Caroline Springs RSL’s time to reflect

Front: students Addison, Inigo and Evie. Back: scouts Hayden Pemblerton, Mebrie Mouser and veterans John Willis, Murray Lewis, Robert Matthewman and Peter Doody. (Damjan Janevski) 321781_01

Liam McNally

On Tuesday, April 25 Caroline Springs RSL are hosting a dawn service and ANZAC Day event at Lake Caroline.

The day will begin with a Dawn Service at the War Memorial on Lake Street in Caroline Springs at 5.45am, followed by a $5 Gunfire Breakfast at the Westwaters Hotel, and games of Two Up.

The morning service is expected to attract around 2000 people, and will feature speeches from local school students from Christ The Priest Primary and Brookside College, as well as the 1st Caroline Springs Scouts Group.

Caroline Springs RSL President Peter Burquest said he’d “love to see as many of the community along as we can to honour the day”.

“It’s a time for everybody to reflect on all the conflicts that Australians have taken part in, it’s a time for the communities to get together,” he said.

“It’s not just to honour people that died in the war, but everybody who has died since as well.

And It’s not just for service people, we have ANZAC Day everyday, we’re always thinking about other service people, so it’s a day about inviting the community to come and reflect.”

Appeals officer Murray Lewis said the event is to honour the veteran community.

“Comradeship, mates who become lifelong friends, and those who paid the supreme sacrifice in any conflict they were involved in, whether it be WWI, WWII, Korea, Malaya, Vietnam and later conflicts,” he said.

“The Caroline Springs RSL committee and members would like to express their gratitude to all the schools and businesses, who have assisted the RSL in the selling of Anzac Badges and poppies since the opening of the Caroline Springs RSL in 2014.”