Huge crowds attend Austinmer Beach for ANZAC Day dawn service
Thousands of people bowed their heads for a minute’s silence as the sun rose over Austinmer Beach on ANZAC Day.
Thousands of people bowed their heads for a minute’s silence as the sun rose over Austinmer Beach on ANZAC Day.
A record number of locals attended the beach to commemorate the 104th anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops on Gallipoli.
Across the country, the focus of many dawn services was the enduring ANZAC spirit and the sacrifice of the men and women who died at Gallipoli and in subsequent wars.
In Austinmer, the focus was on women, and how their contribution to the war has developed since 1915.
At the service, Lieutenant Naomi Atkinson made her first ANZAC address, speaking about how women in both World Wars paved the way for women in defence today.
“Almost 70,000 woman served during WWII fulfilling roles as nurses, radio and radar operators, signalists, transport drivers, aeronautic inspectors, translators and caterers,” she said.
“Woman have served in all theatres of war since WWII and today they are an essential part of our armed services.”
Lieutenant Atkinson described this morning’s service as “beautiful” and spoke of the importance of remembering the sacrifice of all soldiers.
“It was beautiful to be here and beautiful to share this experience and commemorate the ANZACs,” she said.
“I used to attend ANZAC services as a little girl and wasn’t able to comprehend the meaning of others’ contribution. However, through a very short time of service in defence it’s abled my understanding of their service and the sacrifices they had to make.”
Austinmer locals Elaine Wilton and her son Brennan Wilton attend the dawn service every year to honour Elaine’s father and husband, who both served in war.
“My father was killed in Syria on April 29, 1942 so I was nearly three, but six-months-old when he went to war,” she said.
“It’s an emotional day.”
Elaine and Brennan said they were pleased so many people had attended the service at the surf club their family had been instrumental in building.
“I worried ANZAC Day could fade away potentially when we lose a lot of our veterans but there were thousands of people here today and it was a really emotional morning,” Brennan said.
What commercial fishers are doing to protect the humpback highway
With thousands of whales about to hit the “humpback highway”, commercial fishermen are trialling new gear to stop them from becoming entangled. Read what they’re doing here.
Man refused bail after cops allegedly find child abuse material
A man who stands accused of hoarding child abuse and bestiality material has been refused bail by a court in the state’s south. See the vision of his arrest.