The large gathering at the Anzac Day dawn service at Engadine was asked to think about the number of people in their suburb.
“Engadine currently has a population of around 17,000 people,” said Warrant Officer Brad Copeland (retired), who gave the address.
He said that number was 6000 less than the 23,000 casualties suffered by Anzac forces in six weeks at Pozieres on the Western Front.
Mr Copeland said July marked 100 years since that battle.
”Arthur Blackburn, himself a Gallipoli veteran, would be awarded the Victoria Cross at Pozieres as he led 50 men against a heavily fortified strong point, capturing 400 metres of trenches with repeated, determined attack,” he said.
”Blackburn was one of three Australians awarded the VC over a single day period at Pozieres.
“The 1st Anzac Corps made as many as 18 attacks along Pozieres ridge.”
An estimated 1500 people attended the Engadine dawn service, and the number of young families, including many toddlers, was a feature.
Among those who took part in the march to the war memorial in the town square was Darryl Kelly, who retired in January this year after 39 years in the Army.
“The Anzac Day focus tends to be on the city events, but, to me, the real heart and soul seems to be in the suburbs, where they are gathering popularity and momentum at a great rate,” he said.
Mr Kelly and his wife Deborah have two sons serving in the Army and, at times, they, together with their father, were deployed in the Middle East at the same time.
He said the support given by families to service men and women was of vital importance and should not be forgotten.
David Farquhar, another of those who marched, was in the first intake of “nashos” (national servicemen) in the mid 1960s.
He said there was a very large number of ex-servicemen from that era living in Engadine.
“What I like to see is the young children getting up with their parents at that hour of the morning and coming along,” he said.
One such person is Caleb Coe, 10, who was overheard by the Leader telling his grandmother Wendy Phillips, “I have been coming to the dawn service every year since I was four”.
Caleb’s brother Jayden, eight, has done likewise.
Their grandfather, Ian Phillips, a Vietnam veteran and former president of the Engadine RSL Club and sub branch, died in 2003.
Vietnam service led to him suffering post traumatic stress disorder.
Caleb said it was not easy getting up at such an early hour to attend the dawn service, but was glad he did.
”I love being respectful for my Pop and great grandfather,” he said.
