By JESSE GRAHAM
HUNDREDS of community members and war veterans gathered to pay their respects to soldiers past and present at a number of Anzac Day services last Friday.
At 5.30am on Friday 25 April, hundreds descended on the Healesville RSL, braving near-zero temperatures to take part in the annual Dawn Service.
Master of Ceremonies Bob Burgess ran the early morning service, where Yarra Ranges mayor Fiona McAllister spoke about the importance of the Anzacs and their egalitarian values.
“Anzac Day is a time when Australians and New Zealanders all around the world take time to pay tribute to brave Australians who left their homes and families to fight for the values we hold dear – democracy, equality, liberty and fraternity,” she said.
Barely a complaint was heard about the cold, and the crowd stood solemnly while Healesville High School captains Daniel Garth and Molly Brown read poems connected to World War I.
Wreaths were laid at the RSL’s new cenotaph, which featured a memorial flame and two stone monoliths, before The Ode was read by Bob Gannaway, and John Stanhope played the Last Post on bugle.
Community members then planted poppies in front of the memorial and formed a line that wove through the venue to get a traditional gunfire breakfast, before the town’s Anzac Day march and service began at 10am.
Meanwhile, another march took place in Yarra Glen, where hundreds of veterans and community group members made their way down Bell Street, to the applause of locals who lined the sides of the street.
The marchers then joined many others in front of the Yarra Glen RSL and Memorial Hall for the official Anzac Day service, which was conducted by Yarra Glen RSL president Ted Bowling.
Paul William Ray performed the emotional song, I Was Only Nineteen to the crowd, while students from Yarra Glen, Yering, Dixons Creek and Christmas Hills primary schools spoke about the significance of Anzac Day.
The Anzac Day address was conducted by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN)’s Lieutenant Commander Adam Shortis, who praised all those who contributed to the Gallipoli campaign and who have served the country since.
Yarra Glen’s service finished with a recitation of The Ode by Mr Bowling, The Last Post played by Dixons Creek’s Tom Steele, a prayer of remembrance and the Yarra Glen Primary School Choir performing the national anthem.
One of the most poignant images from the day was of medal-emblazoned Bob Dowal, who saluted as Mr Steele played The Last Post and the Reveille.
