Bathurst reflects on family at Anzac Day dawn service | Photos

They stood in their hundreds at the War Memorial Carillon in Kings Parade to remember the Australians who had fought and given their lives in service of the nation.

Those such as the young Australians who fought hand-to-hand 100 years earlier to the day in the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux.

But as Bathurst RSL Sub Branch president David Mills delivered a poignant address, those who listened were urged to spare a thought for their families as well.

“This morning we honour their service, their sacrifice, men who forged the spirit of Anzac,” Mr Mills said.

“However, our country’s war casualties are not limited to the fallen. Spare a thought for wives … for those who wait, who mourned those who didn’t return.

“Those who grieved a young man who was no longer young and free, but broken and would never be the same.

“Spare a thought for those who provided support from home, for theirs is no less a sacrifice.”

As wreaths were laid to remember the fallen some wiped tears from their eyes, many bowed their heads, others grasped the hand of a loved one standing at their side.

“We try to grasp their loss, what it meant to their mates and comrades, what it meant to those left at home – mothers and wives, brothers, fathers, children and grandchildren they’d never meet. Lives they would never get to build,” Mr Mills said.

“Service on the land, in the air and in the sea. Men and women serving their comrades and their country, men and women giving their all, many for all eternity.

“We are Australians, we are born of the Anzacs, we are the custodians and the stewards of their spirit. Now and and into our future, we must take good care of them.

“It is only on the back of their legacy that we enjoy peace and freedom.”

The crowd, united in prayer, vowed they would not forget. Vowed to cherish their freedom.