Anzac Day
Each year the Australian Government conducts two Anzac Day Services (25 April) in France, at the Australian National Memorial, near Villers-Bretonneux and at the Digger Memorial in Bullecourt. The service takes place with the permission and support of the French Republic and are only possible with the cooperation and generous assistance of the French Government.
Originally, Anzac Day Services, were held to commemorate not only the landings at Gallipoli but also approximately 330,000 Australians who served overseas during the First World War, including the over 295,000 who served on the Western Front. Some 46,000 of these were killed (with more than 18,000 listed as missing) on the battlefields across France and Belgium.
Today Anzac Day is a chance for Australia to remember the service and sacrifice of the men and women who have served Australia and its allies in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
The significance of 25 April dates to 1915, when Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the Allied expedition that aimed to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula. These troops became universally known as the Anzacs, an abbreviation of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the formation under which they fought. The remarkable pride they developed for that name endures to this day. The following year, in 1916, the 25 April was officially named Anzac Day.
