This morning’s centenary Anzac Day dawn service at Ingleburn RSL attracted a huge turnout.
Usually those attending Anzac Day dawn services are able to watch the ceremony either inside the Soldiers’ Memorial Park compound or from the adjacent carpark of the club.
But this was different; this was the centenary of that fateful day when hostilities started between our troops and the Turkish forces waiting for them high up on the hills of Gallipoli peninsula.
So it was no surprise that there were huge numbers in attendance.
This morning there were so many people at Ingleburn RSL some of them spilled onto Warbler Avenue and Chester Road to watch a very moving ceremony.
Police estimated that more than 2,000 attended the service, with some people parking a kilometre or more away from Ingleburn RSL.
This was a 20 fold increase on the number of people who normally attend dawn services.
But despite the large numbers present there was an eerie silence during the hour long homage to the Anzacs who fought and died for their country 100 years ago.
The solemn quietness was interrupted only by a crying child or the call of a kookaburra who must have been woken from its slumber by the large number of human beings who had gathered near its nest.
The cenotaph inside the Soldiers Memorial was covered by wreaths placed by dignitaries.
Following the end of the formalities with the singing of Advance Australia Fair many of the people who attended – especially those who had spilled out onto the street – walked back up to the cenotaph to pay their personal respects to those who gave their lives so ours could be better in so many ways.
Just going by the sheer numbers of those attending dawn services across the country this morning, and no doubt the marches later in the day, the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli will now be embedded into the legend of Anzac Day for the next 100 years.
