THE bells on the gothic clock tower sounded as a record crowd paused for Camperdown’s Anzac Day dawn service.
More than 500 people stood at the base of the town’s impressive war memorial, which portrays a statue of the Spirit of the Empire calling her Dominions to her aid.
The names of all those from the Camperdown district who lost their lives at war were read as the unmistakable smell of rosemary from a surrounding hedge of remembrance filled the still morning’s air.
The haunting sound of the Last Post and Reveille sounded out and the crowd then filed to Queen’s Parl, opposite the RSL hall where a wreath was laid beneath the lone pine.
Later on in the morning, two horses from the Lighthorse Re-enactment Group led a march from the town square to the memorial for the main Camperdown service attended by more than 1000 people.
Students from Camperdown College and Mercy Regional College formed a guard of honour as wreaths were laid.
The students then each placed a single red poppy on the memorial in a special centenary tribute, honouring the 30 Anzac soldiers from Camperdown who died fighting at Gallipoli or in the months afterwards.
