By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
AS HUNDREDS shuffled towards the Narre Warren cenotaph on Anzac Day to pay their respects, one gesture stood out.
With his head bowed a man put his arm around his partner and held her close.
More than one warming another in the early morning cold, the two walked towards the memorial in melancholic and appreciative reflection – moved by the moment.
It was Anzac Day, 2015, and the centenary of the Gallipoli landing.
Minutes earlier the bugle played as a crowd of thousands massed around the cenotaph, outside the Casey Council offices.
Armed police officers stood at different vantage points as the service took place.
But details of an alleged terrorist plot and a visibly increase police presence did not deter the community gathering in Narre Warren to remember the fallen.
After the service the annual Anzac Day breakfast was held in the nearby Civic Centre, organised and catered for voluntarily by the Narre Warren Rotary Club.
“Let’s celebrate the centenary by committing ourselves all over again to those values that drove the Anzacs,” Narre Warren Rotary president Lyn Pickering said.
“That is the memorial that matters.”
Schools throughout Casey also held different services in the week leading up to Anzac Day.
