Anzac Day 2024: Huge crowd attends dawn service in Murray Bridge
Around 1500 people have attended a commemoration at Sturt Reserve which highlighted the sacrifice of Private Henry Heyer during World War I.
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A significant crowd has gathered to commemorate Anzac Day in Murray Bridge.
Around 1500 people surrounded the war memorial at Sturt Reserve by 5.45am on Thursday for a short service during which wreaths were laid, prayers said and reflections given.
That was fitting, RSL sub-branch president Rod Harris said – after all, most Murray Bridge families would have sent men and women to war at some stage.
“We must stop and remember the soldiers, sailors and airmen who gave up their lives to make this a better place for us to live in,” he said.
“We should never forget the heroics of our ANZACs at Gallipoli in World War I – these men set a very high standard of bravery, tenacity and courage which is still lived up to in our forces today.”
In particular, he told the story of Private Henry Heyer, a steam engine cleaner at the Murray Bridge railway workshops who enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1915.
Private Heyer was attached to the 43rd Battalion and sent to the United Kingdom for training before arriving on Europe’s western front around Christmas of 1916.
He spent the next six months mired in the trenches in Flanders, in “horrific” conditions, then was mortally wounded when he caught a piece of shell in the back during an Allied attack on the town of Messines.
He died on July 1, 1917.
His brother William had also enlisted in 1916, and was killed on September 29, 1918, only six weeks before hostilities ceased.
The men’s recollections of the war live on in the postcards they sent home to their family.
That collection of postcards was passed between relatives over the next 96 years before being brought to Murray Bridge’s dawn service by the men’s great-nieces, Jenny Phillips and Cynthia Tresize, and given to the local RSL museum on a long-term loan.
The family had upheld its tradition of military service, Ms Phillips said: her son was in the Royal Australian Navy and marching in Sydney.
Thursday morning’s service was not without its challenges, including PA problems and the unavailability of the nearby shopping centre car park.
But the drizzle held off, and all were on their way to a cooked breakfast at the RSL before 6.30am.
- See more photos: Anzac Day in the Murraylands
