Tens of thousands flock to Anzac Day dawn services
Labor Leader Bill Shorten and Prime Minister Scott Morrison joined thousands at dawn services. Photo: AAP
More than a century after the first Anzac Day dawn service, tens of thousands of Australians rose before the sun Thursday morning to remember the fallen.
Major General Greg Bilton, Army Commander Forces Command, described the arrival of young Australians on the shores of Gallipoli under the cover of darkness on April 25, 1915, a seminal event in the nation’s history.
“It’s both reassuring and significant that here and in thousands of places across this great country and around the world, groups of Australians, young and old, have chosen to gather in the dark noiselessly just as those young men did,” he told the Sydney dawn service.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison attended the dawn service in the Queensland city of Darwin and Labor leader Bill Shorten attended the Darwin services, as they took a break from campaigning ahead of the May 18 federal election.
Mr Morrison spoke of his grandfather and Sergeant Brett Till, who was killed in Afghanistan while defusing a roadside bomb a decade ago.
The Prime Minister told the story of Sgt Till, who left behind a pregnant wife, Bree, who later gave birth to their son Ziggy, highlighting the families who also suffered because of war and their loved one’s sacrifices.
“The men and women of our ADF come from every part of our continent,” he said.
“And with their service, a new generation of families who know the cost of war and sacrifice support them.”
The PM joined the commemoration at Townsville. Photo: AAP
Mr Shorten also praised the legacy of those who served, and continue to serve, during brief remarks in Darwin.
“We can live our lives because of Australians who gave theirs, and because of those who serve us still, in the uniform of our nation,” the Opposition Leader said.
The many thousands of Australians who gathered to pay their tributes in the early hours are expected to be joined by crowds gathering for the Anzac marches later Thursday.
Corporal Mark Donaldson, who a decade ago became the first recipient of Australia’s highest military honour for bravery in more than 40 years, spoke at the dawn service at the War Memorial in Canberra.
He paid homage to Australia’s oldest living Victoria Cross recipient, Keith Payne, saying all Australians had an obligation to such people.
“We honour their sacrifice by living a good life in support of others, respecting the freedoms given us and inspiring others to build a better Australia and a stronger Anzac spirit,” he told a crowd of thousands of people.
“We should strive to be worthy of these sacrifices made for us.”
Mr Payne – who risked his life to save 40 men in Vietnam – will join Adelaide’s annual march.
An estimated 25,000 people crowded Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance. Photo: AAP
Iraq and East Timor veteran Corporal Darren Carr was one of an estimated 25,000 people at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance.
Corporal Carr’s grandfathers fought in Gallipoli and Borneo, but despite his own service, the veteran said he didn’t feel Anzac Day is about him.
“[It’s] not about what I sacrificed, [it’s] about what people sacrificed before me,” he said.
Thousands crowded into Brisbane’s refurbished Anzac Square for the service, while the Gold Coast’s Currumbin beach again hosted one of the most spectacular services at Elephant Rock.
At Villers-Bretonneux in the French countryside, the Last Post will echo once again at dawn after Mr Morrison intervened in February to stop the local service being moved to later in the morning.
Defence Minister Christopher Pyne will attend the French service, while assistant minister for the Pacific, Anne Ruston, will be in Papua New Guinea.
Turkey is also closely monitoring the safety of Australians at commemorative events on the Gallipoli peninsula, which Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell will attend amid heightened security fears.
A suspected member of Islamic State was arrested in Tekirdag, a northwest province close to the Gallipoli peninsula, over an alleged plot to attack the Anzac Day services at Gallipoli in retaliation for the Christchurch massacre.
-with AAP
