Lest We Forget
VIETNAM veteran Allan Dare had only six months’ training before he was sent to war aged just 19.
“I was wanting to help but being so young we didn’t know what to expect,” Mr Dare ( left) said.
It is his bravery and the thousands of other men and women who have served or are serving our country in conflicts for more than a century that Townsville celebrates today.
In moving ceremonies across the North’s capital, generations will stand together to solemnly acknowledge the sacrifice of our humble heroes.
A SMALL band of Australians are determined to honour our Anzac heroes in the face of terror threats and growing political unrest in Turkey.
It may be one of the smallest Gallipoli dawn services in history but for those making the trip to the peninsula, dwindling numbers will make the event more memorable.
Turkish officials said yesterday they had responded to Australian warnings about a potential attack on this year’s ceremony by boosting security.
Snipers are being stationed around key sites and soldiers and police have been checking access lanes and tracks.
Additionally some spots in the ceremony site are closed to the traffic in order to prevent any problems and there is ID control for everyone who wants to enter to the site.
Anzac Day services will also be held across northern France and Belgium today to honour the 295,000 Australians who served along the Western Front during World War I.
More than 3000 people are expected to pay homage at a dawn service at the Australian National Memorial site outside the town of Villers- Bretonneux, where the names of more than 10,000 lost soldiers, killed in action and their bodies never found, are engraved upon the walls.
Other services will be held at Bullecourt, where 10,000 Australians died in two bloody battles in April and May 1917, and at several sites in Belgium.
Veterans Affairs Minister Dan Tehan, who is represent- ing the Australian Government in France, said the Western Front had taken a dreadful toll, with more Australian soldiers killed there – 20,000 in all – throughout 1917.
“More Australian lost their lives in that year that at any other time in our history,’’ he said.
“It was our darkest hour in the loss of life. It makes it absolutely compelling that the sacrifices those soldiers made must not be forgotten.
“They couldn’t see the war would ever end yet they were prepared to do their duty.’’
The $ 100 million new Australian Government- funded Sir John Monash Centre at the Australian National Memorial at Villers- Bretonneux, which opens next year, is expected to encourage a new pilgrimage for generations of Australians exploring and honouring their family’s military history.
Australian historian Craig Roach has lived in Turkey for 20 years and takes groups of Australians through Gallipoli each Anzac Day, said the feeling this year was tense.
“Normally the Turkish people are very friendly when I take groups through the area for Anzac Day but this year was the first that I have ever seen people scowl at us and frown,” he said. “It is very worrying. “I’ve even had death threats sent after making comments on a website ( about a political story).
“It is very disappointing but I love this country and I love living here.”
Several security blockades have been set up on roads leading to Anzac Cove, where the dawn service will be held.