Aust women take lead in Anzac services
AUSTRALIA: Because extremists have targeted annual Anzac Day ceremonies in Australia in the past, concrete barriers were placed around the service in downtown Sydney yesterday.
‘‘Anzac Day is not about glorifying war, but about celebrating the Australian spirit,’’ Air ViceMarshal Steven Roberton told the large crowd at Sydney’s Martin Place.
‘‘Anzac signifies strength and quality of character, attitude and action that transcends time.’’
Rain did not deter crowds from lining Elizabeth St to watch more than 16,000 servicemen and women march.
At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, an estimated crowd of 38,000 – 10 per cent of the city’s population – gathered in the cool autumn darkness for the dawn service which began with a lone soldier playing a didgeridoo.
‘‘The attendance at this year’s dawn service shows the enduring connection so many people have to Anzac Day,’’ memorial director Brendan Nelson said.
For the first time, women who are current or former defence force members led the Anzac Day parades in Sydney, Darwin and Hobart. Among those at the head of the Sydney parade was 100-yearold Molly Cummings, honouring her many family members who have served Australia.
Darwin’s Returned and Services League recently decided women should lead the march, both as an endorsement of inclusivity and to highlight the work women do in the armed services and as veterans.
Ian Smith, chair of the RSL South Australia’s Anzac Day committee, told the thousands who gathered for Adelaide’s early morning ceremony that women who served in the armed forces needed greater recognition.
‘‘Women were fully integrated during the 1970s and 80s, and since then have continued to make their mark with a full range of responsibilities across all three services,’’ he told the crowd.
Contemporary veterans for the first time led Melbourne’s traditional Anzac Day march, which was previously led by the descendants of World War I veterans.
‘‘It reflects the changing face of our veteran community. It’s right that we honour them,’’ Victoria’s RSL President Robert Webster said. ‘‘Some of them have been through some pretty rough times . . . some of them have done six and seven rotations through Afghanistan and various places.’’
The march followed a packed dawn service attended by nearly 35,000 people who were for the first time addressed by a military woman.
‘‘My medals represent . . . medical battles with scalpels, antiseptic, blood and dressing,’’ Group Captain Annette Holian said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, his French counterpart Edouard Philippe and Prince Charles marked Anzac Day in France with a service that also commemorated the 100th anniversary of Australian troops taking the town of Villers-Bretonneux from the Germans. VillersBretonneux is now home to the main Australian Memorial of the Western Front.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton represented the Australian government at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, in Turkey.