The parade was incredible. The first to appear were the mounted Police, led by a British Inspector, who had been invited to attend from the Metropolitan Police;
then group after group from all sections of the armed forces and all related support services including lots of cadets and youngsters marching with their families;
in some cases they were representing family members who were unable to take part themselves or are no longer alive to do so. It took 1hr20mins for all the sections to pass and there were very few gaps between each group. The last groups were the Red Cross and St John with 90 cadets
and the Scouts and Guides. The applause of the crowd never diminished and it was all incredibly moving. We couldn’t help compare it to the numbers we get in UK for Armistice Day. And this was only one venue. All major cities had the same kind of turnout, and most smaller towns had parades too.We didn’t go to the Dawn Service, which had been held at the War Memorial in Kings’ Park at 4.30am, but over 40,000 people attended that. We’ve no idea how many people were at the parade itself. After the parade, everyone went to the Esplanade Reserve, a huge area of grassland by the Swan River for a service of remembrance. A young girl from one of the high schools gave an address on behalf of the youth in Perth. She had been one of a group taken on a tour of Gallipoli and Villiers Breton and described what effect it had had on her. Her speech was amazing – better than many public speakers I’ve heard. When we had the one minute’s silence, it was just that – no traffic noise, no movement and no speaking with thousands of people simply standing. It was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had.
Tom went to talk to the St John contingent – there were 35 on duty as well as the personnel who’d taken part in the parade.
Free bottles of water were being handed out to anyone who wanted some, and afterwards, free tea and coffee.While all this was happening in Australia, 10,000 people attended a ceremony in Gallipoli itself and in Villers Breton in France (where the Anzac forces freed the locals from the Germans in 1944) 5,000 attended the first service to be held there since the end of WWII. The Last Post is played in the town there every single night at sunset; all the school children are taught the words of “Waltzing Matilda” and Australian history is part of the curriculum.
We found a café to have a belated snack then made our way back to the motel. On the way, we were passed by a number of sailors who were all going to a bar/restaurant for lunch – this was not the place for anyone else to be around at this time! It was already quite raucous when we passed.
The afternoon was so beautiful I decided to go for a swim and, boy, was the water cold!! But I persevered and after the initial numbness had worn off, it was quite enjoyable, especially once I got out into the sunshine! There were several people enjoying the sun round the pool but weren’t tempted to join me – I don’t understand why?! I got into conversation with one couple from Geelong for an hour or so while Tom watched the Anzac Day traditional football match.
I’d put the washing in before my dip and got it all dried before we went out to eat. We found Lake Street, about 15 mins walk away, where there are more restaurants – lots of Anzac participants had obviously had a good afternoon including some more navy lads who stopped to chat to us while we were waiting for our food – they were almost coherent!! The police were much in view tonight, patrolling in pairs or groups so we haven’t hung around and are enjoying another evening’s TV. Tomorrow is back to Fremantle we think – we’ll let you know – night, night.
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