The Nambucca District Band led the procession down High Street while hundreds of locals watched, full of pride and deep in thoughtful contemplation. 

A dignified Dorothy Meers, a veteran from the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) who served in Korea, was ferried down to the service in an Army Jeep.

She held her head high on a day in which women veterans were being celebrated around the State.

“The trouble is women have always been put down in the forces,” she said.

“But women are as important as any man and I think that’s what all this ‘By The Left’ business is about.

“Women just want that bit of respect – they want to be saluted if they’re an officer.”

She admits that she has always been treated with respect in Bowraville, however, and is incredibly proud to share her past in the WRAAC.

“I’m not a royalist, but there weren’t too many Royal Corps, you see, so it was really rather special,” she said.

Students from St Mary’s Catholic School, Bowraville Central School, St Patrick’s Catholic School, and Macksville High marched solemnly and determinedly behind the district’s veterans – step for step – some of the older children not much younger than those who marched themselves off to the other side of the world all those years ago.

Two Bowraville Central boys even got the honour of carrying the colours on behalf of the ADF regiments.

Bowraville Central School students Jack Sullivan and Crystal-Rose Harte shared the role of Master of Ceremonies, and carried themselves with dignity and aplomb.

The Bowraville Theatre Singers’ voices resounded over an emotionally-charged landscape, and more than a few hankies were seen darting from pockets in the nick of time.

The wreaths laid on the cenotaph were fittingly generous and festooned the stone plinth in a wash of colour and delicate intentions.

Community members weaved their way through the crowds to lay sprigs of rosemary at the foot of the cenotaph, the fragrant herb recalling the wild rosemary bushes which are scattered across the Gallipoli peninsula.

And a Hawk 127 came screeching across the horizon in a fly-by organised by the proud family of Hilton Mitchell.

Mayor Rhonda Hoban gave an impassioned address which departed from the usual pomp and circumstance, instead openly and honestly detailing her own first-hand experience of having to let go of her youngest son after he made the decision to serve his country in the Royal Australian Navy.

WATCH: The march and service

“On days such as these previously, I tried to imagine what it was like for those who served,” Mrs Hoban said.

“But they were only imaginings and I was not directly impacted … all that changed when my youngest, my baby, told me he had applied to become a naval officer.

“I hoped the novelty would wear off … but the gym and the training runs and the recruitment tests showed me he was serious.

“While I felt proud to see my son march out, a fine young man, disciplined and with a gun in his hand, I also felt guilty and ashamed because I wanted it to be someone else’s son, not mine.”

It was poignant and fitting, to hear  the story of one local just starting out on his journey in the Navy, and then, full circle, meet another who had just shared his final day on April 19 with the HMAS Darwin, both now officially retired from a lifetime of service.

Lieutenant Commander Trevor Henderson wanted to spend the last ANZAC Day of his 43 years’ service with his father, Ron. 

The pair have not always had a chummy relationship. In fact, Trevor stole himself away to the ADF in an effort to run away from his past and a ‘dead-end foundry apprenticeship’.

But today the father-son duo sat proudly beside one another united by their selfless service to our country, and buoyed by the little country town’s show of respect.