WA:The home of Anzac Day remembers

AAP General News (Australia)
04-25-2011
WA:The home of Anzac Day remembers

By Josh Jerga

ALBANY, WA, April 25 AAP - On November 1, 1914, the West Australian coastal hamlet
of Albany was captivated by a convoy of ships berthed at Princess Royal Harbour and bound
for Gallipoli.

That morning, crowds excitedly flocked to the shores and to the top of Mount Clarence
to send off the 30,000 Australian men for what they believed was a great adventure.

The mountain was the last glimpse many young, ordinary men would see of Australia.

Nine years later, the Reverend Arthur Ernest White led a group of parishioners to the
top of Mount Clarence where he conducted Australia's first dawn service.

On Monday, servicemen and women, veterans and their relatives continued the tradition
despite the rain and stood at the top of the mountain to pay their respects.

Flares shot out over the harbour and King George Sound and lit up amid the mist to
commemorate the troops who boarded those ships headed for Egypt and later the Dardanelles.

Reverend David Hosking led the prayer of remembrance to honour the "sons of the battlefield".

"We remember those who paid the supreme sacrifice and all those buried in distant lands,"

Rev Hosking said.

"The sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, lovers and relatives,
all those who served this nation in time of war."

The service listened as Banjo Paterson's We're All Australians Now was recited, telling
how "from shearing shed and cattle run from Broome to Hobsons Bay, each native-born Australian
son, stands straighter up today."

During the four years of the First World War, almost half of Albany's then 4500-strong
population enlisted to fight.

A memorial in the town states: "None returned unchanged by the experience, many did
not return at all."

As the morning went on, the weather got bleaker but the veterans and those hometown
men and women still serving did not lose their resolve to march.

Locals lined the streets to honour those who served Australia in wars and conflicts
that followed those years at Gallipoli.

Rev Hosking enunciated the sentiments shared by many in Albany.

"We thank the ordinary men of all parts of society in many nations who responded to
resist aggression and fight evil, to stand for righteousness and defend our freedom,"

he told the Anzac Day service.

Former defence force chief General Peter Gration had a message to the younger generations.

He urged them to seek out those who fought on the Western Front or served in Korea
or battled at Long Tan and hear their stories.

"There are some things in life that are a matter of luck," General Gration said.

"You can't do much about who you're parents are or where you were born, you've got
to accept it, they're given to you.

"As Australians we're given something else which I call an inheritance, a history,
something about where you come from.

"If you call yourself an Australian, you are the owners of this inheritance."

AAP jsj/jel/de

KEYWORD: ANZAC ALBANY WRAP (PIX TO COME)

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