Communities across Australia proudly commemorate Anzac Day and are looking forward to resuming the traditional observance on Sunday after the 2020 hiatus caused by COVID-19.

Maules Creek community’s commemoration will be one of the many small, local gatherings again marking the national day of remembrance.

The Maules Creek ceremony is traditionally staged at the Maules Creek Hall and Recreation Ground.

The service will be held at 11am and people are again invited to come along with a BYO lunch.

A committee oversees the Maules Creek recreation ground, the war memorial area, and organises the Anzac Day observance.

The community has established a memorial precinct which encompasses an avenue of 52 Kurrajong and Silky Oak trees, one for each of the 52 local servicemen who enlisted in World War II. The trees were planted after the war by Fairfax School pupils along the road adjacent to their school.

An honour roll records the names of servicemen from the world wars and a plaque explains the significance of the pine tree at the site, a descendant of the famed Lone Pine of Gallipoli. And now, a bronzed statue of a Light Horse trooper forms part of the memorial.

Light Horseman centrepiece of Maules Creek memorial

The focal point of commemorations at the Maules Creek Recreation Ground is the war memorial, and the memorial centrepiece is a statue depicting a mounted Australian Light Horse trooper at full gallop.

The statue was delivered in 2019, but installation at its permanent home could not be completed in time for Anzac Day that year.

Last year, COVID-19 restrictions meant the Anzac service could not be held so Sunday’s commemoration will be the first occasion the statue will be used as a memorial focus.

“We bought the statue, a replica of a Light Horseman at full charge,” Steve Bradshaw explained.

The impressive, finely detailed statue, about four-feet high and five-feet long was moulded in fibreglass by a Brisbane company and has been finished in bronze.

The statue had to be sent to China to be bronzed.

“It took a while to get it back here – it was waiting on the dock in China for a container to be filled,” said Mr Bradshaw.

“In the end Maules Creek resident Lloyd Finlay contacted someone and they flew it out.”

The striking war memorial statue has since been mounted on a rendered cement plinth ready for Sunday’s Anzac ceremony.

Acknowledgement of Light Horse role in World War I

The annual Maules Creek Anzac Day observance exemplifies the spirit of community which is such a key part of the national commemoration.

About 70 locals and visitors regularly attend.

The Maules Creek tribute on Sunday will include acknowledgement of one of Australia’s proud Anzac traditions, the role of the famed Light Horse.

Resident Steve Bradshaw, wearing the uniform and equipment of a Lighthorseman from World War I, will lead a contingent of local riders in a parade.