At Dawn on the 25 April each year, the people of Australia and New Zealand honour their fallen Servicemen and women. This is usually mirrored by a Service in London. This year, such a public commemoration is not possible, but that does not mean we cannot carry out a private act of remembrance.
This year marks the 105th anniversary of the landing of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) at Gallipoli in Turkey during the Dardanelles Campaign. Fighting alongside forces from the rest of the British Empire and France, it was to be the first engagement of those two nations in the First World War. In total, around 65,000 Anzacs fought at Gallipoli with 11,488 paying the ultimate price. For Australians and New Zealanders alike, this sacrifice is seen as the birth of their nations.
So often over the next century, Australian and New Zealand troops would fight alongside soldiers of the British Army in the cause of freedom and peace. From the Somme and Passchendaele in the First World War, through Tobruk and El Alamein in the Second, the Korean War and Malaya, and onto the conflicts in the Middle East and Central Asia today: Diggers, Kiwis, and Poms have stood together, fought together, and died together.
Instead of the various traditional Anzac Day Services held in London annually, this year the New Zealand and Australian High Commissions, together with Westminster Abbey, will release an online Service at 11am on Saturday 25 April. This will be available to view on the following Social Media channels:
New Zealand High Commission: Facebook (www)
Australian High Commission: Facebook (www)
Westminster Abbey: Website (www), YouTube (www) and Facebook (www)
This pre-recorded Service will include a number of elements of the usual events held at the Hyde Park Corner Memorials, Cenotaph and Westminster Abbey, while observing UK Government guidance on social distancing and public gatherings.
We encourage you to join us virtually for this Service, and share with your friends and family.