LAUNCESTON Corporal Adam Gore will be thinking of his grandfather as the Anzac Day sun rises over the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux in France.
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Corporal Gore will today play euphonium with the Australian Army Band at the Villers-Bretonneux dawn service.
On this day 97 years ago, Corporal Gore's grandfather was digging a trench in a Bullecourt mud pile, surviving off only one meal a day on the tail end of the French winter.
``On April 25, 1917, his brigade was preparing to take part in a second offensive against the Germans' Hindenburg line,'' Corporal Gore said.
``Two weeks before, on April 11, the Australian Imperial Force had lost 3289 men on one day - it [Anzac Day] will be a sombre experience.''
Corporal Gore said his grandfather, Charles Woods, of Railton, enlisted on July 1, 1915.
``He joined the 6th Battalion in Egypt on January 7, 1916, as a reinforcement,'' Corporal Gore said.
``[That was] following the battalion's return from the withdrawal from Gallipoli, where they had lost 22 officers and 398 other ranks.''
Corporal Gore said all army musicians were required to have grade 8 professional standard under the Australian Music Examination Board.