By RUSSELL BENNETT
LONG before the crowd gathered on Saturday morning, a lone figure stood silent at Emerald’s Anzac Place – the statue of the unknown soldier.
In the early hours, local residents came to pay their respects to him as part of the town’s Anzac centenary dawn service. By the time the service began, shortly after 5.30am, thousands of locals had lined the streets surrounding the RSL and Anzac Place. A sea of faces stood as one – silent.
The emotion-charged service began with a sound and light show that took the crowd back to the explosions and gunfire of Gallipoli in 1915.
“Those sounds were the baptism of fire for not only the young Anzacs, but also the young Turkish defenders – it was their first experience of war, and for so many it was their last,” said Emerald RSL president, and Vietnam veteran, Peter Maloney.
“Sadly, for the Anzacs, those sounds were ingrained in their memories forever.
“Anzac Day is about remembering all the fallen – on both sides – and also to pay our respects to those who returned and lived with the memories.”
Leading Aircraftman Craig Sculpher has recently returned from a six-month tour in the Middle East. The Emerald local told the crowd just what the spirit of the Anzacs meant to him.
“To all Australians, Anzac Day is a tradition paid for in blood, and celebrated in our freedom,” he said.
“It’s a day in which we not only salute the Anzacs but, in paying tribute to them, we also take the opportunity to invigorate our national spirit and pride.
“During those terrible battles of the First World War, young Australians earned a reputation for courage, sacrifice and mateship.
“This experience drew Australia together as a nation and established our national character.
“The standards that we set, and the Anzac Spirit, have been handed down ever since to all the Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen who followed them.
“We pause today to acknowledge all current and former members of our defence forces; those brave young men and women who represent our country on a daily basis.
“No Australian is left un-touched when a member of our defence force is killed in action.”
Emerald Secondary College captains Alex Campsell and Hayley Thomas spoke of the unknown soldier.
“We do not know this Australian’s name, and we never will,” they read.
“We do not know his rank or his battalion. We do not know when he was born, nor precisely how and where he died. We do not know where in Australia he made his home, or where or when he had left it in the battlefields of Europe.
“We will never know who this Australian was, yet he has always been among those who we have honoured. We know that he was one of the 45,000 Australians who had died on the Western Front. He is all of them, and he is one of us.”
At the Cockatoo morning service, locals young and old marched step by step from the primary school down to the RSL.
Cardinia Shire councillor Jodie Owen spoke at the intimate ceremony of the need to support today’s servicemen and women when they return home. While they head overseas full of life, some return with injuries – either physical or mental.
Pastor Owen Prout led those in attendance in a rendition of the Lord’s Prayer, but added that often a soldier’s prayer would be so much shorter than that. Often just one word – help.
Massive crowds also turned out to Gembrook’s dawn and morning services at the memorial on the corner of Redwood and Pakenham roads, with a gunfire breakfast also held at the Gembrook Community Centre.
