Anzac Day: A nation remembers the sacrifice
Up to 80,000 people are thought to have attended the Kings Park dawn service to commemorate the 100th landing of the Anzac forces at Gallipoli.
The sun had not even begun to touch the sky but an expected record crowd was massing around the State War Memorial.
They arrived in their thousands to pay their respects to Australia and New Zealand’s fallen soldiers.
Rugged up against the cool pre-dawn morning, some have been here for hours, leaving nothing to chance in their bid to pay their respects to the Anzacs on the historic 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.
They streamed towards the State War Memorial in this most Australian of pilgrimages, to the poignant sound of more than a thousand names and ages of the fallen, read by children.
Picture: sineadbrewer/instagram
The park fell silent and dark, as the lights were switched off when Governor Kerry Sanderson took her position at the head of the wreath-laying party.
As the sound of the muffled drum beat played, the dignitaries made their way forward and as pipers played the Lament, took turns to lay their tributes and reflect.
A touching note left among the flowers at Kings Park. Picture: Katherine Fleming/The West Australian
Kings Park was at capacity, with the area in front of the memorial full by about 5am.
Hundreds of people gathered to watch the moving service on big screens in overflow areas, designed to cater for the anticipated 60,000 people who would attend.
ANZAC COMMEMORATIONS FROM GALLIPOLI TO KINGS PARK
One of the pipers was PLC bagpipe teacher Matija Franetovich, the first female piper to perform at the service.
The crowd was diverse - from babies too young to remember their first dawn service to teenagers in school uniform and veterans with chests full of medals.
The sky turned yellow and pink behind Graham Edwards, state president of the Returned and Services League, as he recited the Ode, before the emotional crowd repeated, “we will remember them” and “lest we forget”.
After Royal Australian Air Force planes cut through the clear sky, a lone bugle rang out with the haunting strains of The Last Post.
When the last note rang out, it gave way to a sombre silence, as people stood quietly, some with heads bowed and others with tears in their eyes.
Respected bugler David Scott broke the minute’s silence with the Reveille, before renditions of the New Zealand and Australian anthems.
Picture: watsonben/instagram
The Australian anthem was accompanied by the low murmur of the accompanying crowd's singing.
Brigadier David Thompson, commander of the Army’s 13th Brigade, gave the Anzac Day address, using the story of 31-year-old fruitier and father of two, David John Simcock.
A raconteur with scant regard for orders, Private Simcock had learned his sense of duty and looking after his own when he became his family's main support when his father died. He had two children of his own, aged eight and four, when war was declared and "could have left the fighting to the younger men", Brig. Thompson said. Instead, he joined the WA-raised 11th battalion.
He was well loved by his fellow diggers, who paid him the highest tribute by remembering him as a "good soldier".
He landed at Anzac Cove on this day 100 years ago and was ordered to stay on the beach to take care of the packs. He once again paid little mind to those orders and advanced with his mates.
"He died on the 26th of April, once again true to duty, loyalty and honour," Brig Thompson said. "He was hit by shrapnel going forward to rescue a wounded man, one of his comrades...
"It is the story of one man's life and there are many more in this country of ours, past and present, of service personnel who also made this ultimate sacrifice."
Some, such as Aboriginal soldiers, were not even recognised as citizens and could only go to their local RSL on one day a year - Anzac Day.
"We can be proud of all of them and always remember their sacrifice for the religious and political freedoms that we have in Australia that other countries don't," Brig Thompson said.
Pip Wood, a former member of the British Army, camped out with a friend from about 9pm with chairs, blankets and a small cooker to keep the hot coffee flowing.
She estimated there were about 100 people who slept in the area around the memorial.
"It was nice to be here and to do that vigil," she said. "I'm ex military so I always cry at the Last Post."
Ms Wood said she usually attended a local dawn service but decided to make the special trip to Kings Park this year.
