ANZAC DAY DAWN SERVICE

Over 500 locals turned out at 5.30am on Anzac morning to show their respect for Australia’s Anzacs. Attendance at the dawn service at the War Memorial in Charles Harper Park is increasing each year and the service is a moving tribute to the fallen.

The Helensburgh Lions Club service later in the morning, at the Stanwell Tops memorial, was also well attended.
The Anzac spirit, that of young men who fought at Galipoli in 1915 who were keen to show that Australia was growing as a nation and had a force to be reckoned with, seems to have grown stronger and stronger recently. Many people are now recognising that Anzac Day has grown beyond just acknowlegeing the great sacrifice of the Anzacs, to all Australians who have lost their lives through war.

Anzac day is not about the glorification of war, but the mourning of young men and women who never came home from the battlefield.

Linda Bunclark