Wagga's streets were filled with candlelight on Saturday morning as people stood in their front gardens to remember 105 years since the Anzacs arrived on the shore of Gallipoli.
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After traditional dawn services were called off due to coronavirus social distancing restrictions, the community turned to new rituals including 'lighting up the dawn' in their driveways to pay their respects to Australia's servicemen and women.
In Bourkelands, families gathered for a minute's silence as former Australian Army Band Kapooka conductor Peter Thomas played the Last Post on the bagpipes.
Joshua and Teneal Paul would usually march to honour their family members who served in WWII, but the couple agreed this year was one of their "most special Anzac Day services".
"Because we did it as a family, but it also just showed the resilience, to see all of the community come together and all the people on the streets out the front of their houses," Mr Paul said.
"Although we stood alone, it felt like we stood together."
This year echoed an earlier Anzac Day in 1919, when public meetings were banned in NSW due to the outbreak of Spanish influenza. It marked a return to more private ceremonies as people stayed at home.
"Even though the pandemic has stopped us coming together, it hasn't stopped us showing respect to all the servicemen and women, which should never be forgotten," Mr Paul said.
"It was probably the most moving dawn service we've been a part of."
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