Heathcote Valley Online

Once again the dawn parade, to celebrate the anniversary of the landings by the combined forces of Australia and New Zealand at Anzac cove in southern Turkey at the entrance to the Dardanelles, was well supported by the Heathcote Valley community at the Memorial on the corner of Martindales Road and Flavell Street.

One estimate put the turnout at about 600 people ranging in ages from 80s to under 10s; and the Valley Inn Social Club catered for 400 at breakfast and as the last were being served it looked as though their estimate was pretty close to the mark with no great amount of left-over food.

As far as one could tell, as the parade assembled, there were no organised groups; it was just families and individuals, or couples all straggling along the street in the half dark, some with their cups of tea in their hands and wiping the sleep from their eyes. Not much chatter or banter, just the quiet murmur of many voices in the half light. It was not till the service was over and the breakfast line formed that the greetings, chat and joking began to dominate the proceedings.

The morning was quite overcast but the temperature was moderate and the day dry, which encouraged the good turnout. As usual the service was, as it should be, a very moving tribute to the lives given to the fight for freedom by past generations of young men. It is a grand gesture to see so many, both old and young, turning out to honour our war dead in such a manner; and it is a reminder of the futility of war as a means of preserving peace.