ANZAC Day

Fast Facts

Type of event	Commemoration
Date occurred or began	25 April 1915

Please click here to view a selection of photos of ANZAC Day commemorations in Gawler across the years (also see links below for commemorations in specific years).

Evolution of Gawler's ANZAC Day Commemorations

ANZAC Day marks the anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand forces landing in Gallipoli on 25th April 1915, Australia’s first military action in World War One. It has been commemorated in Gawler since the first anniversary, with commemorations evolving over the years. The Gawler RSL Sub-branch have historically and continue to play a key role in arranging local commemorations.

For the first anniversary there were no public commemorations but some establishments suspended work for a few moments at 9 am, trains and trams in the vicinity came to a halt for a few minutes and at Messers Martin & Co.’s the whistle sounded and the men assembled for a few minutes silence, followed by cheers for the King and the men and the singing of the National Anthem. A special evening service was held at the Congregational Church.

Gawler’s first public ANZAC Service was held in 1919, a 10 minute service held at 12:40pm outside the Town Hall, “with shopkeepers and proprietors of other businesses asked to close their businesses for the duration of the service to enable all who wish to attend.” The following year, the fifth anniversary was commemorated with an Evening Service inside the Town Hall. In 1922 in addition to a Sunday Evening Service out the front of the Town Hall, with the speakers standing on the balcony, a special ANZAC Morning Service was to be held at 10:30am around the new Gawler South War Memorial, which had been unveiled in September 1921. However, at the appointed hour the weather was unpropitious, so the service was held across the road in the Gawler South Hall, which was packed due to the splendid attendance.

As of 1927, ANZAC Day became a public holiday in South Australia, so Gawler’s ANZAC Service was held on the day at 10:30am out the front of the Town Hall, and immediately after the service the President of the RSA (former name of RSL) and numerous others motored to Gawler South and laid a wreath at the memorial, “the iron railing of which was ‘garlanded with greenery’ as a result of the ‘floral offerings left.’”

In 1931, Gawler’s ANZAC Service was held in Pioneer Park for the first time, at the new Red Aberdeen Granite Soldier’s Memorial, which had been unveiled in October the previous year. The service was held at 3pm on the Sunday afternoon before ANZAC Day.

It seems 1932 may have been the first year an ANZAC March was held in Gawler; after a Sunday Afternoon Service in the newly enlarged Gawler Memorial Institute Hall, a procession of returned soldiers, Light Horse members, clergy, guides, scouts and cubs marched from the hall to Pioneer Park, where floral tributes were laid at the base of the Soldier’s Memorial. In 1933, there was a repeat of the Sunday Afternoon Service and March combination and it was reflected in the Bunyip that the decision to hold local commemorations on the Sunday afternoon prior to ANZAC Day had increased attendances (it enabled locals to attend the commemorations in Gawler and then the commemorations in Adelaide, which were held on the day – it is still the practice when ANZAC Marches are held in Gawler in the 2020s to hold them on the Sunday prior).

In the 1950s the Red Granite Soldier’s Memorial was relocated to the front of the new RSL grounds in Cowan Street (the first of many moves!), so that became the new destination for ANZAC commemorations. The ANZAC Marches were commenced by the Mill Bridge, they proceeded along Murray Street to the Ozone Theatre where the ANZAC Service was held and then up the remainder of Murray Street to the memorial on Cowan Street where wreaths were placed. 1952 was the first year all South Australian ex-servicewomen were allowed to march in ANZAC parades (previously marching was only open to women who had served abroad). In addition to the other commemorations, Gawler’s first ever ANZAC Day Dawn Service was held in 1952, it was deemed a success with a ‘Big Crowd’ of 220 attendees! Now a well-established tradition in Gawler and elsewhere, the Dawn Service is symbolic as it was at dawn that the landing at Gallipoli occurred.

At some point, the Red Granite Soldier’s Memorial was relocated to Light Square (possibly when the RSL Clubrooms were relocated to Gawler West c1979 and the old Cowan Street RSL building was demolished). There are photos of Light Square in 1999 with the memorial visible and in 2006 there are photos of the ANZAC Service being held at Light Square after the march. [Do you know when the memorial was relocated? Please email information@gawlerhistory.com ]

By 2007 the Red Granite Soldier’s Memorial was back at Pioneer Park and ANZAC commemorations were held there. As of 2026, Pioneer Park is still the site of ANZAC Commemorations – although since 2019 they have been held in front of the new Pioneer Park War Memorial – the hand sculpture by Robert Hannaford which was installed in November 2018 (at which time the Red Granite Memorial was relocated to the RSL Clubrooms in Gawler West).

The 100 year anniversary of the ANZAC landing took place in 2015, and commemorations were scaled up to mark the centenary (see ANZAC Day 2015).

Looking back from 2026 over the past 20 years, whilst Gawler ANZAC Marches have not always been held annually, the ANZAC Dawn Service has only been missed twice. This was in 2020 and 2021, when the services were not possible due to COVID, instead people were encouraged to “Light up the Dawn” by standing in their driveway at 6am on ANZAC Day “united in spirit to remember all those who have served and sacrificed for the lifestyle we enjoy today."

In 2024, 2025 & 2026 Anzac Eve Vigils at the memorial in Pioneer Park were also part of commemorations. Members of the 608 Squadron of the Australian Air Force Cadets “stand guard on all four points of the cenotaph, honouring the fallen soldiers and commemorating their sacrifice through ceremonial practices.” The Vigil accompanied by a movie screening hosted by the RSL, with local service clubs (Apex &/or Rotary) providing a BBQ for the community to enjoy.

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ANZAC Commemorations in Specific Years

For more details and images of ANZAC commemorations in specific years see the following information and links:

Note this is not a comprehensive list of commemorations across the years, but a summary of the events the Gawler History Team has information about or images for. If you have other images or information relating to ANZAC commemorations in Gawler, please send them to information@gawlerhistory.com

• 1960 - ANZAC March [photo of Gawler Air Training Corp marching]
• 1968 - ANZAC March on Saturday 20 April 1968 [photo of Dawn Eastick laying wreath at Red Granite Memorial]
• 1978 - ANZAC March [photo of Gawler Girl Guides & Brownies marching]
• 2006 - ANZAC March on Sunday 23 April 2006, included "Freedom to Enter Ceremony" for HMAS Gawler & service at Light Square [album]
• 2007 - ANZAC March on Sunday 22 April 2007 and Dawn service at Pioneer Park [album]
• 2010 - ANZAC March on Sunday 18 April 2010 and Dawn Service at Pioneer Park [photo of service]
• 2012 - ANZAC March on Sunday 22 April 2012 and Dawn Service at Pioneer Park [photo of Barossa Light Horse Re-enactment Troop marching]
• 2013 - ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Pioneer Park [album][speech from service]
• 2014 - ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Pioneer Park [service program][speech from service]
• 2015 - ANZAC Day 100th Anniversary Commemorations [click here for information & links to albums for this significant anniversary]
• 2016 - ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Pioneer Park - March was cancelled [service program & articles][speeches from service]
• 2017- ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Pioneer Park [service program][speeches from service]
• 2019 - ANZAC Day Dawn Service 2019 (3 images – 1 is photo) [service program & photo][speech from service] This was the first ANZAC commemoration since installation of the new Pioneer Park War Memorial, the hand sculpture by Robert Hannaford, which was installed in November 2018 in time for the Remembrance Day commemoration.
• 2020 - Light up the Dawn - due to COVID there was no Dawn Service but people were encouraged "This year, stand in your driveway to remember all those who have served and sacrificed. Just imagine how special it would be if every Australian was standing in their driveway at 6am on ANZAC Day, united in spirit to remember all those who have served and sacrificed for the lifestyle we enjoy today."
• 2021 - Light up the Dawn - again there was no Dawn Service due to COVID and people were encouraged to stand "in their driveway at 6am on ANZAC Day, united in spirit to remember all those who have served and sacrificed for the lifestyle we enjoy today."
• 2022 - ANZAC Dawn Service at Pioneer Park was resumed, initially COVID restrictions were to include capacity restrictions, fencing of Pioneer Park and QR Code check ins but SA Health and State Government easing of restrictions in the preceding weeks meant they were not necessary.
• 2023 - ANZAC March on Sunday 23 April 2023 (referred to as a return of the march) and Dawn Service at Pioneer Park
• 2024 - ANZAC March on Sunday 21 April 2024, ANZAC Eve Vigil reintroduced after a number of years, conducted by Air Cadets 608 Squadron and included showing of the movie 'Gallipoli', ANZAC Day Dawn Service
• 2025 - ANZAC Eve Vigil, conducted by Air Cadets 608 Squadron included showing of the movie 'The Lighthorsemen' and ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Pioneer Park

Links to Lists of Local Military Personnel

• ANZACs and other WWI Personnel
• ANZAC Girls
• WWII Personnel

Related Articles

• Gawler Military Involvement

References

2015 0419 ANZAC March Gawler (6) thanks to Bunyip photographer Alec Urquhart

Memories of ANZAC Day

Do you remember ANZAC Day ? Then Join up and add your memory here.