For those who dont know what ANZAC day means to Australia and New Zealand:

Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand. This is a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same remembrance day, but making reference to both countries in its name.

When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a Federal Commonwealth for only thirteen years. In 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of an Allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula, under a plan by Winston Churchill to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies. The objective was to capture Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany. The ANZAC force landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish Army commanded by Mustafa Kemal (later known as Atatürk). What had been planned as a bold strike to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stale-mate, 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. Over 8,000 Australian and 2,700 New Zealand soldiers died. 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 war.

Though the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Istanbul and knocking Ottoman Empire out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand troops' actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an "Anzac legend" became an important part of the national identity in both countries. This has shaped the way their citizens have viewed both their past and their understanding of the present.

The foundations of Anzac Day
On 30 April 1915, when the first news of the landing reached New Zealand, a half-day holiday was declared and impromptu services were held. The following year a public holiday was gazetted (i.e., officially declared) on 5 April and services to commemorate were organised by the returned servicemen.

The date, 25 April, was officially named Anzac Day in 1916; in that year it was marked by a wide variety of ceremonies and services in Australia and New Zealand, a march through London, and a sports day for the Australian and New Zealand soldiers in Egypt. The small New Zealand community of Tinui, near Masterton in the Wairarapa was apparently the first place in New Zealand to have an Anzac Day service, when the then vicar led an expedition to place a large wooden cross on the Tinui Taipos (a 1,200 ft (370 m) high large hill/mountain, behind the village) in April 1916 to commemorate the dead. A service was held on 25 April of that year. In 2006 the 90th anniversary of the event was commemorated with a full 21-gun salute fired at the service by soldiers from the Waiouru Army Camp.

In London, over 2,000 Australian and New Zealand troops marched through the streets of the city. A London newspaper headline dubbed them "The Knights of Gallipoli". Marches were held all over Australia in 1916; wounded soldiers from Gallipoli attended the Sydney march in convoys of cars, accompanied by nurses. Over 2,000 people attended the service in Rotorua. For the remaining years of the war, Anzac Day was used as an occasion for patriotic rallies and recruiting campaigns, and parades of serving members of the AIF were held in most cities. From 1916 onwards, in both Australia and New Zealand, Anzac memorials were held on or about 25 April, mainly organised by returned servicemen and school children in cooperation with local authorities.

Anzac Day was gazetted as a public holiday in New Zealand in 1920, through the Anzac Day Act, after lobbying by the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association, the RSA. In Australia at the 1921 State Premiers' Conference, it was decided that Anzac Day would be observed on 25 April each year. However, it was not observed uniformly in all the States.


Flags on the cenotaph in Wellington for the 2007 Dawn Service. From left to right, the flags of New Zealand, the United Kingdom and AustraliaDuring the 1920s, Anzac Day became established as a National Day of Commemoration for the 60,000 Australians and 18,000 New Zealanders who died during the war. The first year in which all the Australian states observed some form of public holiday together on Anzac Day was 1927. By the mid-1930s, all the rituals now associated with the day—dawn vigils, marches, memorial services, reunions, sly two-up games—became part of Australian Anzac Day culture. New Zealand commemorations also adopted many of these rituals, with the dawn service being introduced from Australia in 1939.

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Thank you, Blerties, for that reminder. Brave and noble allies all, and incomparable warriors with legendary fighting ability!

Thank God for the ANZAC!

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"To Be Is To Do" --Locke
"To Do Is To Be" --Thoreau
"Do Be Do Be Do" --Sinatra

"G'day on you"
Perhaps someday there will not be the need to commemorate senseless slaughter over differing cultural opinions.
In our lifetimes would be nice..

We do not commemorate slaughter- we only commemorate the fallen who willingly laid down their lives on the battlefields of war. I am thankful that once our enemies are now our friends- and we mark this day standing beside them mourning their fallen too.

We will not forget them.

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Thanks for that Blertes,the song And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda, written about Gallipolli always gives me goosebumps and gets me choked up.Here in NL we have a similar day,ironically on Canada Day,July 1,while the rest of the country is celebrating we are honoring those who died at the Battle Of Beaumont Hamel,France in WW1.On the morning of July 1 1916 over 700 Nflders were sent into battle,the next morning only 60 answered role call,like your day ,it is a date that's sacred to us.God Bless all that have laid down their lives to keep others safe.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Well said Blertles - remembering the sacrifices others have made for us is humbling.

I had a smile last night when the 14 year old daughter of a friend of mine kept trying to get him to set his alarm earlier than planned so they could get to the dawn service sooner.

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Steve

G'day fellas,

I made the trip over to Turkey a couple of years ago, and spent ANZAC day wandering around the Gallipoli Peninsula. It is such a beautiful and peaceful place now, but at the same time it feels haunted, I had goosebumps all day. Probably the most humbling and emotional day of my life, as my Grandfather was there in April 1915.

He survived that and then was sent into the muddy trenches and the meat-grinder that was France and managed to also survive that. He made it back to Australia and had kids late in life (he was around 60 when my dad was born!).

I can remember my Grandfather from when I was a little kid, he lived a long life and died when I was about 7. My memory of him is of a very gentle, selfless and loving man who would do anything for you, yet he must have had some terrible memories and been as tough as nails inside, to survive what he did.

Commemorating slaughter is not even part of the equation of why we remember. We must never forget them.


Lest We Forget.


Cheers,

Snowy

Well said man, thinking about what it would be like to be there sends shivers up my spine,

lest we forget

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riley

Honor those who sacrificed their lives, remember them always. Thanks Blerties for bringing this thread.
Claude.

God of love and liberty, we bring our thanks this day for the peace and security we enjoy, which was won for us through the courage and devotion of those who gave their lives in time of war. We pray that their labour and sacrifice may not be in vain, but that their spirit may live on in us and in generations to come. That the liberty, truth and justice which they sought to preserve may be seen and known in all the nations upon earth. This we pray in the name of the one who gave his life for the sake of the world, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Remember, O Lord, all those the brave and the true, who have died the death of honour and are departed in the hope of the resurrection to eternal life. In that place of light from which sorrow and mourning are far banished, give them rest, O Lord, thou lover of men. And grant to us who remain the spirit of service which may make us worthy of their sacrifice, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Eternal Lord God we pray for the peace of the world. Especially we commend to your mercy the homeless and refugees; those who have been dispossessed and have lost their employment; those whose families have been disrupted and who mourn the loss of loved ones. We pray for the situation in our current world conflicts. Grant that the sane and selfless councils may prevail in these places, and wherever there is warfare. For Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen

O Lord, lover of souls, who through the mouth of your prophet of old declared that all souls are yours, we thank you for the brave and faithful dead, who willingly laid down their lives on the battlefields of war or succumbed to the perils of the deep or of the air. We bless you for the dauntless courage of those defenders of our country who have fallen in the cause of truth and righteousness. In your hand, O Father, we leave their departed spirits. Grant us to follow their good example in faithfulness and endurance, even unto death, that we may with them be found worthy of the crown of everlasting life. Amen.

For God, our Commonwealth Empire and Her Majesty the Queen, for the Glorious Dead.

God Bless New Zealand and Australia, Her Majesty The Queen and her British Commonwealth Empire on this day of rememberence.

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Good on you Blerties, well said.

Really nicely said Blertles. My respect goes out to anyone who gave there life for there country, also thanks for a little history lesson which I never knew.

Thank you Blertles. A very moving story that I did not know about. May God bless all of those who gave their lives for the freedoms the rest of us have and a special thanks to the Families and Friends of all of them, may God bless them as well.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Blerties,your last post was profound,I think you spoke for all of us,Thanks.
Derek

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Amen

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You're only as strong as
the drinks you pour,
the tables you dance on,
and the friends you roll with.