ANZAC Day 2021 in George Town started at 0550 (or 05:50 am) with the Dawn Service being held at the Cenotaph located at Regent Square (Macquarie Street, George Town, followed by the Gunfire Breakfast. There was great support for the Dawn Service with approximately 300 people in attendance.
Student John Glover from Port Dalrymple School was the 2020 Bursary Winner and gave a moving speech on what ANZAC Day meant for him.
There was approximately 150 people in attendance at the Gun Fire breakfast, with a big thank you to George Town Rotary for help with preparing the food for the RSL.
The 11am service consisted of the Veterans and Ex-Servicemen forming and marching from the Cenotaph in Macquarie Street George Town and heading to the Max Harris Reserve.
The order of service had the RSL Sub-Branch President Maxwell Griffiths announce the Australian National Anthem and New Zealand National Anthem. The Padre of Day was Pastor Bob Goolsby who opened with a prayer and then dedicate a “No Surrender Rose” in honour of the RATS OF TOBRUK and a “No Surrender Rose” in honour of the RAN Scrap Iron Flotilla. The Catafalque Party were formed by Veterans and Ex-Servicemen.
Bronte Miller was the Star of the Sea Bursary Winner and spoke on what ANZAC day meant for her and her family. The Principal Guest Speaker for the day was Will Smith, followed by Acting Mayor of George Town, Tim Harris.
The Meaning behind the Dawn Service
In battle, the half-light of dawn was one of the most favoured times for an attack. This meant that soldiers in defensive positions were often woken (if they were not already awake) in the dark before dawn, so by the time first light crept across the battlefield they were awake, alert, and manning their weapons; this is still known as the ‘stand-to’.
After the First World War, returned service personnel sought the comradeship they had felt in those quiet, peaceful moments before dawn. A dawn vigil, recalling the wartime front line practice of the dawn ‘stand-to’, became the basis of a form of commemoration in several places after the war.
The Dawn Service is not a Defence specific ceremony, it is a public ceremony normally conducted by the Returned and Services League of Australia with involvement across all three Services of the Australian Defence Force. The origins of the Dawn Service are not entirely clear, and research is currently being undertaking by Australian military historians to ascertain the true beginnings of the Dawn Service.
It is probable that the holding of a commemorative service at dawn may have had its origins from either the military practice of ‘stand to’ at dawn on the battle field, or it may also have recognised origins from the dawn landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.
The Gunfire Breakfast
Many communities follow the dawn service with a ‘traditional’ gunfire breakfast. ‘Gunfire’ is a British tradition and was:
… the usual term for the early cup of tea served out to troops in the morning before going on first parade, whenever possible. In the War [WWI] recruits in training always had ‘Gun Fire’ supplied to them, the work before breakfast being found particularly trying. The morning gun in a garrison town suggested the name probably.
(E Fraser and J Gibbons, Soldier & Sailor Words & Phrases, Routledge, London, 1925, p. 113)
The ‘gunfire breakfast’ seems to have evolved from the above, and comprises whatever is available at the time, it could be ‘coffee and rum’ or ‘stew, sausage and bread’, or even ‘bacon and eggs’.