Thousands gather for ANZAC Day memorials around world
Britain's Queen Elizabeth, Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Tank Regiment, poses for a photograph after presenting the regiment with their new standard in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle in Windsor, Britain, April 25, 2018. Steve Parsons/Pool via Reuters
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Thousands of people attended dawn war memorial services on Wednesday across Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Britain, France and in Thailand to commemorate ANZAC Day, the Gallipoli landings and the centenary of the final year of World War One.
On April 25, 1915, thousands of troops from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, where they fought under their own flags for the first time.
The date is seared into the national consciousness as a point where the two nations emerged from the shadow of the British empire, and has become a solemn anniversary to remember troops from both countries who served and died in all wars.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth, Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Tank Regiment, presents the regiment with their new standard in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle in Windsor, Britain, April 25, 2018. Steve Parsons/Pool via Reuters
An estimated 44,000 Allied soldiers were killed in the Gallipoli campaign, according to the Australian War Memorial.
They included British, Irish, French, Indians, Gurkhas and Newfoundlanders as well as the ANZAC troops most indelibly associated with the battle. At least 85,000 Turkish soldiers died.
At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, World War One soldiers were honoured with excerpts from their diaries, read before the dawn service, to commemorate 100 years since the last battles before the Armistice was declared in November 1918.
An Australian soldier attends the dawn service to mark the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) commemoration ceremony at the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux, France, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
In France, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull took part in a dawn service to mark the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux in World War One. Some 2,400 Australians died in the overnight battle on April 24, 1918, to retake the town from German forces.
"We particularly remember those who lost their lives or came home wounded, and we acknowledge the hardship and pain borne by their families and loved ones," Turnbull said in a video message posted on Facebook.
In Britain, Prince Harry and his fiance, Meghan Markle, paid tribute to Australian and New Zealand servicemen and women at the dawn service. Prince Harry laid a wreath to honour the fallen at Hyde Park Corner in London.
Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle arrive for an ANZAC day service at Westminster Abbey in London, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
World War Two veterans, some of them former prisoners of war (POWs), gathered in Thailand's western province of Kanchanaburi to remember the thousands of POWs and Asian labourers who died when Japanese occupying forces put them to work on the infamous "death railway", a supply route to Japanese troops in the then Burma, now Myanmar.
“I get quite emotional at the dawn service as dawn is breaking. I think of all of the friends, and my mates, as we call them, that were left on the railway,” said Australian Neil McPherson, 96, a former POW.
Harold Martin, aged 101, said: “I’d like to say a word for the ordinary soldiers that were up there because there were a lot of heroes that were never mentioned."
Britain's Prince Harry attends the ANZAC Day commemorations at the Cenotaph in Westminster, London, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville
(Reporting by Alison Bevege in SYDNEY, Juarawee Kittisilpa in Kanchanaburi,and Amy Sawitta Lefevre in BANGKOK; Editing by Michael Perry)
Britain's Prince Harry's fiancee Meghan Markle arrives for an ANZAC day service at Westminster Abbey in London, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKayBritain's Prince William, Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle arrive for an ANZAC day service at Westminster Abbey in London, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKayBritain's Prince Harry attends the ANZAC Day commemorations with other dignitaries at the Cenotaph in Westminster, London, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Toby MelvilleBritain's Prince Charles delivers a speech during the dawn service to mark the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) commemoration ceremony at the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux, France, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol Tributes are laid on the Cenotaph on Anzac Day in Sydney, Australia April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar SuAustralian and New Zealand soldiers stand guard during a dawn ceremony marking the 103rd anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign during World War One at Anzac Cove, Turkey, April 25, 2018, where the first battles of the campaign were fought. REUTERS/Umit BektasAustralian and New Zealand soldiers stand guard during a dawn ceremony marking the 103rd anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign during World War One at Anzac Cove, Turkey, April 25, 2018, where the first battles of the campaign were fought. REUTERS/Umit BektasBritain's Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle attend the Dawn Service at Wellington Arch to commemorate Anzac Day in London, Britain, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville?Visitors from Australia and New Zealand attend a dawn ceremony marking the 103rd anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign during World War One at Anzac Cove, Turkey, April 25, 2018, where the first battles of the campaign were fought. REUTERS/Umit BektasVisitors from Australia and New Zealand attend a dawn ceremony marking the 103rd anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign during World War One at Anzac Cove, Turkey, April 25, 2018, where the first battles of the campaign were fought. REUTERS/Umit BektasVisitors from Australia and New Zealand attend a dawn ceremony marking the 103rd anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign during World War One at Anzac Cove, Turkey, April 25, 2018, where the first battles of the campaign were fought. REUTERS/Umit BektasAble Seaman George Lockyer, 94, from Sydney, poses for a photo during an Anzac Day parade in Sydney, Australia April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Alison BevegeFormer servicemen wearing medals show up at the Cenotaph to pay their respects on Anzac Day in Sydney, Australia April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar SuTributes are laid on the Cenotaph on Anzac Day in Sydney, Australia April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar SuA contingent of bagpipers performs during an Anzac Day parade in Sydney, Australia April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar SuPeople pay their respects at the Cenotaph on Anzac Day in Sydney, Australia April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar SuWar veterans take part in an Anzac Day parade in Sydney, Australia April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar SuPeople offer flowers at the Cenotaph on Anzac Day in Sydney, Australia April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar SuA boy carries a portrait of his great-grandfather during an Anzac Day parade in Sydney, Australia April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar SuA contingent marches past a dog during an Anzac Day parade in Sydney, Australia April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar SuA World War Two veteran takes part in an Anzac Day parade in Sydney, Australia April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar Su"Lest We Forget" is projected onto a building facade at the Cenotaph during a dawn service on Anzac day in Sydney, Australia April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar SuFrench Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pose near the bust of a soldier as they attend the inauguration ceremony of the Sir John Monash Centre on the eve of ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) day ceremonies in Villiers-Bretonneux, France, April 24, 2018. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/PoolGovernor General of New Zealand Patsy Reddy stands at attention after she lays a wreath during an international service marking the 103rd anniversary of the World War I campaign at Cape Helles in Gallipoli, Turkey, April 24, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
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