Another successful Anzac Day is done and dusted for another year.
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And though all of the First World War diggers are dead and there is a diminishing number of survivors from the Second World War, the day has lost none of its ability to draw large crowds to its marches and services.
Some of that is unfortunately due to the increasing number of conflicts Australia has been drawn into since 1945: Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Some too is due to the wonderful peacekeeping missions our country has contributed to: Solomon Islands and especially Timor Leste stands out in this capacity.
But mainly it is due to the younger generation keeping the flame of remembrance alive.
I lost track of how many youngsters I saw proudly wearing granddad or grandma’s medals or marching with their school or group with wide smiles on their faces.
I think it was Mount Isa Mayor Joyce McCulloch who said on Tuesday that Anzac Day was our de facto national day and there is some merit in that – it is certainly a less controversial and more inclusive choice than January 26.
Our small team did its best to convey the flavour of the day. Chris Burns went down to Cloncurry to cover their march and service while fellow journalist Esther MacIntyre helped me out by doing a great job doing a live video feed of the Anzac Day dawn and day services in Mount Isa.
That freed me up to concentrate on the stories and photographs from the day.
I may have gone a little crazy with the photographs from the march and day service – there’s nearly 150 photos in the gallery – but they were all too lovely to leave out and it is quick to scroll through them all if you are looking for a sense of what Anzac Day means to Mount Isa.
And after some time at the office sorting out the images, it was back to the Buffs Club for a round of two up, which is always fun to watch.
I took part in the first bet of the day winning $20 on tails but decided discretion was the better part of avoiding empty pockets and didn’t bet any further (except a $1 side bet with Esther as I explained to her the rules of the game – which I promptly lost!) Lest we forget, indeed. DB
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
