As we stand in the darkness of the morning, we remember them.
As we bow our heads, not a word is spoken. We remember them.
As the trumpet blares The Last Post, we remember them.
We remember the sons who sat in boats, unknowingly approaching disaster, as salty waves thrust them closer to the shores of Gallipoli.
We remember the brothers whose blood stained the white-sanded shores of ANZAC Cove.
We remember the fathers who lay fighting until their last breath.
We remember the husbands who never returned home.
On April 25, we remember them.
Private Claude Terrell Crowl of Stratford, 22, was among the 2000 Australian and New Zealand soldiers killed in action at ANZAC Cove on April 25, 1915.
Devastation engulfed the coast of Gallipoli for eight long months, far from the campaign’s intended objective to capture the Gallipoli peninsula, then Constantinople, quickly knocking Turkey out of the war.
As the ANZAC troops reached the shore, in what is now known as ANZAC Cove, they were about a mile north of the loosely planned landing site in steep, rugged terrain, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman forces.
Thousands of Australian and New Zealand fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons became separated from their units as they began moving up the tangle of complex spurs and ravines in the darkness, burning hot metal bullets cracking in the still dawn air.
Devastating artillery bombardments from the Ottoman forces proved too strong, and the ANZAC position became progressively more precarious after failing to secure their high-ground objectives.
Despite the slaughter transpiring on the Gallipoli beachfront, General Sir Ian Hamilton, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, denied the withdrawal of the ANZACs and ordered the troops to dig in.
The ANZACs remained in the same position they had taken on April 25, 1915, until their evacuation in late December 1915.
British forces completed the evacuation of Cape Helles on January 9, 1916, ending the Gallipoli campaign.
An estimated 8141 Australian soldiers were killed in action during the eight-month-long stalemate, with the Gallipoli campaign deemed a military failure.
For the vast majority of the 16,000 Australians and New Zealanders who landed at Gallipoli on April 25, it was their first experience of combat.
Of the more than 50,000 Australians who served at Gallipoli, some 18,000 were wounded, bringing home battle scars both internally and externally.
By the end of World War I, November 11, 1918, about 62,000 Australians were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner.
Each year on April 25, Anzac Day, we commemorate, we remember, the 8141 Australian soldiers killed in action at Gallipoli, Australia’s first major action in World War I.
Since April 25, 1916, when more than 2,000 Australian and New Zealand troops marched through the streets of London, marking one year since the ANZAC’s landing at Gallipoli, we have remembered them.
Anzac Day became a national commemoration for the more than 60,000 Australians who died during World War I.
By April 25, 1927, every state observed some form of public holiday for the first time.
One hundred and eight years later, on April 25, 2023, we continue to remember them.
We remember Private Arthur Abernethy, from Maffra, who was killed in action at Gallipoli, Turkey, on May 2, 1915, aged 22.
We remember Private George Barnett Lewis, from Sale, who was killed in action at Gallipoli, Turkey, on May 29, 1915, aged 37.
We remember Private Arthur John Adams, from Sale, who was killed in action at Ypres, Belgium, on September 20, 1917, aged 26.
We remember Private Albert Atiken, from Sale, who was killed in action at Amiens, France, on August 8, 1918, aged 23.
We remember Private Edward James Bird, from Sale, who was killed in action at Gueudecourt Picardie, France, on November 6, 1916, aged 23.
We remember Private Colin William Bolitho, from Sale, who was killed in action at Pozières, northern France, on July 28, 1916, aged 19.
We remember Lieutenant Keith Allen Borthwick, from Fulham, who was killed in action at Gallipoli, Turkey, on August 7, 1915, aged 29.
We remember Private Archibald James Bower, from Sale, who was killed in action at Pozières, northern France, on November 5, 1915, aged 21.
We remember Private Donald William Calder, from Sale, who was killed in action at Bullecourt, northern France, on February 24, 1916, aged 25.
We remember Corporal George Ray Clapham, from Sale, who was killed in action at Gallipoli, Turkey, on September 13, 1915, aged 23.
We remember Trooper Edward Randolph Cleaver, from Sale, who died of wounds in Palestine on October 31, 1917, aged 31.
We remember Private Herbert Clement Clues, from Sale, who was killed in action at Quéant, France, on April 11, 1917, aged 24.
We remember Private Walter Charles Ebden, from Sale, who died of wounds received in the Somme Battle, Somme, France, on August 7, 1916, aged 32.
We remember Private John Leonard Raymond Costello, from Sale, who was killed in action on January 7, 1917, aged 22.
We remember Trooper Harold Nesbitt Cummin, from Sale, who died of wounds on December 1, 1917, aged 22.
We remember Private John Thomas Crick, from Kilmany, who was killed in action at Ypres, Belgium, on August 16, 1916, aged 23.
We remember Corporal Maxwell James Davidson, from Sale, who died of wounds received at Gallipoli, Turkey, on May 6, 1915, aged 20.
We remember Lance Corporal John Murray Davis, from Sale, who was killed in action at Pozieres, France, on July 24, 1916, aged 24.
We remember Private Leonard Neil Davis, from Seacombe, who died of wounds received in the Battle of Ypres, Belgium, on September 24, 1917, aged 22.
We remember Private Percy Davis, from Koo Wee Rup, who was killed in action on August 31, 1918, aged 24.
We remember Private John Albert Dix, from Longford, who was killed in action on August 8, 1918, aged 33.
We remember Private Joseph Cavan Duffy, from Sale, who was killed in action at Fromelles, France, on July 19, 1916, aged 30.
We remember Private Harry Foster from Merrimans Creek, who was killed in action at Fromelles, France, on July 19, 1916, aged 33.
We remember all the names marked on the Sale Cenotaph, all the men and women who paid the ultimate price fighting for our country.
On April 25, we will remember them.
The dawn service at the Sale Cenotaph led by the president of the Sale RSL, Royal Australian Air Force Warrant Officer CSC Brian Holcoft, attracted close to 1000 guests on Tuesday, as current and former serving Australian Defence Force members came together with civilians to pay their respects and remember those who gave their life for their country.
