A day to reflect and remember

THOUSANDS of people will again turn out as Bendigo celebrates Anzac Day this Thursday.

Activities will begin with a march at 5.45am from Bull Street to the Dawn Service at 6am at the Bendigo Military Museum forecourt in Pall Mall. A similar Dawn Service will take place at 6am at Brassey Square in Eaglehawk.

The traditionally-popular dawn services will be followed by a Morning Service at each location, at 10.20am in Pall Mall and at 8.30am in Eaglehawk.

The main Bendigo march will follow the Morning Service, starting at the TAFE building in McCrae Street, from about 11am.

Bendigo District RSL Sub-branch president Glenn Ludeman will speak at the Bendigo Dawn Service, while Anzac Day ambassador Carl Chirgwin, of Bendigo, will be the featured speaker at the Morning Service. Mr Ludeman said Mr Chirgwin had a background as a peacekeeper with the United Nations, and had been engaged in line with the statewide 2024 Anzac Day theme of ‘Peacekeepers, Peacemakers and Peacebuilders’.

Mr Ludeman said Australia had been involved in 62 peacekeeping operations since 1947, and the theme was chosen to recognise and enhance younger veterans’ involvement in them.

He said it was all but impossible to put a figure on the numbers that turned out for Anzac Day services and activities in the city, but the commemoration’s popularity was enjoying a resurgence.

He said Anzac Day experienced dwindling attendances for some years, probably because the children of veterans of the world wars knew little “because their fathers wouldn’t talk about it.”

“But the generations are coming along now; there are a lot of community people coming,” Mr Ludeman said.

“Because it’s not just about the original Anzacs, it’s about all veterans who have served.”

Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. It has grown to acknowledge and remember all those who are serving and who have served in the Australian and New Zealand armed forces.

-DARREN MCLEAN