Never forget what happened in Hiroshima
I grew up learning about the indescribable terror inflicted on Hiroshima and Nagasaki through the atomic bombings of 1945, which ended World War II.
I found it chilling to be standing on the site of such savagery inflicted on innocent civilians, which tragically, in all likelihood, could have been avoided, had Japan surrendered earlier. The magnitude of the terror rained down on this vibrant city was impossible for my mind to grasp (as it had also been a year prior, when I walked the blood-stained earth of Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland).
Now, as we approach the 80th anniversary of those notorious days – August 6 when the United States detonated the atomic bomb over Hiroshima and August 9, over Nagasaki – it remains for me an impossibility to comprehend such brutality. More than 100,000 lives were lost in the blink of an eye, and another 100,000 in the devastating aftermath, from gruesome burns and injuries, or radiation poisoning. Such numbers can become just statistics: but each is a husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, young and old alike subjected to hell on Earth, as they went about their daily routine.
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The Hiroshima Peace Memorial offers excruciatingly distressing, graphic evidence of the cruelty and annihilation of the cataclysmic event that occurred on this meticulously restored site. Foremost in my mind have remained the heart-wrenching testimonies of the few survivors still able to share their harrowing tales these decades later, as they sit on the tortured ground of Hiroshima surrounding the memorial – supported by passionate descendants and anti-nuclear activists, many of whom have made it their life's work to preach the futility of violence and war.
But, as I sit and stare, motionless and aching at the never-ending coverage of the barbarism around our world today, I ask myself if humanity is actually capable of change. Could there ever be a day when the world can be at peace, in which megalomaniacs aren't able to wield such power, in which people of different religions, race and ethnicity can live side by side in harmony?
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History teaches that such a day will likely never come, but we here who enjoy the relative calm of life, geographically distanced from the horrors across the world, must not look away. Rather, we share the responsibility to make our world a better place.
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The Advertiser
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- The Advertiser
A friendship preserved: unopened WWII beer honours soldiers' pact
A humble bottle of beer now stands in the nation's war memorial, more than 80 years after it was bought as a promise of enduring friendship. Aussie WWII soldiers, Stan Lewis and Fred Hume, were shipping off with the 2/30th Infantry Battalion in early 1941 when they bought a longneck beer, pledging to share it after returning from the war. The bottle of Tooth's Draught Ale, one of Australia's oldest unopened beers, was bought from the Wingham Hotel on NSW's Mid North Coast by the young soldiers. They entrusted Stan's mother, Rubie Lewis, to look after the bottle while they were deployed, Australian War Memorial Director Matt Anderson said. "But sadly, [Stan] didn't make it back," the memorial director said. The duo was captured with around 130,000 Allied troops, including 15,000 Australians, after the surrender of Singapore to the Japanese. Both soldiers were imprisoned at Changi and Mr Lewis was sent to work on the Thai-Burma railway that claimed the lives of around 13,000 prisoners of war and more than 100,000 civilians. READ MORE: Historical weapons donated to RSL after raid on underworld figure's house Mr Lewis did not survive his imprisonment and died from disease in horrendous conditions at the age of 23 on August 25, 1943. He was buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery in Thailand. Two years later, in August 1945, Mr Hume was released as a prisoner of war and returned to Australia. He lived for another forty years, until 1986, when he died aged of 65. The Tooth's Draught Ale stayed in the Lewis family for decades as a tribute to the pair's friendship. It was passed down from Stan's mother to his sister and then his niece before it found a place in the Australian War Memorial. "We are grateful it has now been donated to the Australian War Memorial so we can share their story forged in mateship, with future generations," Assistant Curator Andrew Muir said. A humble bottle of beer now stands in the nation's war memorial, more than 80 years after it was bought as a promise of enduring friendship. Aussie WWII soldiers, Stan Lewis and Fred Hume, were shipping off with the 2/30th Infantry Battalion in early 1941 when they bought a longneck beer, pledging to share it after returning from the war. The bottle of Tooth's Draught Ale, one of Australia's oldest unopened beers, was bought from the Wingham Hotel on NSW's Mid North Coast by the young soldiers. They entrusted Stan's mother, Rubie Lewis, to look after the bottle while they were deployed, Australian War Memorial Director Matt Anderson said. "But sadly, [Stan] didn't make it back," the memorial director said. The duo was captured with around 130,000 Allied troops, including 15,000 Australians, after the surrender of Singapore to the Japanese. Both soldiers were imprisoned at Changi and Mr Lewis was sent to work on the Thai-Burma railway that claimed the lives of around 13,000 prisoners of war and more than 100,000 civilians. READ MORE: Historical weapons donated to RSL after raid on underworld figure's house Mr Lewis did not survive his imprisonment and died from disease in horrendous conditions at the age of 23 on August 25, 1943. He was buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery in Thailand. Two years later, in August 1945, Mr Hume was released as a prisoner of war and returned to Australia. He lived for another forty years, until 1986, when he died aged of 65. The Tooth's Draught Ale stayed in the Lewis family for decades as a tribute to the pair's friendship. It was passed down from Stan's mother to his sister and then his niece before it found a place in the Australian War Memorial. "We are grateful it has now been donated to the Australian War Memorial so we can share their story forged in mateship, with future generations," Assistant Curator Andrew Muir said. A humble bottle of beer now stands in the nation's war memorial, more than 80 years after it was bought as a promise of enduring friendship. Aussie WWII soldiers, Stan Lewis and Fred Hume, were shipping off with the 2/30th Infantry Battalion in early 1941 when they bought a longneck beer, pledging to share it after returning from the war. The bottle of Tooth's Draught Ale, one of Australia's oldest unopened beers, was bought from the Wingham Hotel on NSW's Mid North Coast by the young soldiers. They entrusted Stan's mother, Rubie Lewis, to look after the bottle while they were deployed, Australian War Memorial Director Matt Anderson said. "But sadly, [Stan] didn't make it back," the memorial director said. 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"We are grateful it has now been donated to the Australian War Memorial so we can share their story forged in mateship, with future generations," Assistant Curator Andrew Muir said. A humble bottle of beer now stands in the nation's war memorial, more than 80 years after it was bought as a promise of enduring friendship. Aussie WWII soldiers, Stan Lewis and Fred Hume, were shipping off with the 2/30th Infantry Battalion in early 1941 when they bought a longneck beer, pledging to share it after returning from the war. The bottle of Tooth's Draught Ale, one of Australia's oldest unopened beers, was bought from the Wingham Hotel on NSW's Mid North Coast by the young soldiers. They entrusted Stan's mother, Rubie Lewis, to look after the bottle while they were deployed, Australian War Memorial Director Matt Anderson said. "But sadly, [Stan] didn't make it back," the memorial director said. 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The Age
15 hours ago
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