A ROYAL Australian Air Force C130 Hercules aircraft will fly over Horsham at 1.17pm on Friday.
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The fly-over is a coup for the city, where a range of Anzac commemorations will mark the centenary of Australian troops landing at Gallipoli from Friday night.
Horsham RSL events manager David Eltringham said the transport aircraft would fly east to west over the cenotaph, just 200 metres above the ground.
‘‘The Horsham Historical Society, and John Francis in particular, made contact with the RAAF and they have made a plane available,’’ he said.
‘‘The plane will be doing a fly-past in New South Wales over a couple of Riverina towns and then it will carry on to Horsham and do a fly-past before returning to New South Wales.’’
With rain forecast for Friday and Saturday, Mr Eltringham said the wet weather plan for Camp Gallipoli would be to relocate to the Horsham Greyhound Club if necessary.
‘‘The wet weather plan puts us under the grandstand but we hope we don’t need to do that,’’ he said.
He said public registration numbers for Camp Gallipoli had been low and he encouraged people to attend Friday night's event.
‘‘People are really welcome to come along. There will be facilities down there for refreshments. Bring along a blanket and a chair,’’ he said.
Mr Eltringham encouraged people to be part of the initial event at Sawyer Park, which starts at 7pm with the arrival of the Anzac flame carried by the Light Horseman Barry Tucker.
He said Camp Gallipoli was focused on engaging Wimmera school students.
‘‘Camp Gallipoli is all about trying to engage the youth of the nation in the spirit of Anzac on Anzac Eve, and give them some sort of sense of the service and some sense of the sacrifice of Gallipoli,’’ he said.
Mr Eltringham said the special Dawn Service would acknowledge the 48 servicemen from Horsham and surrounds who were killed at Gallipoli.
The Anzac Day march will start at 10.15am from the Horsham RSL in McLachlan Street and proceed down Firebrace Street.
Mr Eltringham said the march would be led by students involved in Camp Gallipoli.
‘‘The students will hold the banners of the divisions of the 1st AIF,’’ he said.
Mr Eltringham said the march would be anchored by members of the Light Horse.
‘‘They will make a statement of the importance of the light horse to Australian military history and the First World War,’’ he said.