Nowra's first commemoration of Anzac Day occurred in 1921 and took place on Sunday 24, as the day was yet to be declared as a public holiday.

Described in a small advertisement as an "Anzac church parade", the procession was to start outside the Commercial Bank where Junction Court is located today.

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Diggers, militia, cadets and voluntary aids were invited to gather at two o'clock and told to wear a uniform if possible.

The Shoalhaven Telegraph reported more than 100 diggers had assembled. They formed up behind the Nowra Town Band under the direction of bandmaster Joe Canavan.

It was a large group which marched the first leg to Nowra Post office on the south-east corner of Junction and Berry Streets, where the honour roll was saluted.

It had been decorated for the occasion with wreaths laid by Miss Griffiths and Miss Hammick.

The first speaker of the day was local solicitor Thomas Marriott who had been president of the Nowra Recruiting Association during the war.

One of his sons, Thomas junior, had landed at Gallipoli in May 1915 as a member of the 6th Light Horse regiment. His two other sons, Jack and Wilfred, had also seen action but thankfully all sons returned home safely.

Standing at the top of the steps, he asserted that "the memories of Anzac Day and its glorious deeds would never fade".

He also expressed the hope that the men would enjoy the peace they had so valiantly fought for and so gloriously won.

The procession then continued to Nowra Showground, past the spot where the war memorial would be built a decade later.

Presbyterian minister reverend John Auld delivered what the local press described as a stirring and eloquent address.

His sentiments sound familiar for they could have been expressed a thousand times since.

"First they would remember what Anzac Day was," he said.

"Six years ago their own soldiers had performed what would always rank amongst the greatest exploits of war.

"Could they ever forget how they were thrilled through and through as they read the news of the scaling of the heights at Anzac?

"That day had been coined a word - the word Anzac - that, please God, would never be lost from the Australian vocabulary, Anzac had become a sacred word," Mr Auld told the solemn gathering."

He also commented about the current debate of the time, if war trophies should be placed in schools. He was in favour of this.

"Let us teach in our schools the history of the great deeds of the Australian soldiers, so that if the need again arises, the children of the Anzacs will uphold the traditions of their fathers," he said.

It was notable that just three days after Anzac Day of that year, the Diggers' Ball was held in the Nowra School of Arts, with a double ticket available for 10 shillings.

This big social event was in aid of the proposed Soldiers' Memorial Hospital.

It would be just over 30 years before the hospital became a reality, by which time the word "soldiers" had been deleted from its title.

Information thanks to Shoalhaven Historical Society.