By BRIDGET COOK
A HUGE crowd turned up at Cranbourne RSL’s Anzac Day services last week to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
In a sign that the Anzac legacy is still alive, record numbers turned up at the Cranbourne Dawn Service on Thursday morning.
Later in the day, hundreds of people lined High Street Cranbourne for the Anzac Day march as well as the short service that followed at the cenotaph site.
Speaking at the dawn service, Dandenong Cranbourne RSL sub-branch vice president Bill Shepherd said the sacrifice and courage of the Anzacs, and all those who had fought in other wars, would be remembered for ever.
“Time is the memory of ordinary events, but not great events,” he said.
“And so it is with Anzac Day.
“The Anzacs fought with great courage, skill and audacity.
“The campaign could not be described as anything but a defeat, but the achievements of the Anzacs will be remembered in other ways – for their determination, mateship and sacrifice.
“Patriotism, individual sacrifice and the affirmation of the Australian and New Zealand relationship are the enduring legacies of Gallipoli, and all other subsequent conflicts.”
Mr Shepherd said they all stood there on Thursday morning, along with thousands of others across the nation, to acknowledge the courage and sacrifice of those who had fought for this proud nation.
“Freedom only survives as long as people are willing to defend it,” he said.
“That is the spirit of the Anzacs handed down to us.
“If we lose the Anzac spirit, we lose all.”
