NSW: Australians commemorate Anzacs at dawn service
SYDNEY, April 25 AAP - Tens of thousands of Australians gathered today to rememberthose who fought and died for Australia in Anzac Day dawn services across the country.
The Last Post rang out just before sunrise, 87 years after the landing of Australianand New Zealand troops on the shores of the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey.
The gathering at the National War Memorial in Canberra was believed to be one of the biggest.
The dawn service was conducted in darkness and overseen by the Administrator of theCommonwealth of Australia Sir Guy Green in the absence of Governor-General Peter Hollingworth,who is in Gallipoli.
The Australian Army's principal chaplain Peter Woodward said this year's commemorationwas particularly poignant with Australian soldiers fighting the war on terrorism in Afghanistan.
"We also recognise that since September 11 last year, in a sense, the carnival hasbeen over as we have had to grapple with the realities of terrorism and the difficultand complex issue of achieving peace in our world," he said.
In Sydney, between 10,000 and 15,000 gathered at the Martin Place Cenotaph to pay respectsto the soldiers who fought in the devastating eight-month campaign in 1915.
NSW Veterans Affairs Minister Danna Vale said Anzac Day gave Australians a chance totouch base with the real meaning of nationhood.
"Today is about compassion, about endurance against overwhelming odds, about mateship,it is about a 'fair go' - these are the values that were lived by our Anzacs and our Aussieboys on the Western Front and at Gallipoli," she said.
In Hobart, 103-year-old Alec Campbell, the last survivor of the original Anzacs atGallipoli, will take his place at the head of Hobart's Anzac Day parade.
Thousands flocked to Anzac Square in Brisbane for a wreath-laying ceremony, where Major-GeneralPeter Arnison said today bound Australians like no other.
In Melbourne, grey skies didn't dampen the enthusiasm of thousands who gathered atthe Shrine of Remembrance for the service presided over by outgoing Victorian RSL presidentBruce Ruxton.
About 5,000 people attended a dawn service in Adelaide today in one of the largestAnzac Day gatherings ever in South Australia.
Prime Minister John Howard will attend the Anzac Day march in Canberra at 10.15am (AEST).
When the sun rises on Gallipoli, at about 1pm (AEST) our time, Dr Hollingworth willaddress a dawn service attended by about 10,000 Australians and New Zealanders.
There were no serious incidents during any of the dawn services across Australia.
AAP ns/nf/jmd/sb
KEYWORD: ANZAC DAWN DAYLEAD
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