As thousands of people spilled out on to the road that bears his family name, the crowd standing on Lawrence Hargrave Drive Austinmer for the Anzac dawn service would not have realised that a young Geoffrey Lewis Hargrave fought and died at Gallipoli 100 years ago.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The son of aviation pioneer Lawrence Hargrave, young Geoffrey enlisted soon after the outbreak of war and sailed for Egypt in December, 1914 at the age of 21.
A record crowd turned out to the picturesque Austinmer dawn service framed by towering Norfolk pine trees and a stunning orange and pink sunrise.
The crowd was made up of young and old, diggers, ordinary folk, young families and an extraordinary number of youth, all gathered to honour those who have served their country.
As the last post rang out across the beach and Lawrence Hargrave Drive, emotion rippled through the crowd which easily numbered 2500 people.
Retired Major General Hori Howard gave the Anzac address, reminding the community to not only remember those who fought in previous wars, but to remember those Australians who are currently serving.
Sixteen-year-old Patrick from Austinmer, who was attending his first dawn service said listening to the last post, with the sun rising on the horizon was an emotional experience.
"It's hard to think that I could have been in a position to go and fight for my country 100 years ago," Patrick said.
Geoffrey Hargrave was in the 2nd Australian Expeditionary Force and was transferred to the Dardanelles in 1915.
Like his famous father, Geoffrey had an interest in inventions and was working as a draftsman and pursuing studies in engineering at Sydney Technical College when he joined the war.
Geoffrey was killed in action on May 4, 1915 at Gallipoli and is buried at Lone Pine memorial, on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. Lawrence Hargrave died just six weeks after his son. following an operation for susupected appendicitis.