By Kahli Lynam
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ANZAC Day has been commemorated on April 25 every year since 1916 – one year after the fateful Gallipoli landing in 1915 that made our Aussie soldiers legends.
Still 95 years later, the ANZAC spirit lives on.
Queenslanders across the state impressed again in 2010, attending local ANZAC Day services and marches in great numbers to pay their respects.
RSL (Queensland Branch) President Doug Formby was absent from state commemorations in Brisbane but confirmed the impressive numbers from a local perspective.
“Reports from locals confirmed around 5000-6000 people attended the Coolum dawn service alone,” Mr Formby said.
“And from all reports, Brisbane residents were also quick to commemorate our ANZACs and those that have served and are still serving in subsequent campaigns,” he said.
“It is wonderful to see numbers increasing from previous years, and to see that the community at large is serious about preserving our military traditions for generations to come.”
Over 15,000 veterans from around 180 units marched in Brisbane’s CBD among crowds that exceeded 50,000.
Around 10,000 also made it out of bed to attend Brisbane’s dawn service at 4:28am in ANZAC Square.
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But it wasn’t just those on the homefront that commemorated our servicemen and women – Australian Defence Force personnel deployed around the world took the time to remember those that had gone before them.
Dawn service ceremonies were held in Afghanistan, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf States, in the Gulf of Aden, and in East Timor.
East Timor remains the only area of operation today where Australian and New Zealand Defence Forces combine under a single force.
Minister for Defence Senator John Faulkner addressed Australian troops in Afghanistan thanking them for the sacrifices they had made for Australia.
“You have done a magnificent job. You have done Australia proud,” Senator Faulkner said.
“You have proved once again that the ANZAC legend is not an old and dusty legend, but a common thread that runs from Gallipoli to Tarin Kowt via the fields of France, the jungles of New Guinea, via Burma and Timor, Korea and Vietnam.”
Thousands also flocked to Gallipoli to pay their respects – among them, Governor-General Quentin Bryce and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Alan Griffin.
“I was honoured to be one of the 7000 Australians and New Zealanders who made the pilgrimage to experience ANZAC Day at Gallipoli,” Mr Griffin said.
Around 3500 Australians also attended the Dawn Service at the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, France.
“Thousands of Australians also attended services at other locations around the world where Australians have served – at Sandakan in Malaysia, Hellfire Pass in Thailand, Isurava in Papua New Guinea and elsewhere,” Mr Griffin said.
“I would like to thank ex-service organisations and their members across Australia for their hard work in organising local ANZAC Day services and marches.
“ANZAC Day is not only an important day to honour our veteran community, young and old, but also to ensure these important traditions are passed on to future generations.”
ANZAC Day became a national day for commemoration during the 1920s and for the first time every state observed a public holiday in 1927.
By the mid-1930s, all the rituals we now associate with the day – dawn vigils, marches, memorial services, and reunions – were firmly established.
Such rituals have continued to this day and have ensured Australians akin carry on the ANZAC tradition.
*RSL (Queensland Branch) would like to acknowledge the sourcing of information for this article from the Australian War Memorial.