2020 Anzac Day; Condition Covid 19 – Commemorative Service
This service is combined from the joint resources of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) and the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL). Image of commemorative rough stone with doves used by my family.
Reflection
We gather to remember the scene of one of the bloodiest battles in Australia’s history. On August 6, 1915, 104 days after the Gallipoli landing, the Anzacs squared their shoulders and prepared to confront the enemy again – this time here at Lone Pine.
Those who survived those first hundred days had already endured the terrible reality of war. Tormented by fear and surrounded by death they suffered through illness, persevered through exposure and continued on – exhausted. As the August Offensive began, some remarked that it felt like the 25th of April all over again.
Private Bert Facey was one of the Diggers who took his place among the Anzacs during the Battle of Lone Pine. Like many others, he had struggled through the hardships of the campaign since coming ashore in the first landings. The horror they faced as they made their way to shore weighed heavily on the soldiers’ hearts and minds.
Bullets were thumping into us in the rowing boat. Men were being hit and killed all around me … I was terribly frightened … we all ran for our lives over the strip of beach and got into the scrub and bush. Men were falling all around me. We were stumbling over bodies, running blind. The sight of the bodies on the beach was shocking. It worried me for days that I couldn’t stop to help the men calling out …
The Gallipoli campaign exacted a heavy toll that left an indelible scar on our nation. More than 8,000 Australians died. Many still lie in this hallowed place.
They were ordinary men who found extraordinary determination and bravery on the sands of Gallipoli. While we will never fully understand what they suffered in the name of duty, we honour them and the actions that inspired the Anzac spirit.
Unconditional loyalty in mateship; Endurance in hardship; Courage, even in the face of certain death; Sacrifice in the name of service.
These are the enduring values that emerged from the Gallipoli campaign. They are characteristic of those who fought here and are values we continue to honour and admire.
Today, as we gather here to commemorate over a century of service – we look toward the next hundred years.
We vow to uphold their Anzac spirit and promise to remember them.
Lest we forget.
Dawn Service
Bible Reading: Romans 12:9–18
Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another. Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion. Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times. Share your belongings with your needy fellow Christians, and open your homes to strangers. Ask God to bless those who persecute you – yes, ask him to bless, not to curse. Be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep. Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties. Do not think of yourselves as wise. If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody.
Quotation by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (translated)
Those heroes that shed their blood, and lost their lives … You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours … You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.
Hymn: Abide With Me
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies. Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee; In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Reading: Scots of the Riverina – Maximilian Claessens
The boy cleared out to the city from his home at harvest time They were Scots of the Riverina, and to run from home was a crime. The old man burned his letters, the first and last he burned, And he scratched his name from the Bible when the old wife’s back was turned.
A year went past and another. There were calls from the firing-line; They heard the boy had enlisted, but the old man made no sign. His name must never be mentioned on the farm by Gundagai They were Scots of the Riverina with ever the kirk hard by.
The boy came home on his ‘final’, and the township’s bonfire burned. His mother’s arms were about him; but the old man’s back was turned.
The daughters begged for pardon till the old man raised his hand. A Scot of the Riverina who was hard to understand. The boy was killed in Flanders, where the best and bravest die. There were tears at the Grahame homestead and grief in Gundagai; But the old man ploughed at daybreak and the old man ploughed till the mirk. There were furrows of pain in the orchard while his housefolk went to the kirk. The hurricane lamp in the rafters dimly and dimly burned; And the old man died at the table when the old wife’s back was turned. Face down on his bare arms folded he sank with his wild grey hair. Outspread o’er the open Bible and a name re-written there.
Henry Lawson, 1917
Prayer of Remembrance
God of life, origin of love, we remember across a century of time in our world, and hold in prayer before your eternal presence this dawn, the first Anzacs of Australia and New Zealand who gave all in service and sacrifice upon these shores, valleys and hills.
Their graves mark the grief of and loss to their family, friends and nations who kept vigil far from these shores. We remember too all who served and eventually returned home with the burden of war upon their hearts and souls. We remember all who have suffered the horrors of war in our world.
In your spiritual dawn of eternal life may they have true peace, everlasting love and live on, forever young with you. We pray that future generations of pilgrims to this cove will always remember the youth, loyalty, bravery, love, service before self and sacrifice for others that mark the Anzacs of a century past.
This we pray through the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, Your kingdom come, your will be done, On earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins As we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours. Now and forever. Amen.
Wreath Laying
Ode of Remembrance
They went with songs to the battle, they were young. Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.
Response: We will remember them.
All: Lest we forget.
Last Post
One Minute Silence
Reveille or the Rouse
National Anthems
‘Advance Australia Fair’
‘God Defend New Zealand’ available from the Aotearoa – New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage; please check for latest version before the service.
The Final Blessing
As we conclude this centenary Dawn Service let us respectfully take our leave from this place of remembrance of bravery, sacrifice and service before self. May we support the widow and orphan, and the afflicted and distressed of our world.
May we hold faith in the power of goodness to endure and to ultimately overcome evil, through the daily bravery of good people everywhere. So may the blessing of God’s presence be gently upon you and go with you this day: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
End.