Today is ANZAC Day. At dawn in Kranji War Cemetery this morning, a simple ceremony was conducted to commemorate the men and women of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fell in battle.

Hosted by the New Zealand High Commission this year, the service includes the laying of wreaths by the New Zealand and Australian High Commissioners, and other members of the Diplomatic Corps, the Singapore Government, The Singapore Armed Forces, the Singapore Ex-Services Association, and members of both the New Zealand and Australian communities.

The observance falls on the anniversary of the ANZAC’s maiden major military battle: Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I and is remembered by the governments and people of Australia and New Zealand and by the host countries of their embassies around the world.

ANZAC Day has a special meaning for me. You see, my late grandfather used to work for the ANZACs based here. He was a clerk. While he was not a combatant, I think he served with distinction. After all, two of his sons – my uncles – were sufficiently inspired to eventually join the nascent Singapore Armed Forces and Republic of Singapore Navy respectively.

In 2003, I was studying in Melbourne, Australia. I took the opportunity to participate in the ANZAC Day Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance. There were a few thousand people there, gathered to honour loved ones and fellow country men and women for dedicating their lives in defence of the nation.

The service was solemn. I remember the Last Post being played. I remember poems and odes being read. The crowd stood in respectful silence, remembering.

I remembered my grandfather.

My other half, who is currently studying in Melbourne, attended the Dawn Service this morning. She reflects:

although i’m not australian, it wasn’t difficult to share the same appreciation and recognition for the anzac forces, especially those involved in ww2. we were fighting the same adversary and in suffering under the same enemy, experiences merged. my materal grandfather was tortured by the japanese soldiers when they delt out their infamous kempeitai torture on him. in his hallucinatory moments before passing on, he imagined that japanese soldiers were still after him. in that extent, i can identity with australians whose loved ones were held captive as prisoners-of-war during the japanese occupation.

I learnt about the significance of the Dawn Service, something that will appeal to our NSFs and NSmen:

The Dawn Service observed on ANZAC Day has its origins in an operational routine which is still observed by the Australian Army today. The half-light of dawn plays tricks with soldiers’ eyes and from the earliest times the half-hour or so before dawn, with all its grey, misty shadows, became one of the most favored times for an attack. Soldiers in defensive positions were therefore woken up in the dark, before dawn, so that by the time the first dull grey light crept across the battlefield they were awake, alert and manning their weapons. This was, and still is, known as “Stand-to”. It was also repeated at sunset. (from Wikipedia)

Lest we forget.

Photos Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance and ANZAC Day Parade, Melbourne 2007 by Wynnie | ANZAC Day Commemorations in Singapore and other countries by New Zealand Defence Force (via Alvin Wong)

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