THE lead up has begun to what will be the greatest event on the Australian calendar this year the 100th commemoration of the Anzacs.
Today the Redland City Bulletin begins its coverage and commemoration of the centenary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Anzac Cove at Gallipoli at dawn on April 25, 1915.
The horror of that conflict, which has been said was the birth of our nation and the creation of the Anzac legend, will be in the minds of all of us through April.
Throughout this month the Bulletin will publish in each edition an Anzac story as well as keeping our readers up to date with plans and programs that will form part of Anzaac Day activities in the Redlands.
This coverage will include the stories of some of the original Anzacs, with today's article telling of the son of a Gallipoli veteran who will be making the pilgrimage to those old battlefields in memory of his father.
As well, the Bulletin will publish a wrap around the outside of the April 22 edition to pay tribute to the Anzacs, and how their legacy lives on in the Redlands through the daily lives of its residents.
This is only the start of commemorations honouring those old soldiers, with the Redlands planning major activities on many fronts to observe the importance of the occasion.
Cleveland is poised to host one of the biggest Anzac Day Dawn Services in the state with a crowd of more than 15,000 expected to assemble at the newly constructed memorial in Kinsail Court Park adjacent to Redlands RSL.
The memorial is a fitting tribute to the Anzac legend and the growing crowds, particularly among the younger generations, are embracing this as a national day of honouring all those who have been to war, and those who did not return.
The memorial was needed to cope with the growing crowds who are turning out in big numbers each year to attend the Dawn Service. This year, being the centenary of that initial landing, will be massive, with people in all walks of life from seniors to school children expected to turn up to honour the fallen.
In particular, the descendants of those ancestral grand parents and uncles who made that ultimate sacrifice are expected to swell this year's crowds in honour of their forebears.
This is a time where everyone should be thinking of Anzac Day and how you are going to get involved.
The centenary commemorations is an event which should affect us all and its significance is important to the framework of society and values we have built in these past 100 years.
It is a time when we must all pay our respects.
