Community pauses to remember on Anzac Day

THE Surf Coast community stepped out into the dark on Anzac Day to pay their respects to Australians past and present who have served.

The Torquay RSL’s dawn service was held in its usual spot at the Point Danger memorial, with the crowd in the low thousands smaller than previous years but no less respectful in their silence and laying of wreaths.

Corangamite federal member Libby Coker read a message on behalf of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Torquay RSL president Bob Brackin delivered the Anzac requiem.

 

Pupils from Surf Coast Secondary College and Bellbrae Primary School also took part.

Veterans and their families met at the John Spittle Memorial Garden behind the Torquay RSL sub-branch for a second, smaller service, which featured Lieutenant Jason Tomlin from the Royal Australian Navy as the guest speaker.

 

This service also featured readings fron students at Christian College Geelong Junior School, Nazareth Catholic Primary School, Mount Duneed Regional Primary School, and Torquay College.

In Angelsea, the Anglesea RSL sub-branch’s march and ceremony was attended by several hundred people in excellent weather.

 

Sporting organisations were represented in the march along McMillan Street and in the laying of wreaths, as well as pupils from schools in Anglesea and Aireys Inlet.

One participant was Doreen McGowan, a resident at Cordelia Grove Aged Care, who recently turned 100.

Ms McGowan, who served in the Royal Australian Air Force for three years in Western Australia, also took part in the special ceremony held at Cordelia Grove on Monday this week.

Former minister for veterans affairs Michael Ronaldson was the guest speaker at the main Anglesea service, and delivered a speech that covered several topics including the role of Legacy in caring for former personnel and their families, with 2023 marking 100 years of Legacy.