Light rain during the dawn Anzac Day service at The Rock was welcomed by the 80 people gathered under the spotlights to commemorate the 102nd landing of the troops on the beach on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
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Major James Van Strijp gave the address, asking the gathered to close their eyes and transport themselves to a place far away, to the sound of waves sloshing against the dozens of lighters carrying the Australian and New Zealand soldiers towards the dark beach.
“What happened next is recorded in one of the most ghastly records of war and bloodshed,” Major Van Strijp continued. “In the half-light of dawn thousands of bullets from the Turkish forces at the top of the cliffs rained down upon the defenceless soldiers.”
“There is no glory in war, it is bloody, painful and despairing and yet, it is in these circumstances in which people bind together forming lifelong bonds through, and in, adversity.”
Major Van Strijp talked about the tenacity and ingenuity of Australian soldiers fighting in the Pacific, defending their Australian shores from the Japanese. “There are horror stories from these battles, many which are only becoming known.”
Just before the service ended, a concert of bird calls preceded the sounding of the Last Post. The overture was by sulpur-crested cockatoos, the first act by kookaburras, the second movement from the magpies, the finale provided by the gaggle of galahs waiting in the eucalypt trees and, finally, the Last Post echoing through the misty rain at The Rock.
Lest We Forget.