Thousands turn out to mark Anzac Day 2025 across Toowoomba and the Darling Downs
There has been a large turn out at this year’s Anzac Day services held across our region as the Darling Downs marks 110 years since the ill-fated Gallipoli landing that defined the Anzac spirit.
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Thousands have gathered to commemorate generations of Anzac soldiers, many wearing family medals, poppy flowers, or a sprig of rosemary.
To the sound of bagpipes, drums, and marching feet, people of all ages got together to remember the servicemen and women who risked their lives in conflict.
Carrying on stories
Carrying the old pictures of both of her grandfathers who fought in World War II, Amanda Gorton marched beside her son in the Anzac Day parade.
Ms Gorton’s grandfather Herbert Hume Johnston also fought in the Battle of Crete where he was taken as a prisoner of war, and on Anzac Day Ms Gorton commemorates everything he went through.
He spent three years at a POW camp outside of Frankfurt called Stalag XIII-C and experienced gruelling conditions.
Being forced to work on farms, and often left starving, on Anzac Day Ms Gorton thinks about all that he went through and the stories that have been lost since he died about 20 years ago.
“My grandfather never ever wasted food his whole life because of going through that experience, it changed him,” she said.
“There are a lot of stories that probably have been lost because they were probably too traumatised to discuss it.
“It was only in the last few years of their lives that they spoke about it, I think because of the trauma.”
Since returning from WWII Mr Johnston never left Australia again.
“It’s just really special to remember them both. Just spend the day reflecting on everything they went through,” Ms Gorton said.
Dealing with trauma
Going back seven generations, Margaret Gard’s family has always been a part of the Australian Army, and on Anzac Day she wears a badge in honour of PTSD for veterans.
Growing up in an army family Ms Gard said it wasn’t until she saw the toll it took on her husband Andrew that she really saw the effects of PTSD.
“It’s like a roller coaster. Really up and down,” she said.
“One minute you’re up on a high, the next minute you’re down low and you just have to live with it.”
Andrew Gard served as a leading seaman submarine engineer, and due to the secrecy of his work he is not allowed to share where he was deployed.
Ms Gard said it was many years before she realised the internal struggle her husband was going through in the wake of his service.
“They tend to suppress it and then something will just trigger it,” she said.
“Then they just go down, and they can’t focus, they can’t function.
“It’s pretty horrific the way it happens.”
This year Ms Gard proudly watched her six-year-old granddaughter Felicity march beside Mr Gard, wearing Ms Gard’s grandmother’s badge.
The badge honours the struggle of partners and wives of those who fought in WWII.
Teaching the next generations
Lieutenant Colonel James Pidgeon brought his young children to the morning Dawn Service to share the important day with the new generations.
“It is also a great opportunity for me to help my kids understand the meaning of Anzac Day and some of the values that it means to be an Australian,” he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Pidgeon is a helicopter pilot and commanding officer at the School of Army Aviation and he said the highlight of Anzac Day is the way it brings together generations of people who have done their service.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to hear each other’s stories and share our experiences together,” he said.
“It’s really about giving everybody in the Army the chance to reconnect with our past, acknowledge the service of people serving in the present and look forward to our future as well.
“To primarily acknowledge the service and sacrifice of those who came before us.”
Lieutenant Colonel Pidgeon has been deployed to peacekeeping operations in East Timor, security operations in Papua New Guinea, and Afghanistan.
“Every deployment is different, but what people would understand is the sense of mateship that the people serving in the army have in those different environments,” he said.
Here is a gallery of photos from the Anzac Day in Toowoomba:
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Originally published as Thousands turn out to mark Anzac Day 2025 across Toowoomba and the Darling Downs
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