St John’s Church has a special connection to Anzac Day through Canon Arthur Ernest White, Rector of St John’s 1929 to 1938.  Padre White  was a chaplain (padre) to the Australian Expeditionary Forces for two years in the First World War, assisting the dying or injured. The first convoy sent to Europe left Australia, sailing at dawn, 1 November 1914. The convoy had assembled in King George Sound and, before it sailed, Padre White conducted a service for the men. When he became Rector of St John’s in 1929, he said:

“Albany was the last sight of Australia for many of these ANZAC troops. We should hold a service here at first light of dawn each Anzac Day to commemorate them.”

And that is what he did on 25 April 1930. After a service of Holy Communion, held at 6.00 am on that day, he and the majority of the congregation, which numbered about 30, climbed to the summit of Mt Clarence where, as the sun rose, they watched a man in a boat cast a wreath of flowers into the sea. Canon White then recited the words:

“As the sun rises and goeth down, we shall remember.”

This service began the Anzac dawn service tradition.

A plaque on the chancel floor commemorates this first dawn service. Also on display in the Church is the portable altar with the communion set and vestments used by Padre White while serving on the Western Front. A card inside the case reads in part:

“…they were carried by him into Flanders and used in trench chapel services organised as part of his duty as an Army Chaplain in the AIF from 1916 to 1918…”

The window in the sanctuary depicts Padre White looking out over King George Sound and was installed in 2014 to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the first convoy leaving Albany for the First World War. The window was made by The Glass Studio, Torbay, WA.

Padre White Sunday is held at the Church each year on the Sunday before Anzac Day.  A special service is held at 6.00 am in the Church and then parishioners walk or take a bus to the summit of Mt Clarence. Here a memorial service is held and a wreath also laid out to sea. Parishioners all return for a breakfast or morning tea in the Church hall.

A living memorial to the Anzac tradition is the Lone Pine seedling tree in the garden. The RSL Albany Sub-Branch donated to St John’s the last remaining tree propagated from a cone from the Lone Pine Tree at the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial on Mt Clarence. The original tree on Mt Clarence, itself a direct descendant of the Lone Pine tree at Gallipoli taken in 1915, was damaged by storm in 2020 however several seedlings were grown. At the planting, the Revd Karen said:

“This little seedling tree will make a fitting memorial for our Anzac Day links and the heritage of Padre White’s work here.”

For a short video on Padre White and the first Anzac Day Dawn Service in Australia visit www.inspirenewscast.com and scroll down to Padre White: A Legacy

For more information about the Anzac connection with Albany visit www.nationalanzaccentre.com.au/