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This year’s Field of Remembrance will grow to commemorate the sacrifices of 245 service men and women from central Victoria.
Twenty-five new crosses will be added to the field in the Queen Victoria Gardens, between Rosalind Park and the piazza.
Field of Remembrance co-ordinator Chris Earl said the crosses, made by RSL volunteers, would represent parishioners from the All Saints Anglican church in Bendigo who enlisted in World War I.
Names were selected from the All Saints honour roll, which will be on display at the Bendigo District RSL sub-branch in Havilah Road at the weekend.
“We thought it appropriate that this year’s representatives came from that honour roll, where there were 163 men and women from Bendigo who enlisted from that church a century ago,” Mr Earl said.
He said the new crosses would also mark the centenary of the first Anzac commemoration in Bendigo.
A special church service was held at the All Saints cathedral on April 25, 1916, the first anniversary of the Gallipoli landing.
Bendigo District RSL sub-branch president Cliff Richards there was also a gathering at Upper Reserve, now the Queen Elizabeth Oval, later that week.
“One hundred years ago, young men and women from Bendigo were enlisting as reinforcements to the first Anzacs and heading to battles on the Western Front,” he said.
The field will be placed on Saturday morning, with the new crosses to be added during a ceremony starting at 3pm on Sunday with a procession of cross-bearers and vintage vehicles from Rosalind Park to the piazza.
“This is a special ongoing centenary of Anzac tribute by the Bendigo community,” Mr Earl said.
“The field in many ways provides a sanctuary in the city for people to sit and reflect, and that reflection is an important part of Anzac commemorations.”
The Field of Remembrance started last year with 220 wooden crosses and will grow each year of the Anzac centenary, to 2018.
Mr Earl said descendants who honoured relatives when the field was unveiled last year were invited to join in this year by placing Australian flags in the field.
He said people wishing to apply to carry one of the new crosses could collect a form from the council offices in Lyttleton Terrace or the Soldiers Memorial Institute Military Museum at Pall Mall.