Australia’s most decorated living soldier—and now an accused war criminal—Ben Roberts-Smith arrived quietly before first light at an Anzac Day service on the Gold Coast.
As rain sheeted across Currumbin Beach and thunder rolled in from the Pacific, Roberts-Smith, with medals pinned to his chest, stood tall among thousands of silent onlookers.
The 47-year-old Victoria Cross recipient was released on bail last week after being charged with war crime murder offences.
He mingled briefly with fellow Diggers, exchanging handshakes and hushed words, before slipping into a seat among the crowd gathered at the beachfront.
For much of the ceremony, rain fell steadily as officials, veterans, and families stood shoulder to shoulder.
The surf pounded the shore as the Last Post echoed over the beach, the storm rumbling just offshore.
The skies eased as the surf boat crews launched to scatter the ashes of recently departed veterans—a deeply emotional tradition that has become a hallmark of every Currumbin Dawn Service.
High above the ceremony, residents declared their backing for Roberts-Smith with “We support BRS” on a banner hanging from a balcony.
It was a simple message for a man now locked in a bitter and protracted fight, not for his country but his honour and reputation.
An RSL Australia spokesman had said Roberts-Smith could attend Anzac Day commemorations “as a service veteran, and like any member of the community.”
“Anzac Day is sacred to me and every other veteran. I will be attending to pay my respects, and I encourage everyone else to,” he said in a statement reported by the ABC and other media outlets.
The former soldier was determined to take part in Anzac Day ceremonies.
“I’ve never thought about not coming, I was always going to be here,” he said, briefly speaking to the media.
Roberts-Smith said he was thinking of those who gave their lives for their country.
“Their sons are the ones that I’m thinking about today because that’s what this is all about, and we should never forget their sacrifice because it is enduring,” he told reporters.
“They think about that every day, they live with that, they’ve given that to us, and we owe them a deep, deep debt.”
The former SAS soldier was arrested on April 7 and charged with murdering or ordering the murders of five unarmed detainees while deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
Roberts-Smith was released on bail after his father Len Roberts-Smith, a former Western Australia Supreme Court judge, paid a $250,000 surety.
The Victoria Cross recipient has consistently proclaimed his innocence, including during a failed defamation action over articles detailing a number of alleged war crimes.
