Gallipoli war dead honoured
A DAWN Anzac Day ceremony was commemorated at the Cenotaph by 140 servicemen, veterans and civilians yesterday - double last year's number.
They gathered for black coffee, rum and Anzac biscuits - the same breakfast which troops at Gallipoli had lined up for 78 years ago before they stormed Anzac Cove, where thousands lost their lives.
Some put yesterday's attendance down to a call by veteran Mr Jack Edwards, 75, for people to ''turn up and honour those who died to save lives'' during all military campaigns.
Mr Edwards spent almost four years as a Japanese prisoner from 1941 in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.
He was in the territory in 1946 and 1947 as part of the War Crimes Commission helping authorities track down war criminals. He moved to Hongkong in 1963.
Today he plays a part in the legacy of war by helping civilians and foreign consulates ''fit together the missing pieces'' in the fate of servicemen.
Yesterday, Mr Edwards joined armed services and diplomatic representatives in laying eight wreaths at the Cenotaph. Two minutes' silence was observed and The Last Post was played before the crowd moved to the Hongkong Club for a full breakfast.
