A HASTINGS musician is heading to Gallipoli to play The Last Post on the 100th anniversary of the Anzac landings.
Able seaman and bugler, Racheal Byrnes, of HMAS Cerberus, is part of a musical group playing aboard the frigate HMAS Anzac when it anchors in Anzac Cove on 25 April.
A ceremonial service on board will complement the three Australian and New Zealand commemorative services at Gallipoli: a joint Dawn Service at the Anzac Commemorative Site, an Australian Memorial Service at Lone Pine, and a New Zealand Memorial Service at Chunuk Bair.
Ms Byrnes left on Thursday for a week’s training in Sydney before leaving on Sunday 15 March for a five month naval deployment – called Northern Trident – joining a New Zealand ship enroute and culminating in the Gallipoli visit on Anzac Day.
The frigate’s extended voyage will take in Diego Garcia, Crete, Gallipoli, Brindisi in Italy, Valetta in Malta, Portsmouth in England, Brest in France, Ferrol in Spain, Casablanca in Morocco, Cape Town in South Africa, and Port Louis in Mauritius.
While Ms Byrnes and the other musicians are away they will still need to be effective crew members. Like all sailors they will do watch keeping, fire drills (any time of the day or night), emergency medical training and general duties.
When they get the opportunity, they will rehearse to prepare for their musical commitments – most importantly, Anzac Day at Gallipoli.
“When the ship pulls into port, that’s when the band will usually perform most, and at official functions or other community engagements,” she said. “I am really looking forward to it.”
