Anzac Day 2020: How World War I veterans commemorated Anzac Day in 1985

Many Gold Coast World War I veterans were still alive to mark 70 years since the Gallipoli landings in 1985. This was their message to the next generation.

THE Gold Coast will pause to remember the fallen today to mark Anzac Day.

This year’s commemoration falls in the 105th year since the Gallipoli landings, adding an extra sense of poignancy to the solemn occasion.

Locally, ceremonies would normally be held across the city but this year the COVID-19 pandemic has forced all events to be cancelled to the public.

Instead the famous Currumbin memorial service, which would normally be held at Elephant Rock, will instead be a prerecorded service broadcast online.

World War I veterans march through Southport on Anzac Day in the 1930s.

It will be the first time since the first Anzac Day in 1916, that no public ceremonies will be held.

Of course, the commemorations of April 25 in the past decade were significantly larger than those of the first decades after World War I.

Back in 1985, the Gold Coast paused to mark 70 years since the landings at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915.

A ceremony was held at Elephant Rock where piper Betty Thornton greeted the dawn with her bagpipes to play the traditional lament.

The survivors of the Great War were in their 80s and 90s by that time and numbers were beginning to thin out.

Gold Coast Gallipoli veterans Les Nervis and Rod McLeod on Anzac Day 1985.

But the Southport North Rotary Club held a special Anzac Day dinner and hosted nine veterans of the conflict.

The camaraderie of bygone times was still there and despite wear and tear over the years, they were more determined as ever to remember their lost friends.

Tom Gray, then-89, spoke of his memories to the Bulletin.

“I can still remember some close friends from the trenches and I will be thinking of them,” he said.

“There has been a lot of time passed since then but I still remember it well.”

Another veteran, then-88-year-old Rupert Rees said the day held special significance to him.

“It makes me feel young again and many of my old buddies come to mind,” he said.

“I realise the war is well past now but I feel the day still has a lot to offer.”

World War I and World War II veterans march in Southport. April 25, 1985

Mr Rees told the Bulletin at the time that few of his comrades were still alive.

“We fought for the British Empire and Australia and that is how I remember Anzac Day, the day we put our lives on the line for Her Majesty.”

Another veteran Dave Falconer, used the anniversary to show off a packet of sand he had collected at Anzac Cove while serving there in 1915.

“I have this sand to remind me of the tragedy. But it also reminds me of the good times and that is an important part of Anzac Day,” he said.

“Many people only think of the death but I remember my buddies, the other Diggers. That’s what Anzac Day is all about.”

During their reunion the old Diggers sang their favourite wartime songs, including Ain’t She Sweet, Kiss me Goodnight Sergeant-Major, Pack up your Troubles, It’s a Long Way to Tipperary and Bless ‘em All.

World War I veteran Stanley Owen, who signed up in 1914 and was a member of the 4th Light Horse Regiment pictured on Anzac Day 1985 with his great nephew Fraser Wright.

Among those who attended Anzac services on the Coast that year was Stanley Owen, who had joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1914 at age 19 and served in the 4th Light Horse Regiment.

By 1985 he was 90 years old and had retired to Warrnambool in Victoria.

He was staying on the Gold Coast at the time and teaching his great nephew Fraser Wright about the war.

The 70th anniversary commemoration drew large crowds, with more than 700 people marching at Coolangatta, another 700 at Southport and 250 people in Surfers Paradise.

Veterans at the time told the Bulletin it was the largest Anzac Day services since the end of World War II, some 40 years earlier.

Now 35 years on, the World War I veterans are all gone and few of those who fought in World War II remain but the Gold Coast continues to remember them.

Lest We Forget.