Anzac Day Parade

We're back from our weekend in Cairns! We had a great time and I'll take a couple of posts to describe what we saw. That way I'll keep all fans of the blog interested. Because in the words of Phil, "If you don't post, they won't read." So...As I posted previously, the 25th (Friday) was Anzac Day. No, we did not get up for the 4:00 am service. Just wasn't going to happen. We did get up for the parade and made our way over to George St., the main route of the parade. As we were walking over, I made note of several things. First, there were military men and women everywhere. And many former military members. Current and former all wore their service medals on their jackets or shirts. If they were their own medals, they were worn on the person's left side. If they were the medals of a deceased family member who served they were worn on the person's right side. And just about everyone was wearing them. It was something to see! Second, it must be a tradition to also attach a small sprig of rosemary attached to a small Australian flag. They were handing them out everywhere so Phil and I joined the crowd and attached them to our clothing (alas, without my little Australian flag that Phil wouldn't buy me.) A picture of the parade route to follow. (And yes, it rained buckets on our parade.)

The Anzac Day Parade is different from any parade I've ever seen. There are no floats or cars, just people. Every regiment from every branch of the military is represented. Each group walks behind a banner announcing their particular group and where they've fought. The actual soldiers walk directly behind the banner and then descendants and family members of those who are deceased (often carrying pictures of the deceased) follow behind. Those who couldn't walk were driven in an army truck.

As each group walks by, the crowd along the parade route clap and cheer. It's really very moving. Along with the military regiments there are also high school bands (heard many renditions of "Waltzing Matilda") and lots of bagpiper groups.

Every group also walked next to the cenotaph on Martin Place. This is a memorial to all who have served. As you can see, lots of people laid flowers there. Many of them had notes attached with actual names, dates, and battlefields of relatives who had fought and died. Again, very moving.
Actually, every town and city in Australia has a memorial somewhere in it to WWI. When we walked by the one in Cairns on Saturday, it had many flowers around it as well from their Anzac Day service. All in all....a good morning. Lest we forget, indeed.