Sunday, April 25, 2021, is ANZAC Day and we are again being encouraged to Light Up The Dawn to remember our diggers, as we did during the dark days of last year.
It was a powerful message of remembrance and respect to see dawn services held in isolation on driveways and in living rooms, supported by the resources of the RSL.
Happily, this year there will also be opportunities to celebrate as a community. The RSL has over 200 sub-branches across Queensland and many of them will hold ANZAC Day services and events.
One such event is coordinated by the Kenmore-Moggill RSL sub-branch, and it’s held at Brookfield Showgrounds.
President Lieutenant Colonel Rick Maher explains that the venue is significant because of an act of generosity during a first world war recruitment drive.
“This ground is actually the site of a horse muster over a century ago where the 2nd Australian Light Horse Regiment came here, and they asked the community to donate horses,” he said. “What they expected was about 30 or 40 horses but they ended up getting the lion’s share of the regiment’s horses which was well and truly into the hundreds. In those days that was a massive sacrifice.”
Brookfield Pony Club is involved in a re-enactment of that event, and after official proceedings, there’s a cricket match between the Australian Army and a Brookfield United Cricket Club Lord Mayor’s team with assistance from Queensland Cricket.
It’s a nod to the “Shell Green” game played by the Australian Light Horse Regiment in Gallipoli, which was a diversionary tactic to distract the Turks, as troops were withdrawing, all those years ago.
ANZAC Day community events and services will take many shapes and forms. But some people will prefer not to gather, so the Light Up The Dawn website has a series of ‘how to’ instructions for stay-at-home commemorations. They include wreath making and ANZAC biscuit baking.
Everything you need for a private ANZAC Day service is available from RSL Queensland’s Light Up The Dawn website.
It’s also where you’ll find information about which sub- branches have something planned, and there’s an opportunity to donate to the ANZAC Appeal that continues to support veterans. Lest we forget.
