ANZAC Day Dawn Service

The ANZAC Day dawn service at The Cenotaph in Sydney’s Martin Place begins at 4.30am. Thousands gather in the pre-dawn darkness to honour fallen soldiers. The dawn service includes a catafalque contingent, an Ode of Remembrance, Last Post bugle call, a minute’s silence, a Reveille played on a bugle and the laying of wreaths. The Ode of Remembrance (below) is taken from a poem written by the English poet Laurence Binyon. It was first published in The Times (London) on 21 September 1914 and has been recited at commemorative services since 1919. “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.” The audience then responds: “We will remember them.”