By Luke Voogt
Thousands of Geelong residents braved the rain for the first-ever Anzac Day dawn service at Eastern Beach Tuesday morning.
Event organiser Rieny Nieuwenhof was surprised but thrilled at the attendance.
“It’s hard to estimate, but I’ve heard figures of 3500 people,” the Vietnam veteran said.
“It’s obviously something the citizens of Geelong wanted. The interest in Anzac Day has grown exponentially in the last 10 or 15 years.”
Crowds packed the “natural amphitheatre” of Eastern Beach, which Mr Nieuwenhof described as a “magnificent” location for the service.
Fellow Vietnam veteran Bob Thompson laid a single wreath during the ceremony, which “represented all the citizens of Geelong”.
The service also included a flyover by two KA350 King Air training aircraft from an RAAF Base in Gippsland.
“Because of the low cloud cover, you couldn’t see the aircraft but you could certainly hear them,” Mr Nieuwenhof said.
The plans for the ceremony attracted controversy in the lead-up to Anzac Day, with neither Geelong RSL nor Torquay RSL supporting the event.
But Mr Nieuwenhof and fellow dawn service committee members believed “Geelong should have its very own dawn service as Victoria’s second city”.
“We spoke to the (RSL) presidents and explained what we were trying to do.”
“We’re not trying to take over from them in any shape or form, we’re just saying the citizens of Geelong deserve an alternative.”
Torquay RSL President Ian Gilbank estimated between 6000 and 8000 people attended this year’s traditional Pt Danger dawn service.
The service commemorated the fallen of the Australian Light Horse with a Bren Gun Carrier and a speech by Lieutenant Colonel Graeme Smith.
Mr Gilbank said the Geelong dawn service and the rain had most likely reduced the attendance, which was down on recent years.
But he acknowledged the crowd was “about what used to be normal” before the Centenary of Anzac in 2015.
“We’re still happy with the turn out. It was a bit wet, but it was a small price to pay.”
