Late night revellers stumbling out of a Crown Street club were met with an unusual amount of traffic and people walking into the city.

Thousands came from all directions; families rugged in hoodies and beanies joined smartly dressed service men and women chatting excitedly in the darkness as they reached the middle of town.

But as the crowds met at Wollongong Cenotaph, they grew quiet.

And despite record numbers - which organisers estimated at around 7000 to 10,000 - a reverent hush descended as diggers, families and the catafalque party marched to mark Anzac Day’s centenary.

In the cool pre-dawn, the gathering imagined how the first Anzac soldiers felt as they landed at Gallipoli.

‘‘Try to imagine yourself in this situation, at about 3.30am on the 25th of April, 1915: young men, most of whom had never fired a weapon in anger before were crowded into boats being towed towards the sandy beaches and barren dusty hills of the Gallipoli peninsula,’’ Commodore Bruce Kafer, of Berkeley, said in his dawn service address.

‘‘The troops were leaving behind the safe refuge of transport vessels and warships, and their faces revealed mixed emotions that marked the moment: excitement, expectation, anxiety, apprehension and fear as they prepared to land in Anzac Cove.

‘‘For some, these were the last few minutes of their lives.

‘‘They were ordinary young folk, thrust into an extraordinary situation.

‘‘I often wonder what our Gallipoli veterans, those ordinary people, would think of the adulation they are now receiving.’’

He said Saturday’s events would be the largest in living memory for Aussies and Kiwis, and urged the crowd to recognise the Anzac spirit which had endured through both world wars, Korea, Borneo, Vietnam, Africa, East Timor and the Middle East.

‘‘It is right and proper that this year we focus especially on honouring the original Anzacs, I’d also ask that you remember today the veterans of subsequent conflicts, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice or who returned home with serious physical or psychological wounds,’’ Commodore Kafer said.

‘‘The veterans of recent campaigns, such as Vietnam or Afghanistan, and peacemaking, peacekeeping or sovereignty missions such as East Timor and border protection need our ongoing support.

‘‘We are only now beginning to realise the full impact of the affliction known to Gallipoli veterans as shellshock, which we now kow as post-traumatic stress disorder.’’

These words resonated for Wollongong’s Sergeant Simone Campbell and her husband, Sergeant Adam Campbell, who have served in Timor and Afghanistan respectively and attended the dawn service with their three young sons.

‘‘Today is about honour for us, and remembering,’’ Sgt Simone Campbell, who works with a PTSD organisation, said.

‘‘My father was a member of the military, and my father-in-law, and my uncle was a prisoner-of-war in Changi, so we’ve had a great deal of history of our family going to war.

‘‘So this is about educating the kids about what war does... and especially to pay tribute to the men and women who are suffering today, and supporting their families.’’

Young Windang man Steven Williams, 22, made a striking tribute to his late relatives as the ceremony crowds dispersed, posing with the Australian flag and dressed in full WWI uniform as part of a re-enactment group.

‘‘My great-grandfather served in world war one with the 4th battalion AIF and in world war two my grandfather was in the same battalion in New Guinea, so I’m representing my family with this patch on my uniform,’’ he said as he posed for dozens of photos.

As dawn broke, many service men and women retired to Wollongong RSL club to catch up over breakfast - and, for some, a very early beer.

Sharing photos at City Diggers were old friends Grant Armstrong, from Dapto, and Ian Colquhoun, from Kanahooka, who met on Anzac Day 26 years ago. Although many of their friends - some who served in New Guinea in the second world war - have now passed away, the pair relish the chance to swap stories each year.

‘‘Today is not about two-up, it’s about catching up with all the guys,’’ Mr Armstrong said.

‘‘I’m especially glad to see so many young people coming now because it’s good to see it carry on,’’ Mr Colquhoun said.

Easily one of the youngest Wollongong attendees was 18-day-old Aria Wallace, who attended the dawn service with a miniature set of medals pinned to her puffy pink parka with her dad, ex-serviceman Chris Wallace and mum Kasey Green.

‘‘She just made it,’’ Mr Wallace said of his tiny daughter.

‘‘It’s pretty special that she could be here for the centenary.’’