photos: © Jim Eu, PerthNow, Daniel Wilkins, AWMCollection
ANZAC day remembrance
Stan Gurney VC Memorial Criterium
I think of Australia a hundred
years ago as an idyllic strip of continent, where peace and quiet mean the same
thing. Where darkness means pitch black. Where silence literally can be silent.
Where colours can form a rainbow anywhere, without rain and sun being present.
First settlers should have been are torn between believing they have finally
had found heaven on earth and not believing they had actually made it so far.
Life in that Australia should sometimes have been hard: hard work is needed to
keep the food coming on the table. But I imagine it as fair. It was fair
because if you did work hard, you did get the food on the table. And in the
spare moments they enjoyed the enormous sense of freedom that the surrounding
nature gave them. Each day they considered themselves lucky to be here.
I cannot comprehend how it must
have felt like when the Queen asked Australia to help the Crown out regarding
its interest in the Middle East in 1914. Why should Australian young men risk
their lives on the other side of the world, when they finally found some peace
and quiet after trotting half the world? It is not like we have already entered
the era of the Global Economy.
But most historic sites quote a
great enthusiasm by the general public when the war came about. Volunteers were
easy to find. Finally! A chance to get out of this dry, barren, fly-infested
red hell! Start anew in glorious Europe. Times have changed I guess. Or may be
not: humans generally try to find the grass perceived to be greener.
The first combat involving
Australia and New Zealand was in Egypt (1915), and is now known as Anzac Day.
The operation ended in a deception, but a successful retreat prevented a lot of
casualties. On Anzac day, Australia remembers. It remembers all that have
served in any war or duty.
Stan Gurney was one of the men to
be called upon in the 2nd World War. He first served in Palestina
and Syria. In 1942 he was send to Egypt, to halt the Eastward push of the Axis
forces. In a fierce battle he was killed, a battle that was thought to be ill
conceived with inadequate support.
“Carrying a rifle and bayonet, Gurney
rushed over open ground through a hail of fire, bayoneted three Germans and
captured their machine-gun post. He then charged a second emplacement,
bayoneted two of the enemy and sent back one prisoner. While preparing to
attack a third post, he was blown off his feet by a grenade burst. Undeterred,
he stormed the position. His comrades saw him 'using the bayonet with great
vigour' before he disappeared from view and was killed.”
Stan Gurney was awarded the
Victorian Cross, the highest award in the Australian honours system. Stan was a
good cyclist, winning a couple of road races. In the Stan Gurney V.C. Memorial
race, he is commemorated, every year, since 1943.
I was amazed by such a genuine and
honest display of patriotism. No French arrogance, no Dutch belittleness. Why
is it that Dutch lack that patriotic feeling, that urge to show remembrance for
those who have served? We do celebrate 4th (remembrance day) and 5th
(liberation day) May, but it just is not the same. The feeling of unity just is
not present as it is here, or elsewhere for that matter. Is it because we have
not been victorious, lately? Furthermore, only the 5th is a day off,
and only if the year can be divided by 4. Any excuse to sacrifice a public
holiday, which we are already short of…
So here I was racing on ANZAC day,
in remembrance of Stan Gurney. I felt great being part of such a patriotic
tradition. The only downside was that it was a Criterium: a 1500m loop with two
hot dog (180°) corners and two ninety-degree
turns. Not my favourites, but therefore a perfect training. In all fairness I
was curious where I was at after all the training. The only Crits I finished
were the Kardynia training Crits, with very forgiving turns.
To my surprise I managed well, but
after every turn I did have to close the gap, every time again. Breaking is not
the issue, getting the 6’6” around the plastic cone isn’t the issue; it is the
pure acceleration after each turn that is the issue. It is the pure will, or
urge, wanting to be up there again that I lack.
“There is nothing real about a crit”,
I moant beforehand.
“Ha!, an individual time trial is”,
Roy replied. I tried to build a case, rested it. Point taken, 1-0 for Roy.
However, I finished 9th,
and I was pretty pleased with that. After having chased two that broke away I
left the gap for Michael Frieberg, who managed to make the crossing. I saw how
he made the turns and I will copy him in every Crit to come: that is how you
attack a corner. It turned out to be the break that stayed away, also due to
good work by Darren, Brad and me in the group behind. As a team Aussie Crates
rode well, dominated this turn-twisted Crit. Brad had a go two laps before the
end which looked promising, but he didn’t succeed to stay away. I tried to lead
in the sprint as much a possible and was surprised how close we came to the
four in the end.
After the Crit I went for coffee
with the Elite Racing cycle team. In Kalamunda we had a big mug (and they serve
even bigger), with a guitar player in the back worth remembering. It completed
the chilled-out atmosphere. I was already looking forward to the ‘Death Valley’
time trial of tomorrow, which was more sort of my scene.
Having a laugh with ERC. And on the way back finally discovered the
Dutch store! Where apparently they sell everything except the peanut butter, as
the owner was asked to hand over a container for testing, which he
thought was ridiculous. Hence, no Calvé peanut butter…
ANZAC:
http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac_tradition.asp
Australia
in WWI: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/ww1.asp
Australia
remembers: http://media.news.com.au/multimedia/2009/04/anzac_day_gallery/popup.html?stats=perthnow
Stan
Gurney: http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140393b.htm