This year marked 111 years since the first Anzac Day was held, and 110 years since April 25 was officially recognised as Anzac Day.
Gunnedah and surrounding communities gathered for the day of commemoration, with dawn services bringing in large crowds. President of Gunnedah RSL sub-Branch, Anthony Adams, was pleased with this year’s turn out, saying the dawn service has been steadily growing in recent years.
“Dawn service is getting bigger and bigger every year, I’m going to show a little bit of bias here, but I think that dawn service is the most respectful ceremony of the day,” Mr Adams said.
“It’s certainly the best one to attend and you could cut the atmosphere with a knife.
“I pay particular attention every year to my speech and commemoration to try and find the relevance to draw back to the community so that they can find something to lean into and a point of poignance so that they walk away with something from the day.”
Anzac Day has evolved over time since it was first introduced to show support for the loss of more than 8000 soldiers during the first landing on Gallipoli.
The day has come to represent a time of reflection and commemoration for Australians and New Zealanders, evolving to embrace the soldiers of WWII, Vietnam, and all men and women who fought and lay their lives down for our countries.
Mr Adams reflected on how the day brings the community together in a way that not many national holidays do.
“Anzac Day, regardless of your ethnicity or background, brings Australia together as a community,” Mr Adams said.
“It does every year, people want to come together and celebrate what Australia really represents and that’s the sacrifices and the ethos that have been forged in battle by Anzacs’ mateship, resilience and courage.
“These are all things that were forged under pressure and they’re the things that have endured long after the guns have fallen silent.”
This year’s Anzac Day services were well received, with special guest Corporal Harry Britt returning to his hometown to attend the day service.
Corporal Britt joined the ADF at just 17-years-old, and he has gone on to serve in the 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment and School Infantry and is now based in Singleton where he works to train the next generation of soldiers.
“[Being here] means more to me than what people may think,” Corporal Britt said.
“I think there’s a strong bond between actually doing a service in your hometown compared to just doing a random service at say your posting location, so it does mean tremendously a lot to me.”
Mr Britt’s journey to Gunnedah was a special one.
St Xavier’s Primary School captains Georgina Grimm and Nicholas Martin.
He decided this year to undertake a 230km pack march, carrying 30kg plus rifle weight to raise money for the Aussie Frontline Foundation.
The Aussie Frontline Foundation works to support and provide resources for those in the ADF, police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, and other secondary target beneficiaries.
Due to medical injuries sustained during the pack march, Corporal Britt was unfortunately only able to complete 150kms of his journey.
“Every time I visit Gunnedah, on the way home I think on what it would be like to actually pack march the way back or to home,” Corporal Britt said.
“I had a week off, and the stars aligned, so I thought I’m going to pack march to back home to rock up for my day service and raise money while I’m doing it.
“Unfortunately, I got a bit of an injury just over halfway, but I guess I’ll just step back and then train up again and redo it.”
Katerina Haenga performed the national anthem for both Australia and New Zealand along with the Gunnedah Shire Band.
School captains and leaders of Gunnedah schools each delivered a prayer, with Gunnedah High School captain Keaton Walters offering an acknowledgment of country.
In both the dawn and morning service, Mr Adams reflected on the commitment and efforts that the Gunnedah RSL sub-Branch put in to ensuring Anzac Day was as successful as could be.
He stressed the importance of showing support to the local sub-Branch, noting that all money that comes into the group goes directly back into the local community and he urged for further support for the sub-Branch.
“The RSL here in Gunnedah is struggling,” Mr Adams said.
“Out of our total membership here, we have really about 12 active members and about four to six people actually really shouldering the burden of pulling all this together.
“This has been a four-week intensive list of jobs to sort out, people to organise, and phone calls to make, to make sure that we include absolutely everybody in the community that we possibly can because that’s what we want to do here.
“There’s only a small number of returned veterans within the community, however, we are welcome to everyone who is willing to lend a helping hand and help lift the load off our shoulders.”
