Lest we forget. That was the solemn oath voiced right across Australia and New Zealand from dawn onwards Friday as both countries paused to remember the men and women lost in military service on what is universally known as ANZAC Day.
ANZAC Day marks the ill-fated World War I landing of Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) troops at Gallipoli, in what is now Turkey, in 1915.
More than 10,000 Australian and New Zealand servicemen were killed in the failed Allied expedition that was pushed by Winston Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty.
Service cadets perform a haka as Aucklanders attend the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Auckland War Memorial Museum on April 25, 2025 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Fiona Goodall/Getty Images for Auckland War Memorial Museum)
A woman carries a photo of a soldier during the annual ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day parade in Sydney on April 25, 2025. (SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Following Gallipoli and the equally disastrous Dardanelles naval campaign, Churchill was demoted and resigned from government.
This year commemorates the 110th anniversary of the landing and marches took place as an act of remembrance in cities and towns big and small right across the two neighboring countries.
“We who are gathered here, think of those who went out to the battlefields of all wars, but did not return,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who attended a service in Canberra, said.
Army cadets from The Scots College participate in a Commemoration Service at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, on April 25, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. (Izhar Khan/Getty Images)
Australians gather in Sydney to attend the ANZAC Day commemoration march, marking the 110th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign during World War I. (Halil Ibrahim Kamalak/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Britain’s Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh attends a service to commemorate ANZAC Day and the Battle of Gallipoli at the Cenotaph war memorial in central London on April 25, 2025. (CARLOS JASSO/AFP via Getty Images)
“We feel them still near us in spirit. We wish to be worthy of their great sacrifice.”
Meanwhile, AFP reports New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was in Turkey and attended an ANZAC service in Gallipoli.
In a statement Britain’s King Charles III thanked the thousands of ANZAC troops for their “selfless service in those most difficult and dangerous times”.
The annual commemoration comes in the run-up to a May 3 election in Australia, where the most pressing issues for both parties are the cost of living, managing the energy transition and balancing relations with the United States.
