The Anzac tradition—the ideals of courage, endurance and mateship that are still relevant today—was established on 25 April 1915 when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

It was the start of a campaign that lasted eight months and resulted in some 25,000 Australian casualties, including 8,700 who were killed or died of wounds or disease.

The men who served on the Gallipoli Peninsula created a legend, adding the word ‘ANZAC’ to our vocabulary and creating the notion of the ANZAC spirit.

In 1916, the first anniversary of the landing was observed in Australia, New Zealand and England and by troops in Egypt. That year, 25 April was officially named ‘ANZAC Day’ by the Acting Prime Minister, George Pearce.

REMEMBERING THE FALLEN AT DAWN

Written by Georgia Tacey, Shepparton News

As the sun began to rise, thousands gathered in Shepparton to pay their respects on Friday, April 25.

Well before the 6am start, crowds formed near the Shepparton Centopah, filling the streets and parks to catch a glimpse of the march before the ceremony began on the 110th anniversary of Anzac Day.

Shepparton’s Anzac Day dawn commemorative service was led by Brian McInneny, with a welcome address by Shepparton RSL president Rob Wilkie.

The special guest speaker for the morning service was Royal Australian Armoured Corps Warrant Officer Class One, Sean McElhinney. Mr McElhinney has accrued 30 years of service, with deployments to East Timor and Afghanistan. Currently, he serves as Regimental Sergeant Major of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps, and spends his time with family, including his parents from Shepparton.

“On this day, we honour not only the original Anzacs, but all the men and women who have served their nation in war, in conflict zones and in peacekeeping missions,” he said.

“From trenches to deserts, from jungles to skies and seas, they served with honour, shaping the character of our country with strength and resolve.”

Mr McElinney spoke of his own experiences of a dawn service, April 25, while on deployment in Afghanistan.

“We stood in silence, thousands of miles from home, yet connected by an unbreakable thread to those who had come before us. The familiar words of The Ode resonated differently there in a place where danger was not a distant concept but a daily reality,” he said.

The Dawn Service observed on Anzac Day has its origins in an operational routine which is still observed by the Australian Army today.

The half-light of dawn plays tricks with soldiers’ eyes and from the earliest times the half-hour or so before dawn, with all its grey, misty shadows, became one of the most favoured times for an attack. Soldiers in defensive positions were therefore woken up in the dark, before dawn, so that by the time the first dull grey light crept across the battlefield they were awake, alert and manning their weapons. This was, and still is, known as “Stand-to”. It was also repeated at sunset.

After the First World War, returned soldiers sought the comradeship they felt in those quiet, peaceful moments before dawn. With symbolic links to the dawn landing at Gallipoli, a dawn stand-to or dawn ceremony became a common form of Anzac Day remembrance during the 1920s; the first official dawn service was held at the Sydney Cenotaph in 1927. Dawn services were originally very simple and followed the operational ritual; in many cases they were restricted to veterans only.

Pausing to remember

At 11am on November 11, 1918, the guns fell silent on the battlefields as the Armistice was signed to end World War I.

On the same day this year, a crowd of about 250 people gathered at the Shepparton Cenotaph to remember all those who have fought and died for Australia in all wars and peacekeeping missions.

Shepparton RSL sub-branch president Bob Wilkie asked those gathered this year to especially remember the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings at beach in France on June 6, 1944, which he said many considered to be the turning point of World War II.

“Remember the great Australians who gave their lives to protect Australia,” Mr Wilkie said.

This year’s guest speaker was Leigh Johnson – who spent four years in the Army Reserve with the 8th/7th Battalion Royal Victorian Regiment.

Two of Mr Johnson’s sons also spent time in the Army Reserve, including one who went through training at the same time as him, making the pair one of the few fathers and sons to do their training together.

In recent years, Mr Johnson was responsible for implementing a youth vigil where members of Shepparton’s Army and Air Force Cadet units perform a holding ground ceremony at the Shepparton Cenotaph on Anzac Day eve.

Mr Johnson paid tribute to his grandfather Archie Johnson who served in the British Navy in both World War I and II.

“He was a man who didn’t speak a lot of his service,” he said.

“What he did say made you proud.”

He also remembered his father-in-law Stan Gough who served in World War II.

Originally from New Zealand, and now a police officer at Shepparton police, Mr Johnson spoke of members of his tribe, the Ngati Poru, who were killed in action, as well as two serving police officers who also died in war.

Mr Johnson spoke of the “too many” who had died or were injured in fighting for Australia in World War I.

As many lay in cemeteries and unmarked graves throughout the world, memorials were erected in towns throughout Australia to those who had died.

On Remembrance Day each year, it is at these war memorials where people gather to remember the fallen, as well as those who served, or continue to serve.

“It’s a tradition that has endured for more than a century,” Mr Johnson said.

Mr Wilkie, perhaps summed up best what most of us really want.

“We as old and new Australians, and newcomers to our country, we ask we all stand for peace,” Mr Wilkie said.

Story by Monique Preston, Shepparton News
Photos by Megan Fisher, Shepparton News