Hundreds of residents and visitors gathered in Victoria Park for the Anzac Day ceremony on April 25, 2024.
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Two very special people in the crowd were 100-year-olds Violet Palm - a telegrapher and communications woman in the war and spitfire pilot Ray Winslow.
Dubbo RSL sub-branch president Shaun Graham thanked the large crowd that turned out, saying he loved seeing so many people coming to the service.
He also thanked the service people for their service.
"Thank you for today, it's been absolutely brilliant," he said.
Guest speaker Josh Coleman from the Royal Australian Air Force, who also hails from his farm near Wellington told the crowd about his background and love for serving.
"I'm still serving and I'm very proud of it and I will continue for quite a while," he said.
He told everyone about the Anzac contingent that formed a band to entertain personnel on the base in Egypt.
He said they struggled working out a name.
"One of the New Zealand guy suggested the name 'tragic' because 'you really are tragic', so we had a band called tragic and yes we were tragic," he said.
The early risers attended the dawn service to pay their respects to those who served, fought and died protecting their country. The service started at 5.45am at the Cenotaph at Victoria Park, including people of all ages.
The Anzac March began in Brisbane Street outside the Dubbo RSL at 10am and proceeded to the Cenotaph at Victoria Park for the 10.30am service.
Why it's so important we march for Anzac Day
Army veteran Shaun Graham and his fellow soldiers always text and call each other on Anzac Day, just to see how their fellow comrades are doing.
"It certainly raises a lot of memories for me and the soldiers I commanded, and other soldiers that commanded me," Mr Graham, who served in Afghanistan and is the president of Dubbo RSL Sub-branch, told the Daily Liberal.
This Anzac Day, April 25, returned servicemen and women will "remember each other" and "make an effort to check in on each other". Some may even use their "dark sense of humour" to get them through, Mr Graham said.
There will be multiple services across the Dubbo region to remember and respect those who served and died in war. The community is invited and encouraged to join in on their local service.
"There's a lot of ex-servicemen and women in our community and it would be just great to see more and more people come down to acknowledge the sacrifice and service of fellow Australians," Mr Graham said.
This year Anzac Day will also carry the weight of current conflict around the world and Mr Graham hopes policy-makers will be "more wary of the lessons we have learned" through war.
He said we now have an elderly generation who have lived through WWII and "understand what the ultimate sacrifice is actually about".
For those who lived through WWI, there was "barely a family that wasn't affected anywhere in Australia".
"You would hope that our pollies in this day and age are mature and wise enough to learn those lessons that we should try and avoid war at all costs," he said.
"It certainly brings it home with all the uncertainty around the world at the moment that that's what they're striving towards to try to avoid conflict - that's what our hope is anyway."
Anzac Day 2024 services
Dubbo
The dawn service began at 5.45am at the Cenotaph at Victoria Park on Darling Street. Darling Street between Talbragar and Wingewarra Streets were closed from 5am to 6.30am.
The Anzac March began in Brisbane Street outside the Dubbo RSL at 10am and proceeded to the Cenotaph at Victoria Park for the 10.30am Service.
Wellington
Wellington hosts a dawn and dusk service. Ex-Servicemen and women assembled at Soldiers Memorial Club at 5.45am and marched to Cameron Park for the 6am dawn service.
The Anzac March began from the corner of Lee and Gisborne streets at 10.45am and proceeded to the Cenotaph at Cameron Park for the 10.55am Service.
The dusk service will commence at Cameron Park at 3.10pm.
Village Services
Stuart Town: 11am - 12.30pm
Mumbil: 8.45am - 9.30am
Eumungerie/Cobocco: 10:30am - 11am at Cenotaph, 11am - 11:30am at Hall
Gollan: 11am - 12pm
Geurie: 8.40am - 9.30am