Albany gears up for Anzac Centenary invasion

THE last home soil many Australian and New Zealand troops saw as they departed for the First World War is being prepared for its biggest and most poignant event since that historic farewell.

ALBANY ANZACS .. for Sarah Nicholson story .. Anzac Day wreaths rest in Albany's Anzac Peace Park. Pic Sarah Nicholson

THE last home soil many Australian and New Zealand troops saw as they departed for the First World War is being prepared for its biggest and most poignant event since that historic farewell.

November 1 marks 100 years since thousands of troops sailed out of Albany’s King George Sound on Western Australia’s blustery southern tip, many of them never to return.

The forthcoming four-day commemoration, culminating in a recreation of the first convoy’s departure, has been years in the planning.

Some 60,000 visitors will descend on Albany, WA’s oldest permanently settled town, population 36,000.

The scale of the influx is certain to test its capacity.

The Desert Mounted Corp Memorial in the Albany Heritage Park. Picture: Sarah Nicholson

Mayor Dennis Wellington said large-scale art that tells the ANZAC story and will be projected on prominent buildings should draw some of the crowd away from the foreshore Peace Park and vantage points, Mount Clarence and Mount Adelaide, where the main events will be held.

In a bid to keep cars out of the town centre, 60 coaches will shuttle people back and forth.

And with 95 per cent of the visitors expected to drive to the Great Southern town, there will be an estimated 20,000 vehicles making their way down Albany Highway. Mr Wellington has warned of a slow journey.

Another traffic concern will be the use of horses and riders representing the Australian Light Horse Association in the centenary march.

The horses will be stationed on the route but won’t participate in the march for safety reasons, Mr Wellington said.

The 10th Light Horsemen will be along the route but have been banned from marching for safety reasons.

“It takes a long time to train a horse to put up with that number of people — you’re going to have jets whistling overhead and all those sorts of things, and with a packed crowd, you only need one horse to go sideways and you’re in a bundle of trouble,” he told AAP.

Another big logistical challenge has been accommodation, with all hotels, motels and B & Bs booked out months ago.

In a bid to prevent people sleeping in their cars, the local council has designated a sports oval and a trotting track for campers.

But there’s only a few spots left and caravans are already moving into town.

Locals are accommodating guests on their lounges, in their workplaces and anywhere else a swag can be dropped.

“I’ve got nine people staying at my house,” the mayor said.

“Everyone is doing the same thing. Pull up a bit of floor, drop a swag and everyone is just fitting in.” The symbolic recreation of the first convoy’s departure promises to be the most well attended event, with vessels from Australia, New Zealand and Japan — seven frigates and destroyers, and one submarine — representing the 38 ships.

But Mr Wellington is particularly impressed by the new National ANZAC Centre, which has been viewed by locals but will be officially opened by dignitaries on November 1.

“I thought it was going to be good but I didn’t think it would be as good as it is,” he said.

“It’s a very moving experience. Not a museum as such but an electronic experience of what the people went through ...

absolutely harrowing.

“I’ve seen visitors come out visibly affected by it.

“People will learn about the horrors of war and how it should be avoided at all cost.” Mr Wellington said Albany’s latest ANZAC additions would make it a compelling and enduring alternative to the Gallipoli pilgrimage. “There will be a lasting memorial to the ANZAC story and, I think, a fitting memorial as well.

“The only thing we’ve learnt since then and now is more efficient ways of killing each other.

“Hopefully, seeing this, people will realise war is a very fruitless exercise.” 41,265 troops left Albany in two convoys and one-third of them never came home.

Originally published as Albany gears up for Anzac Centenary invasion