By
LEUT Rachel Irving
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Among
the ADF’s involvement at Anzac Day at Gallipoli
was HMAS Anzac, which had its gun lit as it sailed
into sight.
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In
a crowd of 17,000 people it is hard to imagine it being so quiet
you could hear a pin drop, but that’s exactly what it was
like Anzac morning in Anzac Cove, Turkey.
Gathered in the cold dark morning, the atmosphere this year on
April 25 at Gallipoli’s dawn service was as solemn and sombre
as one could ask for in a place where so many lost their lives.
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Members
of Australia’s Federation Guard march past a poster
of Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey, at the Turkish
Gallipoli memorial.
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Photo
by CPL Darren Hilder
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The
laser light show before the dawn service at Anzac Cove.
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Photo
by PO Damien Pawlenko
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LAC
Patrick Ashton, of the Federation Guard, visits one of the
Turkish war graves.
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Photo
by CPL Darren Hilder
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Scattered
among the sleeping bags and huddled bodies clinging to each other
in an effort to keep warm lay Australian and New Zealand flags
ready to fly proudly. In the stands stood members of the ADF who
were lucky enough to be able to join the crowd ashore.
But it was the sight that loomed 1300 yards off the shore at 3am
that drew a roar from the crowd. HMAS Anzac sailed into the cove
with her entire silhouette and five-inch gun lit, as well as two
three-metre-high kangaroos lit up on each side. Against the black
night it was the perfect backdrop on one of the most important
occasions for many Australians.
Even the Prime Minister, John Howard, said later in the day, “To
be at Anzac Cove on Anzac Day with HMAS Anzac in the background
– well, there’s nothing that makes you feel more proud
to be an Australian.”
In the dawn service prelude, a sound and light show saw lasers
and mist projected across the water creating an eerie effect on
the Australian warship, then the lights beamed up onto the ridges
and it was easy to see how horrendous the landscape was that the
Allied troops fought on.
Mr Howard later awarded an Order of Australia Medal to a Turkish
man responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the war graves
on the peninsular.
Anzac
Day in Australia
My
Anzac Day
