Dawn Service
The rain held off long enough for around 200 people to watch the Dawn Service held in Crookwell this morning. There were 63 marchers led by the Parade Marshall.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As dawn broke the names of the fallen were read out followed by the sounding of the Last Post.
Servicemen, their family members and community marched to the Cenotaph from the Crookwell Services Club after having and gun fire breakfast.
There is little that is glamorous about war, but for the returned servicemen who remain, and to their family and our community, we make the day memorable by coming together as one to celebrate.
This year we celebrate the 102nd year since the landing at Gallipoli, during WWI.
The numbers were down to about 500 visitors at the Dawn Service held in Gallipoli after more than 10,000 marked the centenary two years ago.
Terror threats sit in the back of everyone’s minds in the larger areas, yet we are lucky in the quieter regional areas being able to go about our celebrations without thinking too much of danger.
The returned servicemen living in the Crookwell area are; Arthur Benson, Maurice Woods, Ray Clements, Jack Druett and Allan Waters from Bialla.
Today at the morning commemorative service we had present; Maurice and Jack with Ray, Arthur and Allan unable to attend. Jack was at the service being able to attend by the use of a bus. Out of the five remaining returned servicemen, Maurice was the only one who marched.
Crookwell recently lost another of the well-respected returned servicemen, Mr Mervyn Corcoran, who passed away on April 5, 2017.
11am Service
The grey clouds remained all day and the rain fell on those who turned out to watch the 11am March from the Crookwell Services Club to the Memorial Park.
A crowd estimated close to 1000 turned out for a soggy mid-morning service.
As onlookers held their umbrellas we remembered together, that the solider fought in much worse conditions on the battle fields with little protection.
They not only fought the enemy but they also suffered the weather extremes like rain, snow, mud and to the other extreme, heatwaves and also sickness, injury and disease.
The day concluded at the Services Club where a light lunch was served and a game of two-up was played.
