Anzac Day March, 1933: Home Movie

This is a clip of an Anzac Day march in 1933 at Strathalbyn, South Australia. It is taken from a home movie shot by K Loader.

The march comes down from Alfred Place, the site of the Strathalbyn and District Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital, past the then St Andrews Presbyterian Church to Sunter St.

The procession stops at the Strathalbyn War Memorial, for the laying of wreaths. The town erected the memorial in 1921 to commemorate soldiers from the district who died during the First World War.

Also marching are a group of women who may be active nurses or Red Cross members. They wear a uniform with the international symbol of the Red Cross sewn on on the left-hand side.

Youth organisations – like Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, Junior Red Cross, and school and marching bands – also featured prominently in Anzac Day marches around this time; a troop of boy scouts is visible briefly in this clip.

After the march there was a Grand Sports Day nearby, raising funds for the Strathalbyn Soldiers’ Memorial Gardens Improvement Fund. 

According to the Southern Argus newspaper, events on the day included a married ladies’ race, egg-and-spoon race for single girls over 15, a melon race on horseback and a competition to guess the weight of a sheep.

By 1933, traditions for marking Anzac Day were well established across Australia, with dawn vigils, marches, memorial services, reunions among members of the armed services and two-up games.