JUST weeks after being banned from the Innisfail RSL sub-branch, Allan West and Allan Scott proudly led the town's Anzac Day march yesterday.
The pair were at the head of the parade, marching with their fellow Diggers past a big crowd and later mingling with the crowd.
Mr West, the sub-branch president, and secretary Mr Scott were banned from their club and from entering any other RSL premises for five and two years respectively following a closed tribunal hearing last month involving "allegations of inappropriate behaviour".
The Queensland RSL has not made public the charges laid against Mr West and Mr Scott, saying the matter is ongoing. Appeals are expected to be heard by a national tribunal.
Their bans exclude ceremonial occasions and yesterday they shrugged off the controversy as a big crowd turned out to honour the Anzacs.
Across the region, hundreds of people attended moonlit dawn services and morning parades, renewing the Diggers’ faith in the longevity of Anzac Day.
Families joined the ranks at Innisfail, Tully, Cardwell and the tiny soldier settler town of El Arish to support war veterans in their march of remembrance.
World War II veterans took pride of place in army jeeps and taxi buses ahead of marching Diggers, servicemen and women and school children.
Tully RSL sub-branch parade organiser Alan Corcoran said the younger generation, many of whom wore their grandparents’ war medals or waved Australian flags, had warmed older hearts.
"They were wonderful. There is such strong support for Anzac Day across all ages," Mr Corcoran said.
Innisfail RSL sub-branch vice-president Reg Hamann was buoyed by hundreds of spectators at the dawn service and newcomers on horses in the lengthy mid-morning parade.
"We had a re-enactment Lighthorseman troop for the first time," Mr Hamann said.
"The event keeps getting bigger … you get the feeling it’ll keep going whether we’re here or not."
Kookaburras added a distinctly Australian touch to Tully’s dawn service where the crowd sang Advance Australia Fair in unison. At nearby El Arish, people gathered from all over the district, despite the earlier 4.30am start.
