NSW:Rain set to affect Sydney Anzac service

AAP General News (Australia)
04-25-2011
NSW:Rain set to affect Sydney Anzac service

By Miles Godfrey

SYDNEY, April 25 AAP - They are diggers of different ages, veterans of desperate wars
in disparate places, brought together in central Sydney for a single purpose: to honour
those who've made the ultimate sacrifice.

Sydney's Anzac Day dawn service is due to get underway at 4.30am (AEST) on Monday at
Martin Place, with Major General David Morrison, Commander Forces Command, delivering
the main address.

For the second year in a row the service looks set to be affected by heavy rain, with
organisers saying they expect several thousand people to attend.

Numbers may be down slightly because of the poor weather.

The dawn service begins for the city a day of sombre reflection and the celebration
of a spirit which, 96 years on from Gallipoli, continues to define two nations.

Darkness still cloaked Martin Place when the first servicemen, their relatives and
members of the public arrived early on Monday.

Many people were forced to run for cover in nearby doorways to escape the driving rain,
or were dressed head to toe in waterproofs and clutching umbrellas.

Among the dignitaries due to attend the service is NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell.

Australia's most recent recipient of the Victoria Cross, Corporal Benjamin Roberts-Smith,
is also expected to be present.

Later in the day he and 20,000 current and ex-service personnel will march through
the CBD to the Anzac memorial in Hyde Park.

There, acting state president of the NSW Returned and Services League of Australia
(RSL) Bob Crosthwaite will lead a commemoration service at 12.30pm (AEST).

At 8.30am (AEST) government representatives and consular staff representing countries
around the globe will lay wreaths at the Martin Place cenotaph.

AAP mdg/ht/msk

KEYWORD: ANZAC SYDNEY

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