Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance, Brisbane. Pic: Mark Calleja Source: The Courier-Mail
SCORES of Australian flags are fluttering in the breeze as well-wishers pack Brisbane's inner city for the start of the Anzac Parade.
Under clear blue skies, thousands of people have turned out to thank our past and present military forces.
The march starts in George St about 10am and snakes its way through central Brisbane.
It is a particularly special occasion for Sgt Scott Hill, who's grandfather was one of the last Rats of Tobruk from World War II. He died last year at the age of 97.
Today Sgt Hill is at the march with his five-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter, who are proudly wearing medals on their chest.
Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance, Brisbane. Pic: Mark Calleja
"It always brings a tear to me eye."
Earlier, up to 18,000 people filled ANZAC Square in Brisbane’s inner city. All but about 100 ignored the invitation to beat the crowd and watch the event live on screens in King George Square.
Crowds gather at the Currumbin Dawn Service on the Gold Coast. Pic: Scott Fletcher
Bundled in jumpers, spectators congregated on Adelaide St near the Anzac Shrine of Remembrance for the 4.28am service - the precise time the Anzacs landed at Gallipoli almost a century ago.
Sarah Hussey made the trip from Rochedale South with her husband and two sons as she felt it was important to "keep the memory alive".
"My grandfather fought in World War 2 and my husband's father went off to the Borneo War. We've been to the marches before but this is the first time we have all come to the dawn service," she said.
Ray' Dasher' Deed at The Sherwood Indooroopilly RSL dawn service on his 86th birthday. Pic: Ric Frearson
Editorial: Gallipoli spirit a beacon through the generations
In her address, the Governor of Queensland Penelope Wensley reminded the crowd that Anzac Day was, in the midst of sorrow, to "celebrate the Anzac spirit" 98 years after the legend was born on the shores of Gallipoli.
"It is curious - and, perhaps to outsiders, unusual - (that) mix of sorrow and regret, pride and celebration," she said.
The dawn service at Greenslopes private hospital. Pic: Jono Searle
She went on to say that with each new conflict, the Anzac spirit has "grown and strengthened," with those standards carried on by our current defence forces in the War on Terror and peace-keeping.
"Good humoured tenacity in the face of adversity . . . always camaraderie and mateship . . . and taking that and blending it into a powerful and motivating force," she said.
She quoted a war correspondent: "They were men their countries could ill afford to lose, but they set for all time a standard of conduct for all Australian and New Zealand soldiers."
The dawn service at Greenslopes private hospital. Pic: Jono Searle
At 5am, a hush fell over the crowd as a bugler sounded the Last Post. Children clasped onto their parent's hands as all paused to remember.
Tony Smith, a Vietnam veteran who organised the ceremony, says it was fantastic so many showed up.
"For me it's great, my grandfather fought on the Western Front and my dad was in Tobruk," he told AAP.
"And I remember my own mates in Malaya and Vietnam.
"Everyone here has someone or something to meditate on today, even if it's just an idea."
As daylight broke, wreaths to commemorate the fallen were laid around the Eternal Flame in the Shrine of Remembrance.
Thirteen-year-old Jaidyn Short, from Ferny Hills, woke at 4am to attend the dawn service, with his step-brother Marley Hill, 6, and grandparents Ken and Barbara Hill.
The medals of Major Arthur Hill - who fought in World War 2 - were proudly clasped to their chest.
"I'm about to go into the army cadets as I want to be in the army," he said.
Ken Hill, who travelled from Coffs Harbour, said as the older generations passed, it was vitally important for the younger ones to keep alive the Anzac memory - adding, "which they are".
As a young helicopter crewman, Dennis Olsen OAM was posted to the Malaya border in 1965 , "where the communist terrorists had made it up to".
The 72-year-old said he has attended many ANZAC services since and was glad that the level of public involvement and recognition has swelled in the last decade.
He said his lost mates would be at the forefront of his mind.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard laid a wreath at the dawn service in Townsville and will attend the garrison city's Anzac Day march this morning.
On the Gold Coast, thousands of people gathered at Elephant Rock at Currumbin in what has become the southern coast's most popular service.
The dawn service combines Anzac traditions with Gold Coast icons like lifesavers and surfboats. Increasingly it has become a time to say an extra special farewell to veterans who have died throughout the year.
This morning, the ashes of at least 12 veterans were scattered at sea.
In Cairns, the RSL estimates crowds of more than 3000 people attended the dawn service on the city's Esplanade.
''It just shows the community is really getting behind the notion of Anzac Day and how important it is,'' said sub-branch president David Clifton.
Elsewhere in Brisbane, crowds gathered early beside the Wynnum RSL and traffic was much busier than normal at Manly and around Bulimba.
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