Candelo paid tribute to service men and women from the region on Anzac Day with a parade down William Street and a ceremony in front of the Candelo War Memorial at John Gordon Memorial Park.
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Candelo RSL sub branch president Phil Collins said the war affected the people of the small town both overseas and at home.
“As a traditional farming region, Candelo was hit hard by the loss of labour,” he said.
“Imagine taking 150 people out of this crowd today, what would you lose? A hell of a lot of manpower.”
Those who had lost or risked their lives on the battlefield were recognised on the day with hymns and prayers, read out by Candelo Public School pupils Makayla Dehnort, Colin Gatt and Zeke Weller.
After the ceremony, the crowd moved to the Candelo Hall, where an exhibition of WWI memorabilia from around the town had been contributed to show the wider community.
The collection included postcards sent to Candelo from Europe, a helmet, family photographs, model war planes and socks knitted to the same pattern as issued during WWI.
“There was a lot of active knitters in Candelo sending care packages overseas during the war, up to 57 packages in a month” exhibition curator Elaine Collins said.
After the ceremony and exhibition, many people made their way to the Candelo Hotel for a traditional game of two-up.