ANZAC Day

ANZAC was the name given to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps soldiers who landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey early on the morning of 25 April 1915 during the First World War (1914-1918). As a result, one day in the year has involved the whole of Australia in solemn ceremonies of remembrance, gratitude and national pride for all our men and women who have fought and died in all wars. That day is ANZAC Day - 25 April. 



Unidentified military
unit at
Aerodrome, Egypt
Feb 29, 1916

The 25th of April was officially named ANZAC Day in 1916. It was marked by a wide variety of ceremonies and services in Australia, a march through London, and a sports day in the Australian camp in Egypt. In London over 2,000 Australian and New Zealand troops marched through the streets. A London newspaper headline dubbed them “the knights of Gallipoli”. Marches were held all over Australia; in the Sydney march, convoys of cars carried wounded soldiers from Gallipoli attended by nurses. 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.

During the 1920s ANZAC Day became established as a national day of commemoration for the 60,000 Australians who had died during the war. In 1927, for the first time every state observed some form of public holiday on ANZAC Day. By the mid-1930s, all the rituals we now associate with the day – dawn vigils, marches, memorial services, reunions, two-up games – were firmly established as part of ANZAC Day culture.

Goulburn's ANZAC Day
celebrations, 1917

With the coming of the Second World War, ANZAC Day also served to commemorate the lives of Australians who died in that war. In subsequent years the meaning of the day has been further broadened to include Australians killed in all the military operations in which Australia has been involved.

Information sources:

• ANZAC Day at http://www.anzacday.org.au/ – ANZAC Day Commemoration committee (Qld) Inc.
• The ANZAC Day Tradition at www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac_tradition.asp - Australian War Memorial .

Our photo of servicemen in Egypt from the Southern Tablelands Regional Library’s collection, is otherwise unidentified. The name L Missak or Missan (the photographer?) does not appear in the Australian War Memorial’s biographical databases. Maybe these soldiers are part of a British unit? Can you help us identify these men? Please share your memories.