Mosman RSL Sub-Branch vows Anzac Day dawn service will be better than last year’s

EVERYTHING went wrong last year — with the Georges Heights dawn service lambasted as an ‘absolute disgrace’ — the RSL has vowed it won’t happen again.

The crowd at Mosman’s Anzac Day dawn service at Georges Heights last year. Picture: Elenor Tedenborg

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THE Mosman RSL Sub-Branch has promised there will be no repeat of last year’s heavily criticised Anzac Day dawn service at Georges Heights.

Attendees blasted the 2015 service as “bloody awful” and an “absolute disgrace” after a litany of problems from sound system troubles to the low-quality cardboard memorial and the bloke manning the sausage sizzle who chatted through the whole event.

Mosman’s then-mayor, Roy Bendall, said that the 2015 service was a “missed opportunity” to do something special on the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

Mosman RSL’s then sub-branch president Peter Reid vowed last year that “something has got to be done” and now it has.

The redeveloped Georges Heights commemorative lookout is ready for Mosman's Anzac Day Dawn Service — Eileen Henderson OAM, Ian Henderson and Harbour Trust acting director Susan Culverston. Picture: Annika Enderborg

The Harbour Trust, a government agency, has completed an eight-month $130,000 upgrade of the site this month, while Mosman Council will help with an improved speaker system and parking.

The redevelopment includes a harbour lookout which doubles as an elevated podium for the catafalque party on Anzac Day and a centralised flagpole.

The crowd at Mosman’s Anzac Day dawn service at Georges Heights last year. Picture: Elenor Tedenborg

Sub-branch president Ian Henderson said the improvements were “considerable”.

He acknowledged last year’s complaints but said the branch had no control over bad weather.

The retired Lieutenant Colonel said the lookout would benefit the community for the 364.5 days of the year it was not in use for the dawn service.

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