Australia and New Zealand recall war dead on Anzac Day
Canberra, The Gulf Observer: Hundreds of thousands of Australians gathered at dawn services and veterans’ street marches across the nation on Tuesday to commemorate their war dead on Anzac Day as recent events focused minds on the cost of war and the new threat of China’s rapid military buildup.
Australia and New Zealand commemorate Anzac Day every April 25 — the date in 1915 when the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the beaches of Gallipoli, in northwest Turkiye, in an ill-fated campaign that was the soldiers’ first combat of World War I.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke to more than 30,000 people who gathered at the Australian War Memorial in the national capital Canberra for the first Anzac Day since his government was elected almost a year ago.
“Gallipoli is just one battle in our history, but in all its stories of valor and resilience, in its simple truth of Australians looking out for each other no matter how bad things got, it has come to stand for something so much bigger in our collective heart,” Albanese said.
Dawn services and marches were also held across New Zealand, where Anzac Day is considered the most important day of national commemoration as it is in Australia.
