by Elaine Sihera

Created on: January 30, 2010   Last Updated: February 01, 2010

The people of Australia and New Zealand are linked by one very important acronym, ANZAC, which is celebrated annually each year. The soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, to give it its extended title, played their heroic part in the First World War from the moment they landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey on the morning of 25 April 1915, to capture the Peninsula in order to open the Dardanelles to the allied navies because Turkey was an ally of Germany. This day has become a symbolic one for all Australians and is officially celebrated as ANZAC Day.

The first ANZAC Day was commemorated at the main Memorial in 1942. Due to the Second World War being fought, large gatherings were prohibited, thus it was a small occasion, with neither a march nor a memorial service. Nowadays, this day of national remembrance is celebrated more widely and diversely and observance takes two main forms. First, commemorative services (which are more formal and conducted at war memorials around the country) are held at dawn – the time of the original landing – across the nation. These Dawn Services tend to be deliberately simple ceremonies which include the presence of a chaplain and follow the military routine. Attendance was also restricted to veterans when they would be ordered to “stand to” and two minutes’ silence would follow. At the end of this time "a lone bugler would play the Last Post and then conclude the service with Reveille", the bugler’s call to wake up. More recently, families and young people have been encouraged to take part in Dawn Services, which have become more elaborate as a result, incorporating hymns, readings, pipers, and rifle volleys.

The second part of the commemoration takes place later in the day when ex-servicemen and women meet to take part in more informal marches through the major cities and in many smaller centres.  This not only allows Australians to reflect on the impact of war, but they can also be involved on an individual basis which makes it even more meaningful to them. A typical ANZAC Day ceremony may include "an introduction, hymn, prayer, an address, laying of wreaths, a recitation, the Last Post, a period of silence, either the Rouse or the Reveille, and the national anthem". After the main Memorial’s ceremony, families often place red poppies beside the names of relatives on the Roll of Honour. On the whole, dawn vigils, marches, memorial services

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