Perth Voice Interactive

A SUNSET service will be held at the ANZAC Cottage in Mt Hawthorn.

Originally built as a memorial to those who died at the landing at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915 it now serves as a salient reminder of all Australian soldiers who’ve died in combat.

In February 1916, 4000 turned out to witness 200 workers construct the Mt Hawthorn cottage in one day.

At the time no soldier had been selected to live there: private John Porter was the lucky one.

“He was wounded on the 25th of April, 1915 and he was in the 11th battalion, one of the first groups of soldiers to hit the beaches in the first wave,” says local historian Valerie Everett, a member of the Friends of ANZAC Cottage.

Twelve months later Porter was back in Perth, living in the small house.

Marjorie Williams, Porter’s daughter, was born in the cottage 94 years ago and is still going strong.

The property was handed to Vietnam veterans in the early 1990s and, through voluntary work and fundraising, they have painstakingly restored it.

The cottage will host a wreath-making workshop and educational talks on ANZAC Day.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK