Anzac Day 2015: Regional WA remembers | photos

Dawn ceremonies and Anzac Day marches were held all over the state on Saturday, April 25 and you can see the best of these photos in our gallery above.

Scroll down to see some of the most interesting stories that appeared in the lead up to Anzac Day from around regional WA.

Gallipoli was known to be a place too bleak for music.

Unlike the Western Front, soldiers were unable to retreat to recreation and for the most part, Gallipoli offered no solace.

That changed for one moment on August 4, 1915.

Anzacs, Gurkhas and Indian troopers were massed on a sheltered slope behind their trenches, with Turkish soldiers just a few yards away, when it was suggested a campfire concert would be good for morale.

During the concert, rifle and machine gun carried on as usual, increasing when Kalgoorlie cornet player Ted McMahon played the first verse of a popular tune called The Rosary.

In the second, only spasmodic shots could be heard and by the third and final verse, the battlefield fell silent.

In his war diary, McMahon recalled: "As I started to play on this beautiful quiet night when the sound of my trumpet would carry for a considerable distance, a real barrage of small arms fire broke out.

"During the second verse only spasmodic shots could be heard and as I started to play the final verse all was still: not a sound could be heard.

"The charm of music had cast a spell over all and for a time the war was forgotten."

Almost 100 years later, the cornet he played at war is being well looked after by his step granddaughter Kerry Everett in Esperance.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the Anzac landing at Gallipoli, Fairfax Regional Media has put together a dedicated page on this website which pulls together some incredible stories from World War I. 

Read about locals who made the ultimate sacrifice, explore the interactive timeline of the war to end all wars and look at how we today are remembering those that served. 

We also have a wall of photos, The Faces of Anzacs, which share the stories of more than 1000 soldiers from regional Australia who participated in World War I. 

Start your journey of remembrance here. 

Esperance man David Hatter shares the story of his parents – John and Margaret Hatter – who both served in World War I. 

His father, John Osborne Hatter, was one of 10 children who lived on a small farm near Tallong, NSW and, together with his brothers, was given permission by their parents William and Eliza Hatter to enlist in World War I when he was aged 18 years and 10 months. 

He fought in the battle of From­elles, near The Somme, where he was shot in the upper right leg resulting in a broken femur. 

He was repatriated from Bologna to Halifax, UK and admitted to St Luke's War Hospital. 

The fact he was wounded so early in the battle saved his life. 

Read the full story here.

Several West Australian school students will become part of history when they attend the 2015 Premier's ANZAC Student Tour.

The 32 students will be part of a 10-day tour in Gallipoli to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC landing.  

The students will be among 8000 Australians and 2000 New Zealanders at the Gallipoli dawn service at North Beach in Turkey.

They will also visit key historical sites with Education Minister Peter Collier.

Read the full story here. 

An exhibition featuring photographs of Northam locals who were enlisted has gone on display at the town's RSL Memorial Hall. 

It covers all conflicts and has up to 2000 photographs.

The exhibition is the work of local historian Jan James and has taken two years to complete. 

Read the full story here. 

When Sandy Pearce decided to do some gardening at her Katanning home one morning, little did she know it would uncover an ANZAC mystery that would span across two centuries.

As she worked along the garden bed, Sandy found an assortment of items, including a large bronze coin.

“Back then, we didn’t have computers so I kept the bronze coin, unsure what to do with it,” she said.

After moving to Collie, Ms Pearce forgot about the coin, which sat in storage for 30 years.

“About six years ago I started researching my own family history at the Collie Family History Society and then I remembered that I had that coin,” Ms Pearce said.

The coin was identified as a Memorial Plaque - also known as a ‘Dead Man’s Penny’ – which was given to given to the next-of-kin of all British and Empire service personnel who were killed as a result of war.

ANZAC George Robert Scott Greene died of wounds in France in 1918 and the coin issued to his sister, who lived in Perth.

Ms Pearce managed to track down the living relatives of George Robert Scott Greene, in Nelson, New Zealand.

“It is wonderful feeling to give a family some closure on a fallen ANZAC family member,” she said. 

Read the full story here. 

YEAR 9 Cape Naturaliste College student Lucas Wiltshire Skipper is representing Busselton at the Premier’s Anzac Student Tour to Gallipoli.

Lucas said he was very excited when he found out his essay had won out of the 1000 submitted.

“I’m really excited, especially because it’s the centenary and I’ve also never been out of Western Australia or on a plane,” Lucas said.

In the essay students had to explain what the Anzac legacy meant to them, as young West Australian’s.

“I got a lot out of the essay writing and really enjoyed it,” Lucas said.

The tour left on April 16 and returns on April 27.

Read the full story here. 

Twoyears ago it was agreed that the Ballidu Lodge Gallery would host an exhibition of community wartime memorabilia and collectables as part of the Anzac centenary in 2015.

The idea for the gallery exhibition has never changed but the Anzac commemoration became a springboard for two other arts projects.

These included a community arts project reusing metal ‘flowers’ from a previous art garden project.

Read the full story here. 

The Halls Head and Baldivis Football clubs will have that little bit more to play for when they take to the field today for their annual Anzac Day clash.

This year the Dawesville RSL sub-branch has got behind the game with the winner to be presented with The Anzac Centenary Trophy. 

The trophy will be awarded annually to the winning seniors football team and kept by that team until the next Anzac Day game between the two is played.

President of the Dawesville RSL sub-branch Colin Gibson said the branch was happy to donate the trophy.

“Made in cold-cast bronze, it is one of a limited edition; it is very striking,” he said.

Read the full story here. 

Donnybrook girl Emily Fernley could not be more excited to be travelling to Gallipoli for the Premier's Anzac Tour. 

“I’m looking forward to going around Istanbul and seeing the culture, looking at the mosques and bazaars,” she said. “It will be a good cultural experience.”

The group will camp overnight at the site of the dawn service in order to be there right from the start.

Miss Fernley said she hoped to bring back skills and experience that would allow her to influence other young people to reach out for opportunities.

Read the full story here. 

In the small Wheatbelt town of Merredin yesterday, more than 6000 poppies handmade by over 400 local residents were planted at the town entrance as a tribute to the ANZAC Centenary.

An extraordinary number of poppies had been made from recycled materials, including paper, plastic bottles, old CDs, discarded clothes, Christmas mince pie tins, wire coat hangers, old dinner plates, recycled soft drink cans, used horseshoes, and old plough discs. 

Merredin shire president Ken Hooper said the residents of Merredin have done themselves proud," he said. 

“I’m blown away by how many people got involved in making and planting the poppies."

See the amazing photos of the field here. 

With relatives who fought in both World War I and II, 19-year-old Lachlan Hunter feels a sense of connection with the ANZACs.

"I think this is because I am a young Australian and someone who had relatives fight in both WWI and WWII," he said.

"It's a special connection that I think we, as all Australians, can be very proud of."

Mr Hunter said in the centennial year of the Gallipoli landing, the family will reflect on the ANZACs who served and helped shape the nation.

He also plans to wear the medals of his great-great uncle Harry Moore as a tribute. 

Read the full story here. 

Jolly Read, the granddaught of an Australian World War I soldier recently travelled to France and Belgium to visit her Pop's brother's grave. 

Archibald Bull and his three cousins, all from the same West Warburton family, died in the war. 

Read the touching account of their lives and sacrifices here. 

AN unmarked grave in the Bridgetown Cemetery is about to receive a headstone, to help mark the celebrations of the Centenary of ANZAC.

Thomas Edward Bolton was in the 10th Light Horse regiment in World War 1 and served in Palestine, Damascus and Egypt. 

Mr Bolton's great grand-niece, Desne Chapman from Collie, discovered that he had an unmarked grave in Bridgetown recently while updating her family history.

Read the full story here. 

Carey Park Primary School has unveiled an ANZAC wall mural which has been hand crafted by their students to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.

The mural is a tribute to the ANZACs and has incorporated bright colours through 3D elements and mixed materials.

Read more here. 

Moora Historical Society President Kaye Lewis, made an extraordinary discovery in her pantry one day finding a sword-bayonet from World War I.

The original owner of the weapon was Private Charles James Alphine Clinch and despite previous tenants of the house the bayonet had remained hidden.

“It had been in the house for some time, since the First World War, I found it up in the pantry behind some empty dripping tins,” she said.

“I’ve had it looked at by someone with authority and they tell me it’s definitely a World War one sword.”

Read the full story here. 

PINJARRA’S St Augustine Catholic Church is awash with colour in tribute to Anzac Day.

Parish priest, Father Wayne Bendotti, said the idea to cover the church’s cross with poppies came from a parishioner.

The big steel cross has been covered with poppies as a mark of respect.

Read the full story here. 

The Northam Sub Branch of the Returned and Services League are well into their Centenary of Anzac program and recently completed another stage with the erection of an obelisk-style War Memorial.

The memorial, made of granite, is about five metres high and carries the Tri Service crest, representing all sections of the Australian Defence Force.

The obelisk is centrally located in the Memorial precinct at 265 Fitzgerald Street, Northam and is highly visible drawing attention to the building behind containing the Rolls of Honour and enlistment plaques and further to the Remembrance Garden.

Northam has never had a traditional style war memorial.

The returning soldiers of World War One had great vision and chose to instead build a memorial wing onto the Northam Hospital.

At the time the cost was 2450 pounds and was the best equipped and most modern hospital wing in the state.

The Northam RSL is proud to be gifting to the community the memorial and the Roll of Honour additions and to continue to honour those who paid the supreme sacrifice.

Read the full story here. 

In military tradition, the Last Post is the bugle call that signifies the end of the day's activities.

It is also sounded at military funerals to indicate that the soldier has gone to his final rest and at commemorative services such as Anzac Day and Remembrance Day.

The Last Post is one of a number of bugle calls in military tradition that mark the phases of the day.

While Reveille signals the start of a soldier's day, the Last Post signals its end.

The call is believed to have originally been part of a more elaborate routine, known in the British Army as "tattoo", that began in the 17th century.

In the evening, a duty officer had to do the rounds of his unit's position, checking that the sentry posts were manned and rounding up the off-duty soldiers and packing them off to their beds or billets.

The officer would be accompanied by one or more musicians.

The "first post" was sounded when he started his rounds and, as the party went from post to post, a drum was played.

The drum beats told off-duty soldiers it was time to rest; if the soldiers were in a town, the beats told them it was time to leave the pubs.

Another bugle call was sounded when the officer's party completed its rounds, reaching the "last post" – this signalled that the night sentries were alert at their posts and gave one last warning to the other soldiers.

The Last Post was eventually incorporated into funeral and memorial services as a final farewell, and symbolises the duty of the dead is over and they can rest in peace.

The Ode is traditional recited on ANZAC Day is the Ode and comes from For the Fallen, a poem by the English poet and writer Laurence Binyon.

It was first published in London in the Winnowing Fan; Poems of the Great War in 1914 and the below verse, which became the League Ode, was used in association with commemoration services in Australia from 1921.

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; 

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. 

At the going down of the sun and in the morning 

We will remember them."