Mackay Isaac Whitsunday Anzac Day 2023 services: How we remembered
From a 99yo veteran who couldn’t sleep a wink before Anzac Day to remarkable tales of sacrifice, the Greater Whitsundays did not forget. Read the tales, see the 140+ pictures across 11 services.
Mackay
Don't miss out on the headlines from Mackay. Followed categories will be added to My News.
From a 99-year-old World War II veteran to a Vietnam vet proudly handing over the commemoration reigns, the Greater Whitsundays proudly paid respect to those who have served or are serving.
Whether it was a Dawn Service or a Main Parade, or instances in-between, there were plenty of touching moments from the Whitsundays south to St Lawrence.
Morning Service, St Lawrence
For a small town of 200 people, St Lawrence community members personify the type of Australia our soldiers fought for: caring, connected, and most importantly, looking out for each other.
Together – which included Isaac Regional Council members and the 11 students who attend St Lawrence State School – they paid their respects to those fallen and those still serving at their Anzac Day Morning Service.
As the marched down the main street, they shared yarns, memories, and anecdotes with each other, staying true to the ideals of mateship, the preservation of a free Australia, and sacrifice for the nation.
Sharing her own story of sacrifice, Councillor Vivian Coleman spoke about the Williams family back in the early 1900s, which lost two sons to wartime, one at Gallipoli and the other at the Somme.
St Lawrence has remembered.
Main Parades, Airlie Beach and Proserpine
Amid threatening clouds and drops beginning to fall, Whitsunday MP Amanda Camm told the crowd gathered in Airlie Beach that she was grateful it was just rain – not the sweat, blood or tears shed by the Anzacs they were to honour.
Despite the weather, residents turned out in force to attend the Anzac Day march in Airlie Beach.
The procession included current and retired service members, cadets, and students from Cannonvale State School among others.
Vintage cars and even a mounted infantry representative also joined.
The procession stepped through Broadwater Ave, through Main Street, and reached Airlie Beach’s Anzac cenotaph where cadets stood guard while the flags were raised.
RSL representatives, religious leaders, local politicians, and a serving Navy officer spoke of the horrors of war, reading the Ode of Remembrance and standing in silence as the bugle sounded The Last Post.
Then in Proserpine, the community gathered at the RSL on Chapman St for a march onto Main St ending at the cenotaph.
Returned service members, Queensland Fire and Rescue representatives, families and schoolchildren all lined up behind a cavalcade of police vehicles and vintage cars, urged by the music of the Proserpine Citizens Band.
The wreath-laying ceremony was opened by stories of Proserpine men who died in World War I and poems explaining the symbol of the poppy to the next generation.
The ceremony ended with the New Zealand and Australian anthems.
Main Parade, Mackay
Thousands lined the streets of the Mackay CBD to catch the Main Parade, with a motorcade leading the procession.
Main Parade, Brisbane
Mackay North State High School’s Marching Band is proudly representing the Mackay region at the state Anzac Day parade kicking off at 9.45am.
The school band has travelled to Brisbane each year for almost three decades but this year is a momentous occasion, after being selected to lead the parade.
Dawn Service, Cannonvale
For Whitsunday Councillor Jan Clifford, this year’s Dawn Service was a special one.
At the Cannonvale Cenotaph, she thought about her Uncle Milton, who fought in World War II and tragically perished as a Japanese POW.
Milton Dowd was on the Montevideo Maru, a Japanese ship, when it was sunk by an American submarine off the coast of the Philippines in 1942.
An estimated 1080 Australian POWs died in the sinking.
Just three days ago, explorers announced they had discovered the wreck of the ship in the South China Sea.
“My Uncle was on board that ship,” Ms Clifford said.
“He was being transported back to Japan we believe.”
She never got to meet her paternal uncle because she was born after the war.
“My mother always spoke very fondly of Uncle Milton,” she said.
“I think he was her favourite brother.”
Ms Clifford travelled to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra to find his plaque.
“They took me up to where his plaque was, they actually took me up there and stood with me,” she said.
“It was very emotional.”
Ms Clifford said about 1500 to 2000 people attended the Cannonvale Dawn Service.
Dawn Service, Hampden/Kuttabul
One of Mackay’s last World War II veterans Len Lister did not sleep a wink the night before Anzac Day.
“I stayed awake for the whole time,” he said.
“I just couldn’t settle down.”
The 99 year old proudly sat in the front row at the Kuttabul Dawn Service as a sombre mood spread across the crowd gathered to pay their respects.
It’s a time for reflection and a time to honour past and present servicemen and women, like Len, who have sacrificed.
This year marks 50 years since the end of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War.
“It brings back lots of memories,” he said.
“I lost a brother in the war.”
Len’s older brother Anthony Walter Lister had been a prisoner of war in Borneo and Len said he was especially on his mind on Anzac Day.
Len had initially planned to join the Air force, but was kicked out because of his asthma.
So he transferred to the 2nd 12th Light Infantry and was with them until after Shaggy Ridge in the Ramu Valley, New Guinea.
His battalion was instrumental in turning back the invading Japanese forces.
He believed the meaning of Anzac Day had strengthened over the years and meant more now.
“My dad was a returned bloke and we didn’t have any sort of services like we have now,” he said.
His grandson Glenn Nicholson said even the Kuttabul service was “getting bigger and bigger”, adding it was special to be with his grandfather on Anzac Day.
“To know everything that he’s been through … as time goes on you realise how fortunate that we are,” Mr Nicholson said.
“Very proud of him.”
Len was among those who laid a wreath to commemorate all those who fought in WWII.
Another wreath layer was John McGill, grandson of Jack Sturgeon McGill who was a private in the second lighthouse regiment in the First World War.
Jack and two of his brothers were in the charge of the light horse at Beersheba.
Mr McGill, along with Charlie Faust and Ellise Burstin represented the light horse brigade at the dawn service.
Val Clark, who oversaw the Mirani High School Anzac Service for many years before her retirement, said she was always overwhelmed with emotion as a young girl watching her father march as she reflected on the more than 102,000 lives lost “in pursuit of freedoms we have today”.
“Or those many more who returned to Australia but psychologically scarred by the atrocious they have been in or seen,” she said.
“No matter the conflict, the conditions were horrific, dark, cold, muddy and a fess pool of disease, unless you were in the dessert where the heat took care of you.
“To survive it was the Anzac spirit and values which shone through.”
Former able seaman Rohan Ketelaar also paid his respects at the Kuttabul Dawn Service, which holds a special place for him.
He joined the Royal Australian Navy straight out of school from 2007 to 2012, including service aboard the HMAS Kuttabul.
“It was a good experience and a good life experience,” he said.
And having served on the HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney, he said it was “pretty special” to honour Anzac Day in the town north of Mackay.
“Seeing the sun come up near the mountain, the people, it’s very touching … it’s a good community out here,” he said.
“It’s a day to remember but also to reflect on my service for the country as well and to thank servicemen (and women) who are (active) at the moment.”
Special tributes at Kuttabul
The Kuttabul RSL sub branch honoured three special members who had passed away within the past six months – Ian Leslie West, Noel Frederick Morris and Allan Robery McGill.
Westy, as he was known to his mates, travelled to Kuttabul every year to march with and pay respect to his mates on Anzac Day.
Private West was in the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment and was 19 years old when he served as a forward scout in Vietnam between 1967 and 1968.
He died in September 2022.
Noel Morris, known as Buck, was a close mate of Westy – they had met when they both served in the same unit in Vietnam.
Buck, who turned 21 just weeks after his deployment, was a rifleman and in the first line of defence. He died in March 2023.
Allan McGill, or AR to his friends, had enlisted in the Citizen Military Forced during the Vietnam War and was assigned to the 42nd Battalion in 1967.
He had also been a member of the Kuttabul sub branch for 55 years. He died in December 2022.
Dawn Service, Greenhill, Ilbilbie region
For Vietnam veteran Richard Crabb, mornings like these act as a time of reflection.
Nearly 100 people stood in silence along the sands of Greenhill, where Richard kickstarted Anzac Day commemorations more than 20 years ago.
Now handing down the responsibility to his daughter Katie, Mr Crabb said it had come a long way from originally just himself and three mates enjoying a milk and rum, to be an event honouring those who served.
“It was something where a group of us decided to come down to the beach and have our own Dawn Service all those years ago,” Crabb said.
“My daughter has taken it over now, and she’s done a bloody amazing job.”
Brandishing a set of medals across his chest, he spoke of his pride serving in the 8th Battalion in the Royal Australian Infantry Corps during the Vietnam War.
He also reflected on witnessing younger generation Australians pay their respects.
“It means a lot,” Mr Crabb said.
“To see them come down here and learn the history and the significance of those who served, it's so important”.
“I am incredibly proud to have been a soldier for this country and served.”
Dawn Service, Jubilee Park, Mackay
Gathered before the break of sunlight at Mackay’s Jubilee Park, attendees were asked to be “conscious” of this place, time and way.
A place set aside to remember “those who served, serve regardless of their origin, their culture or their background, their social status, their belief or their creed … for the values and ideals of Australia and New Zealand, both for us and those who came before us,” Master of Ceremonies Major John Zimmerman said.
“This time … (on) this national day, so unusual around the world in that it doesn't celebrate the victory … because as we know Gallipoli was not by any stretch of the imagination be called a victory.
“But at this special time we remember and commemorate those who answered the call, those who stepped forward, those who endured hardship, those who felt loneliness and separation from loved ones.
“And also those who discovered a new family in the mates that they sailed with, walked with, sat with, growed with … those who experienced the horrors of war, many of whom returned only to continue their struggle.
“And those who never again experienced the sunrise as we will this morning, those who lay in foreign or Australian soil.
“And this way, the way in which we gather here this morning is a way that is still not universal to the people of the world.
“The sun that will rise here today will also rise over countries like Sudan and Ukraine, places where this very day people will die because of war.
“As we gather, we remember the Australians and New Zealand(ers), whose passion, hearts and prayers enable us to gather in this way, the way in which we thankfully be in peace.”
Guest speaker and “proud” veteran, Dr Kerry Summerscales, continued the service, saying the Anzacs landing at Gallipoli on April 25 were naive of the horrors they would face.
“They’re often portrayed as young larrikins looking for adventure and answering the call of our nation.
“But why do young people continue to join when they know the Anzac legends do mention mud, blood and tears and the stories that our forefathers told us do seem all so real?”
Dr Summerscales said it came down to, as her war widow friend put into words, “you should defend those who cannot defend for themselves”.
“The number lost at war becomes overwhelming when you visit the war graves around the world and you see row upon row upon row of war graves … long after their soul(s) have been destroyed,” she said.
She said Australia had lost more than 102,000 men and women through service since the beginning of World War I, and many more if you counted those who continued facing a “foe” on home soil.
“These are the forgotten losses and often seen as our nation's’ dirty little secrets and we have a responsibility to ensure our veterans health and suicide is no longer a secret and is spoken loudly … they too are our war dead.”
Dr Summerscales said she had three requests for the day.
“Please remember that although Anzac Day stands for Army Corp, that the ADF is not just army and that it cannot function without the navy or the RAAF.
“If you see a veteran today, don’t feel that you must go up and thank them for your service, it’s not necessarily an Australian sentiment.
“But maybe give them a little nod, a little wry smile and if you so feel inclined, offer them a drink.
“And for the love of all things sacred, if you see a women wearing medals on her chest on her left over her heart, please do not ask what her husband’s medals stand for.
“They are over her heart and they are hers.”
Anzac Display, Hampden State School
Anzac Day did not become special for Mandarana’s Chris Vaughan until after her father’s death.
“I’d been to Anzac parades with dad as a child, but … to be modern it wasn’t my thing,” she said.
“And then in 2007 my dad passed away and in 2008 I thought in memory of my dad I need to go to a Dawn Service … had never been to one in my life until then.”
She said someone had suggested she attend the Kuttabul service and “I’ve been here ever since and I’ve loved it ever since”.
“Every year it means something more special, and the fact that my son was in the air force for 17 years and … one of the grandsons is now in the air force in Canberra,” she said.
The owner of Yesterday’s Memories Museum put together a very special display in the Hampden State School library in honour of Anzac Day.
See more photos of the display in the gallery above.
It is the first time in three years they were “back in force”.
The display features “military memorabilia”, but “not the normal memorabilia”, Ms Vaughan said.
These included uniforms of the three services, one of which had been worn by Vietnam veteran Buck Morris, who died in March this year.
Another special piece of history was the slouch hat worn by Allan Robert McGill.
“I have memorabilia from my father,” she said.
“Even old felt toys that were made by a gentleman who broke his leg during the war, ended up in Mackay Base Hospital and they taught him how to make felt animals.
“I like to go for things that are a little bit different to the normal militaria.”
Her father, Frederick Albert George Smith, was in the Navy from 1942 to 1945.
“But they found out he had middle ear problems so he wasn’t allowed on the water.
“I do have his cap,” she said.
“He’s not a local, we’re not locals, we’ve only been here 40-odd years.”
Join the conversation
New owners revealed: Mining town bakehouse reopens
Just three months after it closed a Whitsunday community welcomed back its only bakery, as the new owners worked with the old to bring fresh bread to the town.
Read more
WATCH: Driver found stranded on ute roof in raging floodwaters
A North Queensland man is lucky to be alive after being swept off the road and stranded on the roof of his ute in raging floodwaters for hours — until heroic swift water firefighters came to his rescue. WATCH THE VIDEO.
Read more