Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
We’d love to see your Anzac Day pictures and video - share them with us through our Facebook page, our Snapchat account bgoaddy, by tagging us @BgoAddy on Twitter or by using #bendigoadvertiser on Instagram.
The normally bustling High Street, Kangaroo Flat was brought to a standstill as residents lined the streets to pay their respects to local service men and women on Monday morning.
The march concluded at a filled-to-capacity Soldiers’ Memorial where those present heard from Kangaroo Flat Returned and Services League president Robert Bail and Bendigo born Royal Australian Airforce Squadron Leader Shane Wright.
The 100th Anzac Day since the Battle of the Somme in World War I took on extra significance for both men, each of whom had grandfathers wounded in the Great War.
Squadron Leader Wright also had two great-uncles who were killed in WWI, one at the Gallipoli landing and the other on the Western Front.
“It’s very significant for me in terms of a great-uncle that died over there in France 100 years ago this year,” he said.
“My grandfather was over there in France during WWI, was shot twice and somehow managed to survive the carnage over there.
“When he came back I never heard him speak of it so it’s really important to me that we as his family honour that tradition.”
For Mr Bail, a Vietnam veteran, the day took on even further significance, being the 50th Anzac commemoration since the Battle of Long Tan.
“I especially on this day remember my grandfather who was wounded in France, machine gunned across the legs, and my mother who was in the women’s Royal Australian Air Force, both no longer with us, so this is a very special day for me to remember them,” he said.
“But it’s also significant for me being a Vietnam veteran because it’s also the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan.
“We as Vietnam veterans have sort of embraced the day of the Battle of Long Tan as our Vietnam veterans’ day and as it’s 50 years now, it’s very important for us too, so it’s sort of a triple whammy.”
Mr Bail said he was especially pleased to see how many young people had turned up to honour those lost to war and conflict over the years.
“You look at this crowd and look how many are wearing medals,” he said
“The protocol is you wear your own on the left and everybody else’s on the right, well have a look at how many people have got medals on their right breast, it is just fantastic.”
Mr Bail said his grandfather, Harold Hubert Stewart, known to him as “HH” or “pa”, would also have been pleased with the turnout.
“I really wish he was here on a day like today to see how much they’re remembered, it would be lovely,” he said.