ANZAC Day, April 23rd 2014, is a national day of remembrance in the Commonwealth realms of New Zealand and the Commonwealth of Australia that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served." My friends, knowing of my lifelong interest in history and my families connections to both New Zealand and the Commonwealth of Australia asked me to explain what ANZAC Day was all about as they had not come across it before.
Originally 25 April every year was to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps(ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War 1. Anzac Day is also observed in the Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn, Pitcairn Islands and Tonga.
In Australia and New Zealand, Anzac Day commemoration features solemn "Dawn Services" or "Dawn Marches", a tradition started in Albany, Western Australia on 25 April 1923 and now held at war memorials around both countries, accompanied by thoughts of those lost at war to the ceremonial sounds of the Last Post on the bugle. You will notice that this is rather similar to the events carried out within the Commonwealth countries on the 11th November, Remembrance Day, as well as in the United States of America for their Memorial Day.
I was asked what it was that happened which caused ANZAC Day to be remembered. The answer to this does not lay in New Zealand or Australia but many thousands of miles away in a place in the Ottoman Empire during World War 1 during a battle referred to as the Gallipoli Campaign.
In 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of an Allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies. The objective was to capture Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, which was an ally of Germany during the war. The ANZAC force landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Army commanded by Mustafa Kemal. What had been planned as a bold strike to knock the Ottomans out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915, the Allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. The Allied casualties included 21,255 from the United Kingdom, an estimated 10,000 dead soldiers from France, 8,709 from Australia, 2,721 from New Zealand, and 1,358 from British India. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians and New Zealanders at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which they remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in the war.
This is why April 23rd is remembered and long may it remain so.
Today Their Royal Highnesses the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge attended the ANZAC Day Dawn Service in the Capital of Australia, Canberra as a surprise.
Source: BBC News Website
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_Day
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