Hundreds turn out to pay respects at Kalgoorlie’s Anzac Day dawn service

A lone trumpeter played The Last Post as golden sunlight illuminated the Kalgoorlie War Memorial at the break of dawn on Thursday.

Hundreds of Goldfields residents braved cold temperatures to honour the courage and sacrifice of Australian and New Zealand service people during this year’s Anzac Day dawn service.

Hosted by the Kalgoorlie RSL sub-branch, the service commemorated the 110th and 85th anniversaries of the commencement of World Wars I and II respectively, and 80 years since the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy.

Service attendees and representatives from schools and community organisations laid wreaths carrying printed notes and handwritten messages at the base of the Forrest Street memorial.

The Two Up Two Down Community Choir performed the Australian and New Zealand national anthems.

Kalgoorlie RSL president Robyn Steenbach said she was pleased to see a solid turnout at the dawn service.

“It is wonderful to see the way that Kalgoorlie-Boulder supports Anzac Day and our veterans,” she said.

“We owe it to the people that fought. We owe it to the people that served. We have this country because of those people.”

After the service, a free gunfire breakfast was hosted at the Kalgoorlie Ex-servicemen’s Memorial Club on Dugan Street.