Thousands of people across NSW marked Anzac Day in different ways, but nothing personified the spirit of the day like two elderly diggers and the communities who rallied around them.
It was a tradition that started in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when commemorations and marches were cancelled and instead communities stood in their driveways to pay their respects.
Three years on at the Central Coast, hundreds gather outside 99-year-old Digger Jack Bartlett's Avoca home to mark the day.
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Bartlett served in World War II on HMAS Manoora working in aircraft carriers and as a jet mechanic.
"Grief and despair – two words that are synonymous with war," he told the crowd.
"We are assembled here this morning to remember the original Anzacs who gave their lives who now rest in strangely named towns far away overseas."
Veterans and current defence personnel attended the service alongside Bartlett.
The 99-year-old who is "still able to get around" makes sure to greet every attendee at his Avoca home service, from the young to the old.
"Still able to get around, and talk sensibly, not in a wheelchair or a nursing home. I'm a bit of a freak actually," he said about his age.
He said he looks forward to seeing everyone at his home again this time next year.
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Meanwhile, another World War II veteran has also done his part to continue commemorations on a historic day.
Ian Litchfield has spent decades maintaining a memorial and making sure every Anzac Day is special in the NSW Central West.
The 96-year-old joined the Navy in 1944, serving on HMAS Bataan before he was promoted to able seaman.
Two atom bombs later, he and his shipmates were in Tokyo Bay, on the day Japan surrendered aboard American battleship USS Missouri.
His service continued when he moved to the hamlet of Hampton near Lithgow.
While the obelisk at the local Lowther-Hampton Memorial was erected after World War I, the first Anzac Day Service didn't happen until 1993.
And it wouldn't have happened at all, if not for Litchfield and others.
He lobbied the Department of Lands to have the Hampton reserve gazetted as a memorial.
Since 1997, he's chaired a committee of volunteers – maintaining the site, raising funds, and gathering everything needed to make every Anzac Day special.
"It's a good thing, I'm glad we did it," he said.
He was honoured with an Order of Australia for his service to this community and is one of the oldest Crown Land manager volunteers.
Of the 76 dedicated war memorial reserves – 22 are managed by volunteers.
"People like Ian hold us together," NSW lands minister Steve Kamper said.
"Make sure that those important things that have to be done are done to honour veterans."
Today dozens went to the memorial to pay their respects to Litchfield and other veterans.
Dawn services across Sydney
Across the city and state, thousands of others marked the day starting with dawn services.
Hundreds gathered at Martin Place for the official dawn memorial while services were also held at beachside services in Bondi to Cronulla and west from Parramatta to the Blue Mountains.
Cenotaphs across the state were surrounded by the young and old paying their respects after years of COVID-19 restrictions limiting the commemorations.
"We've missed it over the last couple of years so it's nice to get back to it," one man said at the Martin Place dawn service.
"It means everything to me, it's like my Christmas… well I served and it's a chance to spend some time with my brothers and a chance to remember our forefathers and what they did," a veteran said.
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Thousands march to pay respects in Sydney's CBD
After the dawn services, a march through Sydney's CBD took place with over 10,000 people participating in what turned out to be the biggest parade since the pandemic.
Those who can no longer march were driven while others were wheeled down in wheelchairs.
Younger generations joined the veterans proudly holding photographs of their relatives who are no longer here.
"It is marvellous today. Excellent. We have missed this over the last couple of years, but we are here today. There are only two of us left out of the whole group. We are all in our 90s now," veteran Jim Law said.
The Anzac march was followed by a special service at the War Memorial.
How the suburbs celebrated
In NSW suburbs, memories of friends, families and loved ones were shared at commemorations all with a similar sentiment – no more war.
"It's a sad day, I remember a lot of comrades. They're all gone now," veteran Lindsay Dufty said in Narrabeen in Sydney's Northern Beaches.
"We don't any more war," another veteran said in Narrabeen.
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