Lest We Forget

Our local Anzac Day service was very well attended today. It was hard to hold the emotion at bay as "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" was beautifully sung. 
The address by a former serviceman was most interesting and told of the famous Coo-ee March in 1915. Recruitments had dropped off and two young brothers from Gilgandra in country NSW (not far from where I grew up) organised to march over 400km to Sydney through towns and villages (including Blackheath) encouraging others to join them. 263 young men responded to their rally cry of "Coo-ee! Won't You Come" arriving in Sydney 5 weeks later. Other recruitment drives inspired by this followed.
Some poignant personal stories can be found here.