Sir Peter Cosgrove opens up on what Anzac Day means to him

General Sir Peter Cosgrove is a Vietnam veteran, former Defence Force chief, ex-Governor General and proud recipient of the Military Cross. As The Daily Telegraph launches “We’re for Anzac Day”, Sir Peter discusses a “true national day”.

General Sir Peter Cosgrove will forever remember an Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kingscliff in northern NSW, not far from the Queensland border.

It was a few years back, he recalls, and it was cold. Really cold.

“Up on a small headland … the usual thing, a little memorial and people gathered around,” he tells The Daily Telegraph. “There was a bugle, prayers, odes.”

But what remains with Sir Peter is the image of a young father, kneeling between his two children, both of preschool age.

Sir Peter Cosgrove in his Sydney office. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“They were little tackers and he’s got his arms around them whispering into their ears,” Sir Peter says. “I found out later what he was doing. He was explaining The Dawn Service to them and why it was important.

“I thought to myself ‘while you’ve got people doing that, passing it on from father to son and daughter, Anzac Day is in good shape’.”

Sir Peter is a Vietnam veteran, a former Chief of the Australian Defence Force, was head of the International Force in East Timor and Australian of the Year in 2001.

He was awarded the Military Cross for his performance and leadership during an assault on enemy positions while commanding an infantry platoon in Vietnam and was knighted in 2014 as he became Australia’s 26th Governor-General.

Now patron of the Australian Remembrance Foundation, Sir Peter’s focus is the upcoming sunset service on 24 April – the night before Anzac Day – to be held for the first time at the Sydney Opera House forecourt overlooking the harbour.

Sir Peter Cosgrove. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them,” he says, quoting from the Ode of Remembrance.

“It’s almost irresistible that in that late afternoon people can consider what the (following) day means. Anzac Day to me is one of the true national days … it speaks about a nation which … made a declaration that Australia would stand up for people who were in trouble.”

Anzac Day was born from the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli in 1915, but serves as a day of remembrance for the sacrifices made by Australia’s military in all conflicts.

And, for Sir Peter, Sydney Harbour serving as a backdrop for the sunset service holds special relevance given that Japanese midget submarines brought World War II to Australian waters in 1942.

“In that violent war, the war of the Pacific, even this marvellous harbour in the largest city of Australia … was penetrated by the enemy,” he said.

“The Japanese midget submarines … entered the harbour and caused mayhem and loss of life. Twenty one sailors on HMAS Kuttabul were the victims of a torpedo strike.

“All those sailors aboard perished. They had not even got to the stage of going to sea, they were trainees. Yet the war found them and they died.

“So we remember them and remember that war was imminent and threatening to Australians … basically on their doorstep which was not something we had ever thought of, even in WWI.”

The hour-long sunset service on 24 April will start at 5pm with a pre-show from 4.30pm.

Originally published as Sir Peter Cosgrove opens up on what Anzac Day means to him