Anzac Day Commemoration Service in Memorial Park
April 28, 2015
Record crowds attended Kingaroy’s two Anzac Day services on Saturday to mark the centenary of the Gallipoli landings and the birth of the Anzac tradition.
The Dawn Service was held at 4:28am in Memorial Park and attracted an estimated 2000 people.
It was a briskly run affair and afterwards guests adjourned to the Kingaroy RSL for fellowship.
But the Commemoration Service held at 10:45am was a much more elaborate ceremony, and drew an even bigger crowd.
As usual, the Commemoration Service kicked off with an Anzac Day march from the RSL to the park, led by highland pipers.
When the parade arrived at Memorial Park and disbanded, the Commemoration ceremony began, starting with the positioning of a Catafalque Party – a service performed this year by enlisted personnel from the Amberley Air Force Base.
A special feature of this year’s Service was the official unveiling of a marble statue of a World War I digger which had been specially commissioned by the RSL for the Centenary commemorations.
The statue was on public view at the Dawn Service, but was covered by a drape when guests arrived for the mid-morning service.
(Photo: Pam Marquardt)
The honour of officially unveiling it went to Commodore Brett Wolski, a former Kingaroy resident who was this year’s special guest.
Commodore Wolski read a two-page speech on the Anzac tradition before unwrapping the statue, which was then blessed by Reverend John Selwood.
The Service then passed through a traditional format that included an opening prayer; the reading of the 1st Resolution by Kingaroy State School captain Georgia Nassif; a hymn performed by the Kingaroy State High School Choir and Concert Band; and an address by Commodore Wolski.
This was followed by the reading of the 2nd and 3rd Resolutions, performed by KSHS Captain Daniel Favier and St Mary’s Catholic College captain Rory Browne respectively, then wreath laying while Wayne Darr piped the Lament.
After this, the Roll Of Honour was read out.
This was followed by The Last Post, the Ode, Rouse, another hymn and a benediction before the service concluded with the singing of the Australian and New Zealand national anthems, after which guests were invited back to the RSL for a light lunch.
In The Park
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On The Rotunda
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Earlier In The Day …
Gallery: Kingaroy’s 2015 Commemoration Service
It is with reluctance that I make the following comments about the ANZAC Day Dawn Service in Kingaroy but I feel that something has to be put on the public record about the shortness of the service or as described in your article “a briskly run affair”. I was and still am extremely disappointed that the service was conducted and concluded in approximately 15 minutes. Given this year was the centenary of the ANZAC Diggers landing at Gallipoli I felt that the organisers of the Dawn Service would have ensured that it was special especially in view of the record crowd of 2000 people who attended. In my respectful opinion the Dawn Service is more symbolic of our Nation’s remembrance than the 2nd ceremony held later in the morning.
The only speaker who could be clearly heard was SBRC Deputy Mayor Keith Campbell who gave an excellent speech. But why didn’t we hear from the Guest of Honour Commodore Brett Wolski? The service did not have any wreath laying, no Lord’s Prayer and no National Anthem(s). I was away from home for less than an hour and in actual fact I got more satisfaction by watching/listening to the ABC TV coverage of the Dawn Services in Canberra and Darwin upon my return home. I have subsequently spoken with other persons who attended on Saturday morning and they too felt disappointed about how short it was and what was presented, or rather the lack of it.
This Dawn Service did not deserve the attention it was given by those persons responsible for organising it. The opportunity was there to make this years Dawn Service a most memorable one but unfortunately that did not occur. Such a pity.