That's all for the Anzac Day blog.
I'll be back tomorrow morning with the regular Melbourne Express blog.
Anzac Day 2018: Dawn service and Shrine of Remembrance live coverage
That's all for today's blog
War correspondent in World War 2
I've received a lovely email from regular Melbourne Express reader Anne about how her father was a Northern Territory correspondent during World War 2, back when Darwin and other towns were being bombed.
"I find it interesting that he was the same age as my son is now (28) when he was stationed there - how the world had changed," she writes.
Dawn service speech
Group Captain Annette Holian's speech at the dawn service in Melbourne has been attracting considerable praise this morning. Here is her full speech, in case you missed it.
I've also linked to a full transcript of her speech in the 7.50am post.
Push to rename an electorate Monash
Monash councillor Geoff Lake has been talking with Ross and John on 3AW this morning about some electoral renamings.
He'd like the electorate of Hotham, which incorporates the Monash council area and Monash University's Clayton campus to be renamed Monash. But as it stands at the moment, the electorate of McMillan 300 kilometres away in Gippsland will be renamed Monash.
If you're finding all this confusing, you're not the only one.
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Bill Shorten's Anzac Day address
I've featured the Prime Minister's Anzac Day address, so it's only fair that I include the Opposition Leader's words as well:
The Weary Dunlop statue
This is some yarn bombing I can approve of:
Malcolm Turnbull's Anzac Day address
Here is Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Anzac Day address:
Group Captain Annette Holian's dawn service speech
The speech from Group Captain Annette Holian at the dawn service has been receiving overwhelming acclaim from Age readers.
A few people have been asking me if a transcript of the speech is available, and there is. You can find her speech at this link: read the full speech.
These lines are especially poignant:
"I want you to know the stories of those veterans who live amongst you now," she said.
"We can live our lives cocooned in the comfort of our homes, never reaching our potential.
But these men and women had the courage to let go of comfort. It did not mean they were
not afraid. They acknowledged their fears, stepped forward took risks and served anyway."
"We learned resilience through adversity. We learned to get through the challenges
together. We explored the limits of our potential and found those limits far greater than we
suspected. Yet now so many struggle to find employment."
"Ask veterans about their service, what stories their medals tell. I want you to know of their
bravery, their courage on bases, in hospitals and in the field. You will be inspired by their
stories."
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Time for breakfast
Reporter Tom Cowie has done a great job capturing the poignancy of this morning's dawn service at the Shrine, so I reckon he deserves a hearty breakfast. He writes:
There are long queues for the traditional gunfire breakfast set up outside Victoria Barracks on St Kilda Road.
What’s a gunfire breakfast you ask?
It’s pretty simple: sausages, baked beans and scrambled egg on a piece of white bread. There’s also urns full of piping hot tea and coffee. And plenty of Anzac biscuits to go with it.
Just what the medic ordered after an early morning start.
Feedback on the dawn service
Some Age readers at the dawn service have got in touch to share how impressed they were with this morning's ceremony.
"MC Peter Meehan was incredible," Toni writes. "I’d suspect not a dry eye at the shrine. Thank you Peter for showing emotion in remembering those who gave so much for us. Lest we forget."
And from Maggie: "Please publish the amazing and inspirational speech we heard this morning at the Melbourne Dawn Service given by Group Captain Annette Holian." (I'll see if we can get a transcript)