Anzac Day 2020 will be unlike any other. For the first time in a century the streets will be empty; there will be no suburban dawn services, mid-morning marches or afternoon two-up matches.
Instead Australians are asked to unite and recognise past and current armed services personnel by standing in their driveways or living rooms at 6:00am for a dawn service with a difference.
The RSL has also encouraged people to take part in a Community Ode by recording a video of themselves reciting The Ode and posting it to social media in the lead-up to ANZAC Day
“The Ode is a crucial element of all ANZAC Day services, its words embedded in the hearts and minds of Australians as a way we can solemnly communicate our enduring appreciation for those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. The Ode is also an enduring promise that we will continue to honour them, and never forget,” Acting President of RSL NSW Ray James said.
“This year, as we cannot come together in person, these video messages alongside any personal messages of support will be one way we all come together in our time of commemoration, albeit virtually.”
Source: The Canberra Times, 15th April 2020
Tune into live commemorative services. The ABC will be broadcasting a 5.30am service from the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. There will also be a 10am closed service from Sydney that will be broadcast on ABC (download the Order of Service). Both services will also be streamed live on the RSL NSW Facebook page.
See below for The Ode, Last Post and Reveille
The Ode
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
The Ode comes from For the Fallen, a poem by the English poet and writer Laurence Binyon and was published in London in The Winnowing Fan: Poems of the Great War in 1914. This verse, which became the Ode for the Returned and Services League, has been used in association with commemoration services in Australia since 1921.
To learn more about the Words of Remembrance, click on the link below:
https://anzacday.org.au/words-of-remembrance
To download the Last Post and Reveille audio, click on the link below:
https://anzacday.org.au/bugle-calls
