Community & Business
21 April, 2026
Warrant Officer to return to Pittsworth for ANZAC Day
Former Pittsworth resident, Warrant Officer Class One Jason Larkin, has travelled widely in a long and distinguished Army career, but it is the small-town values of his early years that continue to shape who he is, and why returning to our community for ANZAC Day holds such personal significance.
Although he hasn’t lived in Pittsworth since 1986, Mr Larkin said those early years spent in our tight-knit community left a lasting impression.
“Growing up in a small town, you get a sense of respect and integrity about things,” he said.
Mr Larkin’s family moved to Pittsworth when he was only very young.
His family lived in a cottage on Copp’s Hill, and his father worked down the road at McLean’s poultry farm.
Mr Larkin recalled a main street with no roundabouts and that Lindenbergs were (still are) selling cars on the corner of Yandilla Street.
He attended primary school in Pittsworth before his family moved to Brisbane.
Later, he concluded his secondary education in Clifton, where his parents currently reside, and tried his hand at a range of jobs including bartending and sales.
But with a long-standing interest in the military, Mr Larkin felt a pull toward something bigger.
That opportunity came in 2001 when he joined the Australian Army as a transport driver and was deployed to East Timor.
Not long after, in 2003, Mr Larkin transitioned into aviation, a move that would define the rest of his service.
He has built an extensive operational career in Army aviation, having risen to become the Aviation Senior Advisor to the Commandant, and works out of the Army Aviation Training Centre in Oakey.
His service has taken him across the globe, from the Solomon Islands in 2006 to Afghanistan in 2009, and on a humanitarian mission in Fiji following a devastating natural disaster.
Despite postings to Sydney, Townsville, Darwin and Canberra, Mr Larkin said returning to the Darling Downs has been a welcome homecoming.
Based at Oakey, he remains closely connected to the region, with his parents in Clifton, a brother in Pittsworth and his fiancée in Kingaroy.
When a call for support went out to military personnel for regional ANZAC Day commemorations, Mr Larkin said he vehemently made his intentions clear that he was returning to Pittsworth.
He said it is often the smallest towns that leave the biggest impact, and each community plays a role in shaping the people who serve our country.
PITTSWORTH COMMEMORATIONS
On Thursday, 23rd April at 10am, an ANZAC ceremony will be held at the Little Digger statue in the grounds of the Pittsworth Pioneer Village.
The following ceremonies will take place on Saturday, 25th April:
Dawn Service, 4:15am at the Soldiers Memorial School of Arts in Yandilla Street (beside the Post Office).
A gunfire breakfast including bacon and egg rolls, tea and coffee will follow.
The laying of the poppies ceremony will take place at the Pittsworth Cemetery in Stoney Street at 9am.
A service will be held at Beauaraba Living at 9am.
The march will be held in Yandilla Street at 10am, beginning at Lindenberg’s corner and moving toward the Soldiers Memorial School of Arts where the book-laying ceremony will take place.
Afterwards, the main ANZAC Day ceremony will be held in the Town Hall with guest Warrant Officer Class One Jason Larkin.
It’s important to note that between 4am and 11:30am, Yandilla Street (from Short Street to Park Street) will be closed.
From 10am to 11:30am Yandilla Street (between the Murray Street roundabout and Park Street) will be closed for the march.
Murray Street between Bayley and Beauaraba Streets will be closed 10am to 11:30am.
MT TYSON COMMEMORATIONS
A community ANZAC Day service will be held at the war memorial in Mount Tyson at 8am.
Morning tea in the Mount Tyson School hall will follow.
BIDDESTON COMMEMORATIONS
The annual ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Biddeston State School will take place at 5:15am with barbecue breakfast burgers and coffee to follow the ceremony.
