AS THE sun beat down, the large crowd in River St, heard truths about those who had gone to war, and the battles many had faced long after the guns fell silent.
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After a stirring march through the Macksville CBD, Garry McKay welcomed observers to the formal service.
"On this day above all others we recall those who, in the great tragedy of war gave their lives for Australia and for the freedom of mankind - who will sleep among the ridges of Gallipoli and the terraced hills of Palestine; in the lovely cemeteries of France or the shimmering haze of the Libyan Desert; amid the mountains and olive groves of Greece and the Middle East, and the jungle of Malaya, New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, rugged Korea and Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and Timor Leste and peacekeepers, amid loving friends of other countries and our own land; and in unknown resting places in every continent and every sea," Mr McKay said.
A lovely touch to the commemoration was the use of Jim McKenna's horse and buggy to transport the nurses.
The commemoration address was given by Warrant Officer Neil Povey who reflected on the first ANZAC Day service 104 years ago - which included among other things a "very Australian" sports day in Egypt.
WO Povey said while Australians had headed to The Great War with a "sense of excitement" - at battle's end there was pride in what had been achieved partnered by "an immense sense of grief".