Victoria Cross recipient Keith Payne speaks at Mackay Anzac Day service

The Vietnam War veteran for the first time spoke of an exchange on the blood-soaked beaches of Turkey during his address at Mackay’s Anzac Day service.

It was but a fleeting moment on the beaches of Gallipoli but to a Mackay war hero, it left a lasting impression.

Vietnam War veteran Keith Payne spoke of the exchange for the first time during his speech at Mackay's Anzac Day main service as the special guest, together with his wife Florence.

Mr Payne said he saw a woman in her 20s enter the waters off the shore until the waves were lapping at her knees and bent down to pick up a stone.

The Victoria Cross recipient had travelled to Turkey in 2015 as part of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Lone Pine.

"She came up (the beach), she held her stone in a clenched fist to her breasts and looking straight ahead with a teaming smile on her face, a small tear drop ran down her cheek.

 

 

"She had found her Gallipoli stone.

"It belonged to a long line of ancestors that never made it back.

"It was probably washed there for 100 years, run over by the blood of both countries, Australia and New Zealand, and polished by the sea rolling backwards and forwards over that one little stone."

 

 

Mr Payne said it now likely graced her dressing table, with countless other Gallipoli stones all over the world.

It was a story that resonated with the 3000-plus strong crowd, all grateful they could commemorate once more beside each other.

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