Thousands are expected to attend Albany’s Anzac Day dawn service in the ‘home of the Anzacs’, and this year will be all the more special as the city commemorates its bicentenary.

Albany RSL services director Michael Tugwell said the RSL and the City of Albany were pushing ahead with their preparations, still expecting to accommodate thousands for the mammoth day of services despite growing uncertainty around fuel and air travel availability and cost, and how these factors might impact visitor numbers to Albany for Anzac Day.

Anzac Day festivities are set to begin early on April 25, with the annual dawn service on Mt Clarence starting at 5.30am.

Shuttle buses from the Albany Entertainment Centre and the Middleton Beach bus port will run at 10 to 15-minute intervals from 3.15am, and will restart once the dawn service has finished.

The service will also be live streamed from the Albany Entertainment Centre and Anzac Peace Park.

The dawn service is special to Albany, with the port city often recognised as the birthplace of the Australian tradition.

Father Arthur Ernest White served as chaplain to the 44th Infantry Battalion during World War I, and returned to take on the role of rector of Albany after the war.

He held a dawn requiem Mass for the battle dead at St John’s Anglican Church in his first year as rector in 1930, starting a tradition that would become ingrained in Australia’s identity.

New Zealand Defence Force Lt-Col Nathan Mutu will deliver the keynote address for this year’s dawn service.

The dawn service will be followed by flares over King George Sound, fired as they are every year by the Albany Sea Rescue, and attendees are then invited to enjoy a traditional gunfire breakfast at the Albany Entertainment Centre from 6am, for a $5 donation to the RSL.

York Street will be closed for the troop march from 10am from the Albany Town Hall down to Anzac Peace Park.

At the peace park, the commemorative service will begin at 10.30am, and is scheduled to finish about 11.30am.

This year’s keynote speaker is Brig. Mark Bornholt, who boasts 32 years of service in the Australian Army.

Brig. Bornholt graduated from the Officer Cadet School at Portsea in 1978 to the infantry corps, and went on to serve all over the world including in England in the aftermath of the Falklands War, in the Middle East in 2000 and then again in 2003 in Baghdad.

He also commanded the 1st Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment in 1998-99 in the lead-up to their departure to Timor, and finished his career in 2009 commanding the Royal Military College at Duntroon.

Brig. Bornholt said he was looking forward to being part of Anzac Day in Albany this year.

“I’m still involved with the army and have completed 15 years as the Col. Commandant of the Army Band Corps, and I look forward to seeing some of them in Albany on Anzac Day when the Army Band — Perth perform,” he said.

“Albany has a special place in our military story being the place where the Anzac legend began when the Australians and New Zealanders gathered before leaving for the war.

“In the year of the bicentenary of the city I look forward to honouring the thousands who have served and continue to serve.”

After both of the day’s services are completed, the Albany RSL’s annual public function will start at noon, with the bar open, finger food, and a door prize on offer this year.

Winning tickets for the annual Anzac Day raffle will also be drawn at 2pm.

More information about Anzac Day in Albany, along with service programs, can be found on the City of Albany website.