So silent for so large a crowd, they came in groups – families, young men, teenagers in school uniform, older couples determined to make the climb.

People arrived early at the war memorial; the seats filled quickly, then everyone stood quietly, waiting, watching, speaking only in whispers.

Master of ceremonies Paul McSwiney said dawn services evolved from the military routine of soldiers waking before first light to be ready in case of enemy attack.

“The bugle call symbolising the awakening of the dead in a better world and calling the living to return to duty,” he said. 

From the first official dawn service at the Sydney cenotaph in 1927, the tradition has spread to numerous cities and towns across Australia.

Albury RSL sub branch president Mark Dando recounted the first landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli 103 years ago.

“This was the first time the two young nations had fought together,” he said. 

“The mateship that developed during this and other battles and confrontations has continued to be part of our ethos.

“The values and lifestyle we enjoy today was forged by those original Anzacs, and they’re still being upheld by our servicemen and women to this day, both abroad and at home.”

Sub branch chaplain Father Alan Kelb spoke of the gratitude owed to those “who have given, and are still giving in our armed and supporting services, all that is theirs to give in order that the world may be a noble place in which to live”.

Ex-serviceman Rom Hayes, sitting in the front row with his son and granddaughter, understood that need for thanks.

Mr Hayes, 80, of Lavington, served in the army education corps between 1973 and 1993.

“Some of the people that I knew specially were killed, wounded, suicide,” he said.

“It’s important, I think, to carry the spirit of what we’re all about.”

A regular dawn service attendee, Mr Hayes appreciated the weather’s improvement on last year’s heavy rainfall.

READ MORE: Your complete guide to Anzac Day 2018 around the Border and North East

“It’s a special chance to say hello and just think, think about what the people had to say,” he said.

As well as the Last Post, whose familiar notes evoke so much, piper Sebastian Turner and singer Jodie Caroline added to the atmosphere through their music.

Lavington’s Ross and Sarah Hartley valued bringing both their daughters, Summer, 8, and Pippa, 6, to the service for the first time.

Mr Hartley, who had attended with Summer for the past four years, said they wanted to help the children learn their country’s history.

“Give them a bit of awareness of what Australians have served for in the past,” he said.

“Try and raise a generation that can carry the tradition on, more or less.”

Father Kelb also spoke of the legacy begun by the Anzacs.

“Set our hands to the task that they left unfinished,” he said.

“Let us dedicate ourselves to the service of ideals for which they died.”

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