Tamworth ex-service woman Rebecca Linich said this year’s Anzac Day commemorations, and the subsequent celebrations, had a “much different feeling”.

“I think because the By The Left campaign was highlighted across Australia, it felt like we were making a huge difference marching up the front,” Ms Linich said.

“I felt like there was an overarching feeling of acceptance of us, that I’ve probably never felt before.”

Libby Ryman said not a single person asked her whose medals she was wearing, or assumed she was wearing her father’s or grandfather’s medal on the wrong side.

“Instead, I found more people actually wanted to know what my medal were about,” she said. “It was nice to talk about our service, and contribution, and to explain to them what each medal represented.” Ms Ryman said marching up the front with her fellow ex-service women was a “monumental moment”.

“There were a lot of young girls in the crowd, who were waving and clapping when they noticed us,” she said.

“Hopefully we make an impact on them. If the defence force is a path they want to go down, we want them to know they're able to do that and that they feel empowered by that.”

Sandra Lambkin was only expecting five or six female veterans to marching up the front of the Tamworth parade, but was pleasantly surprised to be stepping off with nearly 20 ex-service women.

“The best part about it for me, was that most of them were young female veterans that we hadn’t seen before,” Ms Lambkin said.

“We want to thank the public for the wonderful reception they gave us. From the moment we stepped off, right down to the main street, there was a big cheer for us.

“Hopefully from people seeing these women marching, we’ll have more marching next year.”

Deputy mayor Helen Tickle gave the commemorative speech at the Tamworth Town Hall service, and made special mention of the contribution from females veterans.