Anzac Day is one of Australia's most important national commemorative occasions. Mavi Boncuk |
Anzac Day is a very special day both in Australia and New Zealand. The anniversary of the Anzac day is probably Australia\'s most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by New Zealand and Australian forces during the First World War. On 25th of April 1915, forces landed on Gallipoli so 25th of April became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of soldiers who had died in the war. Many people think 25th of April is the day the Anzacs suffered great loss of life at Gallipoli but they were not evacuated until December of the same year. In 1916, The 25th of April was officially named as Anzac Day. In 1917, the word Anzac meant someone who fought at Gallipoli but later it came to mean any Australian or New Zealander who served or fought in the First World War. During the 1920s, Anzac Day became established as a national day of commemoration for the Australians who had died during the war. Every state observed some form of public holiday on Anzac Day for the first time in 1927. By the mid-1930s, all the traditions and rituals we know today associate with the day were firmly established as part of Anzac Day culture. Anzac Day was first commemorated at the Memorial in 1942, since then, it has been commemorated at the Memorial every year.
Every year, the ceremony takes place at 10:15 am in the presence of people such as the governor general and the prime minister at the Australian War Memorial. The short dawn service starts with a drum roll. A typical Anzac Day ceremony includes first of all an introduction then respectively the National Anthem, hymn, prayer, an address, laying of wreaths, a recitation, the Last Post, a period of silence, either the Reveille or the Rouse, and the final act is that of a drum roll again. As a part of ceremony, families put red poppies beside the names of relatives on the Memorial’s Roll of Honor but Poppy Day itself is usually the Friday before Anzac Day. After the dawn service, a traditional ‘rum and coffee’ is served along with an Anzac Biscuit to give people a chance to talk and reminisce.
The 25th of April 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of Anzac Day. Thousands of people attend Anzac Day at Gallipoli each year and Turkey is expecting over 100,000 participants at the Anzac Day Dawn services in Gallipoli Turkey in 2015. A combined Dawn Service is held at Anzac Cove which is followed by the New Zealand service at Chunk Bair and an Australian service at Lone Pine. |