Moving tribute on a calm Leongatha dawn

A LARGE gathering at the Leongatha war memorial was treated to a mild and still morning, ideal for reflection, during the town’s Anzac Day Dawn Service.

There was a tribute to the Light Horse Brigade, with Camille Shaw riding stockhorse Denny and Heather Walker leading Gordon.

The pair of horsewomen had authentic WWI era saddles and were dressed the part.

“Camille’s the mounted Light Horse and I’m representing the fallen soldier,” Heather explained after the service, with Gordon having a riderless saddle and a pair of boots in the stirrups.

During the service, Camille read her tribute to the Anzacs from atop her mount, with her piece inspired by her late father who used to march in Leongatha on Anzac Day.

“As the sun rises, we will remember them, lest we forget,” she said, then reflecting on the experiences of those on the Kokoda Trail “knee deep in mud and wafer thin, carrying weight three times their own, their inner strength carrying them forward, sacrificing their own lives for their country”.

“We cannot forget the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels who did the same.”

As a horse lover, Camille paid tribute to the Walers, mules and donkeys sent across the seas to war.

“Only one single gelding came home, his name was Sandy; if anyone has seen a warhorse, you’ll understand the relationship between an owner and a horse,” Camille said.

Earlier, Leongatha RSL president Geoff Cooper touched on the significance of Anzac Day.

“We’re here to honour the memory of the 60,000 Australians and New Zealanders of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the Anzacs,” Geoff said.

“108 years ago, on the 25th of April 1915, 16,000 Anzac troops began their battles against 45,000 Turkish troops at Gallipoli; they fought under shocking conditions in trenches they dug often in mud and ice, often with insufficient food and water.

“On that first day at Gallipoli over 2,000 young men were killed or wounded.”

The poem of local Phil Zulouskis was read.

“They sailed away to a foreign shore to fight that distant far-off war.  These our fine young Aussie men, so many did not come home again,” it began, ending, “A legend born so far away on what we now call Anzac Day.”

No dawn service would be complete without the stirring sounds of The Last Post and respectful moments of silence.

Soon it was all over for another year as attendees headed to the traditional gunfire breakfast at the RSL.