Anzac Day 2015: 100th anniversary of Gallipoli starts with dawn services across Australia
NIGHTCLUB owners were forced to issue an apology after loud music interrupted Anzac dawn services in Sydney, while fires shocked crowds in Perth.
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OWNERS of a nightclub have been forced to make an embarrassing apology after complaints it interrupted today’s Anzac dawn service in Sydney.
Veterans and their families who paid their respects for the 100-year commemoration of Anzac were angered after the minute’s silence at Martin Place was repeatedly interrupted by music from the Ivy nightclub, the Daily Telegraph reports.
A spokeswoman for Merivale, the company behind Ivy, said they were “mortified and deeply upset” about the incident, blaming the gaffe on a rogue third party contractor.
And crowds at an Anzac Day service in Perth were left in shock after three fires broke out.
Emergency crews were called to the suspicious blazes in Kings Park where a record crowd of 80,000 had turned out for the dawn service.
A Department of Fire and Emergency Services spokesman told Perth Now the third fire appeared to be a “separate ignition” and only burnt about one square metre of bush.
Meantime, after an emotional morning of dawn services, Aussies have attended marches to commemorate Anzac Day across the country.
The beat of a loud drum and brass band echoes through Melbourne as the Anzac Day march made its way through the CBD.
At least 13,000 serving and retired soldiers, and band and family members, marched in procession towards the Shrine of Remembrance.
Earlier, thousands attended dawn services in record numbers across Australia to mark the 100th anniversary of the Anzac Gallipoli landings.
War Memorial Director Brendan Nelson said an estimated 120,000 people were at the dawn service in Canberra, far exceeding expectations.
He said the record crowd, up from about 37,000 last year, had done the Anzacs proud.
The service started with the haunting sound of a didgeridoo played from the parapet of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
With the prime minister in Gallipoli, VIP ranks were represented by diplomats and the senior state governor.
In his address, army chief Lieutenant General David Morrison said those who fought at Gallipoli appeared as if through a photographic lens, a generation seemingly set apart.
“They left us that legacy and we in turn commemorate their sacrifice when we ask what legacy shall we leave for those who follow us. We have not forgotten,” he said.
A record crowd of about 100,000 also turned out in Melbourne at the redeveloped Shrine of Remembrance.
MC Peter Meehan led the service, which he said honoured the Anzac spirit.
“You are loved and held in the highest esteem,” Mr Meehan told veterans.
In Sydney, the service was held at Martin Place Cenotaph, with large screens in place for the crowds.
Other major events in Sydney to mark the Gallipoli centenary include the Anzac Day march, which begins at 9am in Martin Place, and the commemoration service at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park at 12.30pm.
An unprecedented police presence is visible at Anzac services around the country, amid news that a 14-year-old boy in the UK will stand trial charged with inciting a beheading in Australia. The teenager’s arrest followed anti-terror raids and arrests in Melbourne last weekend that police said were linked to an alleged plot to kill a police officer at the city’s Anzac Day service.
#AnzacDay in the shadows of Uluru on the 100th anniversary was an amazing and moving experience #ANZAC #givethanks pic.twitter.com/g8e796KXqe
— Tyler Phillips (@TylerPro4mance) April 24, 2015
Waiting for Dawn Service @AWMemorial Thousands of people paying respect, silence reigns as soldier's stories are told pic.twitter.com/BoLlJc4jUT
— Janelle Manders (@nel350) April 24, 2015In Canberra, the dawn service included readings of letters and diaries including by Victoria Cross recipient Dan Keighran.
Elsewhere, Brisbane’s CBD is packed with thousands of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder in silence as the city’s dawn service commences.
Not only have people of all ages headed into the city’s Anzac Square for the service, but thousands more have gathered around nearby screens at Post Office Square, King George Square and Queen Street Mall.
The service began at 4.28am, marking the precise time the Anzacs landed at Gallipoli 100 years ago.
Later in the day record crowds of around 30,000 are expected to line the CBD’s streets to watch as 153 units and an historical display featuring horses, donkeys and camels march through the streets.
In Adelaide more than 400 young people from community and service groups are braving blustery conditions to stand guard at the city’s war memorial in the 12 hours before the dawn service. The youth vigil has become an annual event since it was introduced in 2000 and heralds the start of Anzac Day services across South Australia.
More than 200 Anzac Day dawn services are being held around Western Australia, with record crowds at Perth’s Kings Park and in historic Albany on the southern coast.
Martin Place dawn service. Thousands still flooding in. #WeWillRememberThem pic.twitter.com/ruzzP87Y4y
— Gemma Jones (@Gemma__Jones) April 24, 2015The RSL hosted around 60,000 people for the CBD service, but the centenary.
In Albany, where Padre Arthur Ernest White held Australia’s first dawn service in 1930, crowds at Mount Clarence around 4,500 gathered.
And in Darwin an estimated 8000 people attended the 6am dawn service. More than 12,000 are expected to turn out to the march.
The 220-strong population of Adelaide River township, 130km east of Darwin, swelled to more than 20 times its size as 4000 people participated in the dawn service there, alongside a large military contingent and NT Senator and indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion.
The newest contingent of US Marines will attend the Darwin service as part of their first official duty in the Northern Territory, and the New Zealand Navy contingent aboard the Endeavour, a refuelling and supply ship currently ported in Darwin, will march in the parade.
In Tasmania crowds tripled the usual Anzac Day turnout are forecast for centenary commemorations, with the added boost of the crew from HMAS Canberra.
The Royal Australian Navy’s newest and largest warship is moored in Hobart and her crew of more than 400 took part in events in and around Hobart on Saturday.
Meanwhile in New Zealand, tens of thousands attended the Anzac Day centenary dawn service in Wellington.
“I think it’s one of those things where people need to say: ‘Yes, I was there’,” said Danielle Walker who arrived at the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in the city centre before the service was due to begin.
This year marks 100 years since Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed at Gallipoli on April 25 in 1915.
Some 8700 Australians died during the eight-month First World War campaign alongside 2700 New Zealanders. It’s estimated up to 87,000 Turks lost their lives.
On the other side of the world, many more are now gathering for services in Gallipoli.
Shop trading hours are affected by Anzac Day events.
Originally published as Anzac Day 2015: 100th anniversary of Gallipoli starts with dawn services across Australia
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