Community & Business
1 May, 2026
United in remembrance
From the dawn service to the mid-morning march, this year’s ANZAC Day commemorations in Pittsworth drew the community together in heartfelt reflection to honour the fallen.
In the quiet before dawn at 4.15, over 300 people gathered in the main street for the Dawn Service.
“Across our region, ANZAC Day is a time to pause, reflect and come together,” Allan Petersen OAM, President of the Pittsworth RSL Sub-branch, said.
“This ANZAC Day we remember their courage, their sacrifice and the spirit of mateship.”
Mr Petersen said this year marked 25 years since Australia first served in Afghanistan and 75 years since the introduction of National Service.
A solemn moment was when Mal Norris read the names of the fallen.
Each name was accompanied by the sound of a bell chime.
It was no ordinary bell that was used during the ceremony but an Oakey Creek Ringer Condamine Bell that had been custom made for the RSL Sub-branch by Michael Hawley.
The inscription on the bell read: ‘Pittsworth RSL Sub-branch, in memory of the fallen, lest we forget’.
It was mounted on parts of an old pump jack that came from Mr Petersen’s property at Southbrook.
Pastor Brett Dolley said a prayer at the Dawn Service and Deputy Principal - Junior Secondary, Trent O’Brien, gave the address.
After the service, the cadets provided a gunfire breakfast and the RSL rooms, filled with military memorabilia, were open to the public.
Other ANZAC services were held at Mount Tyson at 8am, and at the Pittsworth Cemetery and Beauaraba Living at 9am.
The mid-morning march in Yandilla Street took place at 10.30am with a large crowd of clubs, local schools and community organisations participating.
It concluded at the Soldiers Memorial School of Arts for the ANZAC service and book-laying ceremony.
Guest speaker, Warrant Officer Class One Jason Larkin, said it was great to return to Pittsworth, the place that shaped most of his upbringing.
He said ANZAC Day was an opportunity to unite, like so many other communities across Australia and New Zealand, to honour the spirit of the ANZACs.
“Here in Pittsworth, a town built on hard work, quiet determination, and loyalty, that ANZAC spirit feels especially close,” Mr Larkin said.
“ANZAC Day is not about battles fought on foreign ground, it’s about ordinary people who showed extraordinary courage.
“Young men and women came from communities just like Pittsworth, small towns, farms, workshops and family homes, to serve something greater than themselves.
“Many never returned, those who did came back changed carrying memories we can only imagine, and burdens not visible to the eye,” Mr Larkin said.
“This district has its own proud history of service.
“For those who enlisted in the First and Second World Wars, to those that served in Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, Somalia, East Timor, Afghanistan, Iraq, and so many countless peacekeeping missions around the world.
“Their names appear on our cenotaph, their names are on the wall behind me, and their names live on in the stories told from generation to generation.
“This ANZAC Day is also about the community behind the uniform, the families who waited at home, the parents who received telegrams, the children who grew up without a mother or a father, the neighbours who rallied to support them.
“In towns like Pittsworth, sacrifice was shared...
“We honour not only those who served in the past, but those who serve now across Australia and across the world, continuing the legacy of courage, mateship and duty.
“As we stand here today, surrounded by everyday comforts we take for granted, we are reminded why they served.
“Not for glory, not for recognition but for the freedoms, the values and the way of life we enjoy.
“The ANZAC spirit lives on every time we look out for a neighbour or choose to stand together in times of adversity,” Mr Larkin said.
Mr Petersen invited Pastor Charlie Uebergang, minister of the Pittsworth Lutheran Parish, to say a prayer, followed by the hymn Abide With Me, sung by Tony and Carol McEwan.
The couple also sang the national anthems of Australia, New Zealand and Britain.
Pittsworth’s town band, Black Inc. played the accompaniment.
Roslyn Scotney, Co-chair of the ANZAC Day committee, announced the 42 local businesses and community groups who were partaking in the book-laying ceremony.
Pittsworth cadet and bugler Ashford McEwan played the Last Post and Rouse.
