Alice Springs grandmother Telka Williams on the way to Gallipoli to honour soldier father

LUCK of the draw means Alice Springs grandmother Telka Williams will attend Gallipoli centenary commemorations with family to honour her father.

Gallipoli

WRAPPED in the cushy folds of her armchair, with family photos and crafty bits and bobs surrounding her like extensions of her sprightly spirit, Telka Williams is thankful she is attending Anzac centenary commemorations in Gallipoli next week.

Her father, Ernest Rowe, was a 22-year-old private in the 7th Battalion who served at Gallipoli and was wounded in the horrific battle of Lone Pine. He also served in World War II.

One hundred years later, his daughter, son, three grandsons and a great granddaughter will be remembering his contribution at the dawn service at Gallipoli.

The luck of the draw saw Mrs Williams, 94, win a place in the first round of the ballot, before her brother and nephew were successful in subsequent draws.

And then of course they can take a companion,” she said.

The number of older Australians attending services at Gallipoli is greater than ever before, with organisers having to charter more buses and make other arrangements to service the demographic.

But the Alice Springs resident said it was an honour to have won a place. Two of her uncles were killed in WWI — one in Gallipoli and another on the Western Front.

“It’s to be there standing on the actual soil and being where my father was so badly injured, it’s very, very special,” she said.

“We are having a tour of the battle fields prior to Anzac Day (and) we’ve organised for the family to lay a wreath.”

Mrs Williams said after tearing up when watching the film Gallipoli recently, she knows it’s going to be an emotional experience.

She said contrary to popular belief, Anzac Day not a “glorification of war”.

“It’s just a remembrance of those men, of what they went through so that we can have the opportunities that we do have today.”

Mrs Williams, who has lived in Alice Springs for 62 years, said she is more than happy to set aside her passion for crafting to walk in the footsteps of her father.

“I think we are going to have a fab time.”

But before she embarks upon the long journey, eye surgery is first on her agenda.

“I’m going to look perhaps a bit cockeyed at Gallipoli,” she said.

Cock-eyed or not, it will be an experience of a lifetime for a woman who has seen everything.

Originally published as Alice Springs grandmother Telka Williams on the way to Gallipoli to honour soldier father