Spirit of Anzac remembered

Thousands of people gathered at Anzac Day services across West Gippsland on Saturday.
The growing popularity of dawn services was evident with huge crowds attending 6am services at Warragul, Trafalgar and Walhalla.

Warragul RSL president Lynn Mizen said the dawn service was a time to reflect on the silence before dawn, the way Anzac soldiers did 111 years ago before the Gallipoli landings.

"We gather before the dawn, as they did then, in the stand-to, a moment of ultimate readiness and shared silence before dawn," she said.
Travelling through darkness, she said 16,000 Anzac soldiers, some as young as 16 waded ashore at Gallipoli.

"They had romantic notions of battle, heroism, and adventure, and were convinced they would be home by Christmas.
"Two thousand Anzacs were dead by the end of that first day, but through their perseverance, courage, and mateship, those remaining, held their ground for eight long months as they lived in holes in the ground called trenches," she said.

Ms Mizen said in those trenches, as their mission failed, the soldiers refused to give up on each other.
She said it was where mateship, endurance and courage became part of the Anzac spirit - refusing to leave a friend behind, staying positive and, not in the absence of fear, deciding to keep going even when they were afraid.

Ms Mizen said Anzac Day was now a day to acknowledge all Australian Defence Force personnel who had served in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping missions.

"We tend to view the Anzacs as fading legends from another time, yet the true spirit of this day is right here among us. It is in the veteran of the 20th century and the young service member of the 21st.
"We honour the fallen by how we treat the living. We show our respect by ensuring that the transition from service back to community is met with an open hand and an open heart.
"Because today we acknowledge a simple, vital truth: true remembrance is not letting a veteran walk that path alone," Ms Mizen said.

Following a march of returned and current service men and women down Victoria St to the Warragul cenotaph, the 10am service saw more than 30 wreaths laid by organisations, government representatives, emergency services, scouts and guides and many schools from across the area.

Guest speaker Major Ben Clover of the Australian Army and a Warragul RSL member spoke passionately about Europe's noblemen who served in World War I and and the Australian "larrikin" whose Gallipoli battle shaped a nation.

While European countries were not unfamiliar to war and their noble servicemen, he said Australia sent over its own chivalrous soldiers where they all served on the same "muddy grounds."

Major Clover reflected on the many local men who served in World War 1, their different backgrounds - farmers, tradespeople, teachers - men who wore no coats of arms or fancy titles but wore a rising sun badge and military rank.

"For all the differences, they faced the same sucking, all consuming, drowning mud" of the battlefields. He said it was the Australians, "ordinary men," who left their mark in Europe.

Major Clover said Anzac Day was an opportunity to ask how do we honour those men, their duty and their sacrifice.
"We are their legacy. We can do our own duty, we can give back to others in our towns and be a service in our own small towns...it need not be military service.
"True peace is the existence of communal love, one that makes conflict repulsive to the heart," he said.

Local students who are Kokoda ambassadors after participating in the annual George Collins Kokoda Track walks were part of the ceremony including Jett Driscoll, Lily Di Grandi and Natasha Salsbury-Challons.

Jett said walking the Kokoda Track taught them what resilience really meant - the ability to keep going, on foot in front of another. "Every step was a true challenge."
"In the spirit of the soldiers in our pocket we had to finish the walk in their honour. It was about the resilience and mateship in those around you. We had to pull each other up and see each other through."

Drouin

Hundreds of community members gathered along the sunny streets of Drouin on Saturday morning for the Anzac Day march and service.

Veterans and their families, representatives from local schools and community groups and residents from Amberlea Aged Care marched from the Bendigo Bank carpark to the cenotaph at Memorial Park, led by flag bearers from Drouin Secondary College and kept in time by the Salvation Army Band.

The cenotaph was watched over throughout the service by a catafalque party of Royal Australian Navy officers.
The service opened with a prayer by Reverend John Webster of the Drouin Anglican Church, before Drouin RSL president Rod McNab addressed the crowd, speaking about the significance of the unknown soldier.

Past Warragul RSL president Ben Vahland was guest speaker. He spoke about veterans' welfare and the importance of supporting people who may be struggling.
"We often speak of bravery on the battlefield, but today we must also recognise another kind of courage, the courage it takes to come home, and keep going," Mr Vahland said.
"Mateship does not end at discharge - it means standing by veterans when they need us most."

Wreaths were laid by a number of local groups and schools, including Drouin Rotary, Legacy Central Gippsland, Baw Baw Shire Councillors, local police, Drouin First Scouts and Drouin Girl Guides.

To conclude the service, the Salvation Army Band performed both the Australian and New Zealand national anthems.