governor-General, the Governor, the Premier and the Lord Mayor attended a commemoration concert in the Town Hall in the evening. Throughout the day, ladies collected contributions from the public towards the Anzac Memorial Fund, raising more than £5,000 to erect a soldiers' memorial hall in the city, where returned men could meet for social purposes and obtain support and assistance. For the duration of the war, Anzac Days followed this form – a minute's silence at 1pm, church services, and a march of troops through the city to a large military memorial service in the Domain, or the Agricultural Society's Showground at Moore Park. After 1917 the Obelisk on Anzac Parade, near Moore Park, was the focus for Anzac Day observances. Recruiting remained a feature of the day. Suburban ceremonies also developed, many coinciding with the unveiling of memorials to honour local men who had served or fallen. •••Anzac Day in peacetime Australian troops did not return to great victory parades. This was partly because their arrival home depended on available shipping, but also because of the influenza epidemic of 1919, which prevented people assembling in large numbers. The 1919 parade through Sydney was cancelled as a result, but a public commemorative service was held in the Domain. Participants were required to wear masks and stand three feet apart. The 25th day of April was declared a national holiday in 1920, though it was not observed in every state until 1927, partly because of opposition from businesses who were fearful of its effect on profits. In 1929, when the Cenotaph was unveiled in Martin Place, ceremonies moved into the city. In the early 1920s returned soldiers mostly commemorated Anzac Day informally, primarily as a means of keeping in contact with each other, rather than in a major public way. But as time passed and they inevitably began to drift apart, the ex-soldiers perceived a need for an institutionalised reunion. Anzac Day began to take on a distinct form. Marches, by now traditional across Australia, were followed by a service of commemoration at the memorial, after which the soldiers would disperse to clubs or hotels for refreshments and reminiscences.

Jaws of Death, Grampians, Victoria. Circa 1947

Captain Starlight’s Cattle Raid Harry Readford Henry Arthur Readford (sometimes spelt Redford) (December 1841 – 12 March 1901), was an Australian stockman, drover and cattle thief. Although Readford himself never used, and had never been associated with the moniker, Rolf Boldrewood indicated that the 'Captain Starlight' character, in his 1882–83 novel Robbery Under Arms, was a composite of several infamous people of the era, including Readford and several bushrangers. Readford's 1870 cattle drive was a major story arc in the book. Early life Henry Arthur Redford was born in December 1841 near Mudgee in the Cudgegong District of New South Wales to a respectable family. Little is known of his early life. He originally operated locally, but later moved to Queensland where there were more opportunities for duffing. Bowen Downs Station In 1870, Redford was working as a stockman on Bowen Downs Station near Longreach in Queensland. Realising that remote parts of the property, which stretched some 228 km (142 mi) along the Thomson River, were seldom visited by station workers, he devised a plan to steal some of the station's cattle. With two associates, George Dewdney and William Rooke, he built stockyards in an outlying part of the property, and gradually assembled a mob of about 1,000 cattle, which he then took from the property, all without any of the station workers realizing what was going on. Redford knew the cattle would be recognised from their brands as being stolen if he tried to sell them in Queensland, so he headed for South Australia through the Channel Country and the Strzelecki Desert. Only ten years earlier, explorers Burke and Wills had set out to cross the continent along the same track, and died in the attempt. As a droving exercise, it was a remarkable achievement, as anyone who has travelled the present-day Strzelecki Track will know. Three months and 1,287 km (800 mi) later he exchanged two cows and a white bull for rations at Artracoona Native Well near Wallelderdine Station. They then moved the remainder of the mob via Mt Hopeless, and sold them for £5,000 (2009:A$250,000) at Blanchewater Station, east of Marree. Workers at Bowen Downs eventually discovered the yards, and the tracks heading south. A party of stockmen and Aboriginal trackers set out on the trail, many weeks behind Readford. They eventually reached Artracoona where they recognised the white bull. In April 1871 Redford married Elizabeth Jane Scuthorpe at Mrs Elizabeth Nevell's home in Lewis Street, Mudgee, NSW. The couple had at least one child, a daughter, Jemima Mary Elizabeth, in 1872. Readford was apprehended in Sydney in 1872, and faced trial in Roma, Queensland. However, the jury members were so impressed by his achievements that they found him not guilty, whereupon the judge, Charles Blakeney, remarked, "Thank God, gentlemen, that verdict is yours and not mine!" In response to the verdict, in July 1873, the Government shut down the Roma District Criminal Court for two years but rescinded the order in January 1874. In 1881, several counts of horse stealing resulted in Readford being jailed for eighteen months in Brisbane. After his release, he drove cattle from the Atherton Tableland to Dubbo. In 1883, on behalf of Macdonald, Smith and Company, Readford drove 3,000 cattle which were the first mob taken to Brunette Downs near Corella Creek on the Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory where he was the station manager. In 1899 he became the manager of McArthur River Station. Later life In 1901 Redford set off from Brunette Downs to explore Central Australia, but (in what one author would later describe as "one of the great ironies of the outback"), the man who had guided so many travelers to safety drowned on 12 March of that year, while trying to swim across Corella Creek, which had flooded due to heavy rain. An inspiration for Captain Starlight Readford became something of a national hero, and the character Captain Starlight in Rolf Boldrewood's book Robbery Under Arms was based in part on his exploits. Readford was never himself known by the name of Captain Starlight, which was the pseudonym of the bushranger Frank Pearson. Pearson had adopted the name Captain Starlight in 1868, twenty one years prior to the publication of the novel in 1889, but Boldrewood himself claimed that the Captain Starlight character in his novel was a composite of several bushrangers of the era. These did include Henry Readford, but another key inspiration was Thomas Law, the bushranger better known as Captain Midnight. In particular, the early chapters of Robbery Under Arms recall Readford's exploits, while the denouement follows the shoot-out and death of Midnight. An annual Harry Redford Cattle Drive commemorates Readford's exploits as a drover. A range of riders from the city and country participate in this droving expedition, taking part for three days or up to three weeks, at their choice.

That got put on the wrong ship.

Canadians are just Northern Hemisphere Australians