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During our trip,
I sought out various 1st and 2nd world war related sights. Amongst
these sights were the L'arc de triomphe, Churchill's monument
in Paris, a typical French village cenotaph and Hitler's Austrian
Eagles Nest.
I was fortunate to
spend Anzac Day in Paris where I laid a wreath on behalf of
the Sub Branch at the tomb of the unknown soldier in the L'arc
de triomphe and a few days later whilst in southern France at
Limoges, I, along with other Australians on our tour, paid my
respects.
Later on the tour,
I visited Hitler's "Eagles Nest" perched high up in
the Austrian Alps and wondered at the engineering feat that
saw the construction of the Eagles Nest project including the
road, tunnel, elevator and eagles nest villa completed in just
over a year in 1939.
On the way home,
we spent a week in Thailand where visited the "Bridge over
the River Kwai" at Khanchanaburi. The "Jeath"
museum, adjacent to the river provided a profound understanding
of the suffering that our POWs encountered during the construction
of the 'Death Railway'. The Khanchanaburi cemetery is beautifully
maintained, however the sight of so many head stones really
brought home the absolute futility of war.
Ray Fellenberg
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