The First Dawn Service

[Wazza]

Anzac Day in so many cities and towns around Australia commences with the Dawn Service. This acknowledgment, for a day of solemn remembrance, has become an Australian tradition, since it was the tribute for these extraordinary troops that helped launch the legend of ANZAC

Over the years, various accounts as to the origin of the Dawn Service have surfaced. This seems to be the factual one.

Eighty-five years ago, on 1 November 1914, the Anzac Tradition began in Albany, King George III Sound, Western Australia. At 7.00am a convoy of twenty-six Australian and ten New Zealand ships sailed for the Middle East and World War I. It was the first of many united actions of the two countries to follow in the war of 1914-1918.

Prior to embarkation at 4.30am, the Rev. Arthur White, Padre of 44th Battalion AIF, conducted a service for soldiers and relatives. He then sailed with the convoy, which comprised a Light Horse Brigade and a Division, which included every branch of the Australian Army and totalled 20,000 men. The New Zealand Government expeditionary force comprised a Mounted Rifles Infantry Brigade of 10,000 men. The ships transporting these men, guns, equipment and horses to Europe were to travel in a protected convoy, which began to assemble in the Sound from 24 October 1914.

Under the protection of HMAS Minator, HMAS Sydney, HMAS Melbourne and a Japanese heavy cruiser, HIJMS Ibuki, the convoy of thirty-six ships sailed via Colombo and Suez to Alexandria, Egypt. It arrived on 3 December 1914.

On reaching Egypt, the force became known by the code word 'ANZAC'. A second convoy of sixteen ships carrying a further 10,000 Australians and 2,000 New Zealand troops, guns, equipment and horses, left Albany on 31 December 1914 for Egypt.

Shortly after the battle of Romani in August 1915, a suggestion was made by Brigadier General R.J. Royston, Commander 3rd Australian Light Horse, that a memorial be erected by members of the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division, to their comrades who had lost their lives in that campaign. The suggestion to levy their pay was agreed to by officers and men of the Division. This in itself was a wonderful gesture by the troops. As other Australian and New Zealand formations were organised, it was decided to expand the movement to include the Australian Mounted Divisions, the Australian Flying Corps, and all other Australian and New Zealand units which served in Egypt, Palestine and Syria.

The sum of five thousand four hundred pounds [$A10,800] was subscribed by the troops and this, together with donations by the Australian and New Zealand Governments, made a total of seventeen thousand pounds ($A34,000) available to meet the cost of the memorial.

With the approval of the Suez Canal Company and the Municipality of Port Said, it was decided to erect the memorial at Port Said near the entrance to the Suez Canal, facing the east and the Darb-el-Sultani (the Road of Kings). This ancient road was the route by which all ancient and modern armies from Egypt had marched to the conquest of Palestine and Syria.

On 23 November 1932, the magnificent memorial was unveiled before a gathering of notables by the Rt. Hon William. Morris Hughes, KC, MP, who was returning to Australia from the League of Nations Assembly. It was appropriate that, as Australia's wartime Prime Minister, he should have been invited by the Commonwealth and New Zealand Governments to perform this ceremony. On the pedestal was the following inscription:

'This Memorial is erected by their comrades and the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, Mounted Rifles, 'Ihe Imperial Camel Corps, and Australian Flying Corps, who lost their lives in Egypt, Palestine and Syria, 1916-1918.'

When Padre White returned to Australia in 1919, he was appointed relieving rector of St John's in Albany. It was a strange coincidence that the starting point of the convoys should now become his parish.

The memory of his first Dawn Service, five years earlier, and his experiences overseas inspired him to honour permanently the valiant men - dead and alive - who had fought for their country. He conducted the first Dawn Service on Anzac Day, 1923. When asked the reason at that time, he replied, 'Albany was the last sight of land these Anzac troops saw after leaving Australian shores. Some of them never returned. We should hold a service here at the first light of Dawn each Anzac Day to commemorate them.'

As the sun was rising, a man in a boat cast a wreath into King George Sound. Canon White, with a bank of about twenty men around him on the summit of nearby Mt Clarence, overlooking the township of Albany and its harbour, silently watched as the wreath floated out to sea. He then quietly recited the words:

'As the sun rises and goeth down, we will remember them.'
Mt Clarence plays a significant part in this recording of Anzac Day History. During the Suez crisis in December 1956, rioting Egyptians desecrated the memorial. In 1959, the United Arab Republic agreed to allow the stone Pedestal to be dismantled for shipment to Australia along with the damaged figures. Because of its significance in World War I and also as a Convoy Assembly Area in World War II, King George Sound was favourably looked upon for the restoration of the memorial. So Mt Clarence, overlooking the harbour was selected; adjoining the site where Canon White conducted the First Anzac Dawn Service, there now stands one of the most moving Anzac memorials ever erected.

It depicts two soldiers, the Australian mounted and the New Zealander kneeling by his wounded horse, which is lying on the ground. On 11 October 1964, the then Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, Kt, CH, QC, MP unveiled the restored statue. It bore the following inscription:

This statue is a copy of one originally forming part of the memorial, which was erected at Port Said and unveiled on 23 November 1932 by the Rt Hon William Morris Hughes KC. It was irreparably damaged during the Suez crisis in 1956. The masonry was salvaged and brought to Australia for re-erection on this site which for many troops who sailed from King George Sound in 1914 was their last glimpse of Australian soil.'

The monument is accessible from Albany with a drive to the parking area located just below the monument. A short walk up the pathway reveals a magnificent vista.