A respectful hush fell over the crowd this morning as the strains of Last Post echoed out over Mandurah’s waterways at the Anzac Day dawn service.
The crowd was smaller than in years before, the hundreds who showed up braved soggy ground and rain. Still this was a small sacrifice in comparison to the one made by our Anzacs, past and present.
The respectful silence was broken only by the sounds of magpies and a rogue drone flying overhead, taking pictures throughout the ceremony.
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READ NOWPeople in the crowd commented on the disrespect shown by the drone’s operator, who frequently interrupted the ceremony.
Mandurah RSL President David Mabbs welcomed the new families and children experiencing the ceremony for the first time.
He reminded the crowd that it was 100 years since Australia lost more than 46,000 men on the Western Front in WWI – The Great War.
He also pointed out that it was the centenary of the first dawn service.
Reverend David Oxley spoke at the opening and closing prayers.
He called for peace not only overseas, but amongst the Australian community.
The ceremony was shorter than in years past. There was no choir. But it was no less poignant.
As the ceremony ended and the rain began to fall, people approached the war memorial to pay their respects to the fallen, showing the Anzac spirit remains strong in Mandurah and cannot be dampened.