Remembrance Day 2014: a day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand

Tomorrow – November 11 – is Remembrance Day—a day to commemorate the soldiers and service-people who served in the conflicts overseas and the spirit of the ANZACS originating from World War I (1914-1918). November 11, 1918, was the day of the announcement that the war was over.

April 25 is ANZAC Day (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) and the anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli in 1915, the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War – it was the commencement of World War I. Britain was at war with Germany. The ANZACs landed at Gallipoli in the Dardanelles in Turkey and defended the Gallipoli Peninsula for eight months with British and French soldiers. Although the campaign failed due to the strength of the Turkish forces, it left an important legacy of remembrance, and a long-lasting connection with Turkey.

Remembrance Day is a time to remember all who served in all wars.The public can place a single red poppy beside the Roll of Honour or on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, and at services around the country.

MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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