QUOTE FOR THE DAY

Yesterday I mentioned General Birdwood, in charge of the ANZAC troops at Gallipoli, having vetoed the horses of the Australian mounted troops being landed due to lack of room, and their return to Alexandria.

Birdwood (1865 – 1951) saw active service in the Second Boer War on the staff of Lord Kitchener. He saw action again in the First World War as Commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915, leading the landings on the peninsula and then the evacuation later in the year, before becoming commander-in-chief of the Fifth Army on the Western Front during the closing stages of the war.

The following Quote for the Day is from the vault:

When he wasn't saluted by an Australian soldier, Lieutenant General William Riddel Birdwood (above), British commander of the Gallipoli forces, asked the Digger if he knew who he was.

"Not a bloody clue," he said.

"I'm General Birdwood".

The Digger responded: "Then why don't you wear feathers in your arse like any other bird would?"

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