Birdsong heralded the dawn as thousands of Noosa residents surrounded the Tewantin cenotaph and stretched along Poinciana Avenue in a strong show of support for Tewantin Noosa RSL sub branch at the Anzac Day service on 25 April.
The parade and service later in the morning also drew a record crowd.
MC Bob Upham said he was humbled by the number of people to attend.
“We are here this morning for one purpose,” he said. “We are here to recognise and remember the service of those who gave their lives or were willing to give their lives in defence of the freedoms and privileges we enjoy in this modern democracy.”
As people stood in silent respect dawn service guest speaker, retired Lt Col Malcolm Price, a veteran of 25 years in the Australian Army spoke about ‘duty’.
“They have done their duty,” he said.
“As I look out here and see these ageing ex-service men and women I wonder what’s going through their minds, what are they thinking. If I was able to sum up those thoughts with one word I think I would say duty.
“One hundred and ten years ago when WWI started young Australian and NZ men and boys in their tens of thousands flocked to recruiting depots to sign up, to volunteer to fight for their King and country, to defend their families and freedoms, they saw that as nothing less than their duty. A few short months after that, on this day in 1915, those same young men and boys were being rowed quietly to ashore to Gallipoli to face their enemy, the Turkey soldiers, and they were very brave, after all they were defending their homeland. What are their thoughts at that time? I doubt they were thinking of King and country. They would have been terrified. Fear would be coursing through them and that would be the same fear that would be going through soldiers later on in the mud and blood of the trenches of the Western Front, to those soldiers at Tobruk 25 years later, perhaps to an airforce bomber crew as they flew in the night over Berlin through anti aircraft fire, thinking were they going to return to base. Imagine the fear of sailors on the ill-fated HMAS Sydney, then think of soldiers in the Battle of Kapyong in Korea facing hordes of Chinese infantry, and then to our people in Vietnam in a rubber plantation in a pouring typhoon when they were ambushed by North Vietnamese regular soldiers and on it goes to Afghanistan. How do you overcome fear? Good training only goes so far. At the end of the day when push comes to shove you need something more that good training, you need belief – that’s belief in yourself but more importantly, belief in your mates. To the man or woman next to you. They have your back and you have theirs. And that’s mateship. We often talk about mateship but what does it mean. To me it’s a kind of spiritual combination of courage, confidence, compassion, indeed commitment, it’s duty, it’s loyalty and honour, it’s courage, mental and physical courage, and it’s endurance, that is mateship. When those young men were moving toward the beaches of Gallipoli they weren’t using the word duty but duty was in their minds because they knew to keep them safe they needed their mates. As I stand here today I think of service and sacrifice, I think of courage and commitment and loyalty and honour, but most of all I think of duty.”
Among the other speakers Noosa MP Sandy Bolton said Anzac Day was a day to reflect.
“As we gather today we are filled with love and appreciation for those who defend and continue to defend our nation with courage,” she said. “Everyday we are filled with a greater debt of gratitude. We must everyday support all who serve.”
Noosa Mayor Frank Wilkie reiterated the message that the sole purpose of the day was to honour and thank those who served and show respect for the sacrifices they made.
Tewantin Noosa subbranch president Clinton Ware told the crowd the list of volunteers who had made the event the success it was, was too long to mention but he planned to personally thank each and every one at post-service events held at The Royal Mail Hotel.
