Warrnambool RSL Sub-Branch president John Miles said it was heartwarming to see so many faces in the crowd for the city’s main service.

“The number of people who have attended really makes us here at the RSL feel very proud,” he said.

“It’s great to see such a roll-up. The dawn service was huge and our 11am service and march is a lot bigger than I’ve seen it before.”

In Portland, light rain failed to deter about 1000 people from attending the dawn service. Strong crowd numbers also turned out for dawn services in Hamilton (about 1000) and Colac (500).

About 4000 people were estimated to have gathered at Warrnambool’s cenotaph as the sun rose on April 25, 2018.

“On this day 100 years ago in a daring night attack, Australian troops from the 13th and 15th infantry brigade fought their way around the village of Villa-Bretenoux, holding and pushing the Germans back and securing the ridge that overlooks the city of Amiens,” he said.

This year’s Warrnambool service also put a focus on younger and older generations coming together to pay tribute to the nation’s servicemen and women.

School students played an important role in the ceremony, and The Ode was read in two parts, the first verse from past veteran Peter Cassidy and the second by more recently-returned veteran Adam Kent.

For Commodore James McCormack, Warrnambool’s Anzac Day commemorations were a chance to reflect on the sacrifice of his family, as well as on his own 35 years in the navy.

Commodore McCormack, the Commander of the Defence Signals Intelligence and Cyber Command based in Canberra, was special guest at Warrnambool’s ceremony and said it was a city close to his heart.

“I spent a lot of time as a kid down this way, all my cousins lived out here,” he said.

Commodore McCormack said he chose to come to Warrnambool because of the family connection, and it was family that he was thinking of on Anzac Day.

“Two of my great uncles were killed 100 years ago on the Western Front. My grandparents were due to be married and the first brother was wounded at Gallipoli and came back after convalescing in Egypt to tell his younger brother not to go to the war because it’s horrible,” he said.

“By the time he got back, his younger brother had gone so he then followed him back to the Western Front and the first one was killed. So my grandparents… delayed the wedding. And then they were about to have the wedding again and the second brother was killed. It’s a real connection for our family.”

Commodore McCormack joined the navy in 1983. He served in HMA ships Stalwart, Darwin, Hobart and Westralia and submarine service in HMA ships Otway, Otama and Orion. He served in Bougainville and East Timor and also served in a civilian role in Afghanistan.

The next generation is now also making its way in the Australian Defence Force, with Commodore McCormack’s 18-year-old daughter also joining the navy and currently serving in the South China Sea.