HUNDREDS gathered before the Richmond RSL Sub-Branch’s Richmond War Memorial on a cool Anzac Day morning to pay their respects to past and present soldiers.
The crowd spilled out from the memorial into Richmond Oval, with current and past service men and women, mixed in with ordinary Australians, there to silently pay tribute to those who have undertaken military service in the name of Australia.
The morning mist was mixed with the smell and haze of smoke from recent hazard reduction burns. The air was full of the cries of birds, who call the trees around Richmond Oval their home.
Richmond RSL Sub-Branch president Ron Gray and honour secretary Gillian Fletcher made speeches to those assembled.
They spoke of the deeds that the original ANZACs performed, and the deeds of those who followed them. They spoke of legacy of freedom, of which men and women from many nations including our own have fought and died for. They spoke of the horrors of war and the beauty of peace.
“We remember those who paid the supreme sacrifice so that we and the people of other nations may live in peace,” Gray said.
“We remember those who continue to suffer from physical and mental scars...Let us remember all the young Australians who sacrificed the privilege of growing old with their families, children and friends so that we could enjoy these freedoms.”
Gray quipped that one of the freedoms we enjoyed was the privilege of listening to the birds chirping, which was met with a laugh during an otherwise very solemn.
Fletcher quoted Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, one of the main Turkish officers who organised the defence of the Gallipoli peninsula in 1915, and who went on to found the Republic of Turkey and become its first president.
Despite the fact the Turkish and Australian and New Zealand soldiers were undoubtedly enemies, and many lives from both sides were lost, Kemal recognised the unusual bond that was formed between them.
“The heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives on this country's soil! You are in the soil of a friendly country now. Therefore rest in peace. You are side by side with the little Mehmets. The mothers who send their sons to the war! Wipe your tears away. Your sons are in our bosom, are in peace and will be sleeping in peace comfortably. From now on, they have became our sons since they have lost their lives on this land,” was Kemal’s tribute to the ANZAC soldiers, inscribed on monuments both in Turkey and Canberra.
A number of organisations from the Hawkesbury laid wreaths at the foot of the memorial.
The service concluded with the playing of the Last Post, a moment’s silence, as well as the playing of God Save the Queen, followed by Advance Australia Fair.
