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Melbourne Airport will shift its Anzac dawn service onto its airfield for the first time in its history on Saturday.
With passenger numbers severely reduced by coronavirus, the 15 staff will commemorate Australia’s service men and women at 7am while observing social distancing.
The service will see Scot Dullard, Melbourne Airport’s head of aviation operations, read the commemorative address, including The Ode, and Allan Hessey, an RSL bugler, play the Last Post at sunrise.
The proceedings will be followed by one minute of silence before Hessey plays Reveille to indicate the silence has concluded.
This year, across Australia, there will be no community commemorative services or marches.
Instead, a dawn service will be broadcast from the Australian War Memorial, home of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as well as the Roll of Honour, which contains the names of the 102,000 service men and women who have given their lives for the nation.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, “This year, we will not be gathering at the local cenotaph, or attending gunfire breakfasts at the local RSL, or gathering together to bow our heads in silence and listen to the bugles at dawn.
“But we will still remember the sacrifice of those who gave so much for us at Gallipoli and on many fronts, as we ourselves give what we can to protect Australian lives while we face this terrible virus.”
