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Originally Posted by jester
And liquor was a normal ration in fighting mens ration until fairly recently.
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Ah how I remember Anzac day and it's traditions so fondly!
I was picked as a Cenotaph Guard each year I was in the army which is a huge honour (and a pain in the arse for all the polishing and drill practise you've got to do).
We'd be woken up at around 4am by the Warrant Officer (aka Sergeant Major) with a coffee heavily laced with rum. An hour later we'd be on duty for the dawn service which usually only lasted about 20 minutes
From there it was off to secure our weapons and then across the road to the pub for a few drinks, then, up to the RSL (Returned Services League) club for breakfast at 8am, followed by more drinking.
By 10am we hadn't spent a cent but weren't exactly sober... (old soldiers tend to have deep pockets on Anzac day).
Back on guard for the 11am service which was invariably held in blazing sunshine on the blackest of bitumen - not necessarily a problem until you realise that our cerimonial dress was a woollen kilt with about five layers - designed more for the cool Scottish highlands rather than the Australian summer...
An hour of sweating all the alcohol consumed eariler in the morning out of our bodies and FINALLY we could relax. Off to the RSL club once more for lunch followed by an afternoon of drinking and playing "two-up" (gambling by throwing two coins into the air and betting on the result - illegal on any other day), so by the time we headed back to the barracks late in the afternoon we'd a) performed a valuable and honourable duty as cenotaph guard, b) gotten royally drunk without spending a cents and c) fended off countless female hands seeking to find out what's really worn under a kilt
I LOVE ANZAC DAY!