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With
beaming smiles and the declaration that she's our grandmother,
it was obvious pride that Zoe and Georgia Leach displayed for
their grandmother, WW2 Australian Army Nursing Service veteran
Capt Ann Leach of Claremont at the Perth Anzac Day Commemorative
Service. Photo by Cpl Tracy Tillman, WAUR |
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Anzac
Devotees, a renactment group representing our military past
parade for Anzac Day in Perth. This year marked the first time
since the dawn of Anzac Day, that we are without a Gallipoli
veteran and with only nine WW1 veterans left, part of our history
is coming to an end.
However, the youth of Australia are actively seeking to preserve
the Anzac legend, as seen by increased attendances at Perth's
Anzac services this year.
Record crowds of at least 25,000 assembled for the Kings Park
dawn service before making their way into the city streets.
Photo by Cpl Tracy Tillman, WAUR |
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Sgt
Bronwyn Struthers, 16 Bn RWAR, is all smiles for Perth's Anzac
Day celebrations.
Photo by Cpl Tracy Tillman, WAUR |
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CDF
Gen Peter Cosgrove joins soldiers of HMAS Kanimblas
Ships Army Detachment for Anzac Day celebrations on
station in the North Arabian Gulf.
Photo provided by Sgt Glenn Durrant, SAD HMAS Kanimbla
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Kanimbla
SAD Anzac Day
By Sgt Glenn Durrant, SAD HMAS Kanimbla
SOLDIERS from HMAS Kanimblas Ships Army Detachment
(SAD) and 111 AD Bty celebrated their Anzac Day in hostile waters
in the North Arabian Gulf.
Since sailing from Sydney, the 44 soldiers had worn grey combat
overalls but all were keen to don their berets and wear their
camouflage uniforms for April 25.
The service began at 4.40am with a catafalque party and prayers.
There was plenty of emotion and thoughts as one soldier said
being a soldier serving my country under its flag means
a lot to me, as does Anzac Day. This Anzac Day will hold a special
memory for me, as it was held during a time of conflict and
in hostile waters.
The finale of the service was a fly-by of Australian Hornets
at the closing stages of the Australian National Anthem with
precise timing to end what was a very professional and well-organised
ceremony.
HMAS Kanimbla had spent several weeks patrolling the hostile
waters monitoring boat movements and assisting coalition forces
in the lead up to Anzac Day. |
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103
Mdm Bty catafalque party take post at Cheras Cemetary in Kuala
Lumpur on Anzac Day.
Photo provided by Rifle Company Butterworth |
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A
young Aussie tourist takes a moment to reflect at the Anzac
Memorial in Battersea Park following a well-attended dawn
service in the English capital.
Photo by Sgt Brian Hartigan
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Anzac
Day all at Battersea
From Sgt Brian Hartigan in London
AS I followed the thickening crowd to Battersea Park on the
south bank of the Thames, the first glimmer of dawn touched
gathering clouds.
But, having recorded the hottest and driest April since records
began, Londons infamous grey skies held back their dampening
load just a few hours longer.
Several hundred gathered in the park for an almost-typical Dawn
Service differing only in the atmosphere generated when
holiday-makers and ex-pats gather at a quintessentially Aussie
event.
Young people, with limited or no family links to military service
and draped in Aussie flags, mingled with a goodly number of
uniformed or medal-wearing personnel of varying ages, for the
brief service lest we forget.
After traditional biscuits and coffee, I was then off to a proper
English breakfast black pudding and all followed
by briefings on the more public ceremonial parade and wreath
laying to come.
With the Metropolitan Police taking security to levels unfamiliar
to the average Aussie, I presented my credentials and invitation
to numerous Bobbies before gaining the necessary
access for picture taking.
With scarcely five minutes remaining before Big Ben signalled
11am, a parade of hundreds, led by the band of the Scots Guards,
took post in White Hall before New Zealand Prime Minister Helen
Clarke led a long list of dignitaries and others in laying simple
wreaths of red poppies at the foot of the cenotaph.
From there, it was a brisk walk to Westminster Abbey for a Commemoration
Service under a roof that was first erected more than 1000 years
ago.
Feeling the weight of history all around me, I sat on a humble
wooden chair not 10m from a spot where all the kings and queens
of England have been crowned since 1066 AD and reflected. |
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A
WW2 veteran and one of the Rats of Tobruk, Perth's Anzac Day
2003. Photo by Cpl Tracy Tillman, WAUR |
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A
lighthorseman takes part in the Anzac Day parade along The
Strand in Townsville.
Photo by Cpl Jason Weeding, 1JPAU(P)
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3RAR
Padre Chap David Grulke offers a prayer at the unit's Anzac
Day dawn service.
Photo by Pte John Wellfare, 3RAR |
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