Australians+at+War+2+-+Anthony

You are a war correspondent on the Gallipoli battlefield. Report on the day that Archie died from your position as an observer. (i.e. write in the first person) Include in your report details of the issues encountered, a timeline of events and the people involved. Provide your personal reflection on the day. What were your feelings, observations and concerns.

=Timeline of events the day that Archie Hamilton died.=

6:00 A.M.- [|The Last Post]was played not long ago now. I can already hear the sound of Rifle and Cannon fire going off in the near distance. Frank looks really tired. He obviously desprately needs rest. There was no way that he slept last night after losing a mate he has known for so long. The loss has severly weakened him as as solidier and as a runner. Far more than physical toll could possibly take on him. I just hope he is able too pull his head together act under pressure when he needs too or im afraid it may cost him his life. Archie is trying to provide him with whatever support he can but not doing so well as its hard to provide any support in this hostile place. Whenever Archie turns his way Frank puts on a brave face ans says his fine. but his not. You can easily see that he isn't okay but by putting on a brave face at least is shows he has some strength left.

7:00 A.M.- Getting ready Finaly with lots of persuasion from Archie, Frank has finally gotten some food into himself. The conditions here are horrible. I am sure they match how many people are felling in some respects. However all the men here still have hope, even Archie and more importantly Frank. They all want revenge and to prove their strength as a country. I know they won't give up when they are called to battle. We have told that our platoon is going to have a metting in an hour so we know that our time to fight is nearly up. It sounds important and im sure these men will be up to the challenge.

8:00 A.M.- Briefed by ... in.... We have just been told our mission is to distract the enemy so that the British forces can get to shore safely. They say that the sucess of that whole operation at Gallipoli depends on the sucess of the British forces and we have to aid them in any way that we can. All the men think that this ridiculous and that the British shouln't require any aid to get ashore. If there goal is to distract the enemy why dont they just use Cannon fire to keep their eyes on us. If we go through we this i fear that many good men will die no reason. Worse still,we are not allowed to go in with any ammunition and only our bayonets. They want the enemys full force on us and we can't we even use the rifles for what they were made for. Even our Captain thinks that this attack shouild not go on. This really is a suicide mission. All the men look really depressed but Arhie still has the abilty to put a smile on some mens faces. However Frank looks like his never been in a worse codition.

9:00 A.M.- Frank becomes runner The Captain has asked to speak with Archie alone. The Captain has asked him to be a runner because as soon as the firing starts communications willl not a last five minutes before they go out. Archie however has managed to convince the captain to put Frank as a runner instead, as they are just as fast as each other. This is because Archie feels guilty that Frank is even here. Frank had hopes and dreams like starting up a bike shop and now that may never happen. The Captain has agreed and i think archie may have just saved Franks life as i don't see how he can fight considering his mental condition. I just hope that Frank will be able perform under pressure especially after all that his been through. For that is the only thing that will save him. Frank has agreed to be a runner.

10:00 A.M. - Place of battle - environment - feelings - mood We have just arrived at the place we will be launching the attack. The area is absolutey desolate and hostile. The terrain is nothing like the sandy desserts that we trained on to become soildiers. Although it is slightly better for running. The only problem is that because everybody it is cramped up together in these narrow trenches it would be hard to make any progress well trying to run to different commanders, but i guess that they will clearout when the fighting begins. However with all the chaos from gunfire and bombardments from cannons that cause the ground to shake will turn running from a simple act at an impossible challenge. As i said, i just hope Frank will stay cool under pressure and perform his duties to the best of his ability as his life will depend on it.

12.00 noon - Archie dies We have just hit the enemy trenches with some of our heviest bombardments.The ground shakes and then suddenly the whistle blows. The first wave of soildiers are jumping out of the trenches but their being shot dount down before they make it three meters. Many are falling back down into the trenches as they die. The first wave of men are dead in just under a few minutes. They have no effect on the enemy what so ever. The Captain is on the phone with the General begging to abort the attack when suddenly the cummunication system goes down. He has sent Frank to explain what is going meanwhile the Captain has sent another wave of men to fight but has ended with the same result. Frank has just gotten back with bad news, the general has said to continue the attacj as he has been given false information about marker flags being sighted in enemy trenches. THe Captain sends Frank to get clearance for the attack from an even higher Commander but has huury as Archie is in the next wave to fight. Communications have come back online and the General is demanding the Captain to send the next wave of attackers. Archie is going through the ritual he went through with his grandfather everyday to make him the athlete he is. These will be one of final action in this lifetime. Frank is on his way back with news to stop the attack but its late. The whistle has been blown Archie is running out towards the enemy treches. He has covered more ground then any of the other soildiers but no support. He is easily shot down. Meanwhile Frank has fallen down in disappointment, fustration and anger due to losing another one of his best mates due to this war.He crawls up to the captain and says to cancel the attack. It turns out that the British didn't even meet any resistance when approaching the beach. This ultimately means many good men have lost theirs lives for a pointless batlle with no objective. The Captain is just as disdrought as Frank as he knows he sent those men to their doom. The few surviving men slowly walk back to their base camp.

2:00 pm - Aftermath of the battle -- feelings-- feelings-- feelings Frank has never been in such grief as he does now. Nobody is able to provide him with any comfort as he just removes himself from the presence of others. His angry with himself, if he ran faster Archie may still be alive, If the General had listened to him and called off the attack, If they hadn't swaped places, if they hadn't come to this horrid place to begin with.These events have now passed and can never been changed. They still could have been mates back in Australia. Frank feels so helpless, that there is nothing he can do.This is true now though. There is nothing he can do. 3:00 pm Keeping to myself Frank is being seen by a medic. These past events have taken such a heavy toll on his mind he can no longer take. He has been listed to be brought back to austalia as he is mentally unfit to fight.As are many of the few surviving men. This includes the captain. He refuses to eat and or go near any This is truly the worst day in Frank's life. =Personal Reflection=

I personally thought this was a very good movie and it accurately demonstrated the events and trauma that many men were going through. For example how they knew they were going to die as soon as they went over the trech walls. Yet they still followed orders from various commanders who were making decisions when they clearly had no idea what was really going on. When Archie died i was rather sad at the realisation of how many men really lived through similiar events. I believe this movie accuratly shows what life was really like and why we must do everything in our power to prevent a war from happening again. Unless archie died, i don't beleive that this message would have gotten through to viewers as it has. Thanks for reading

By Anthony