Anzac Day Centenary @ The Cenotaph – 6:15am, 25 April, 2015

Men of the future for whom we bleed to-day,
For whom this man in khaki with the light on his bayonet,
This Unknown Soldier, killed in a hundred wars,
Coming up singing and cursing to fight on for ever,
Remembered by no man when peace comes back to the earth,
Goes down into hell to save the light of the world,
Remember him once for the lonely flame within him
In the days when the mountains are lit and all the green valleys.

“You see that happy man singing, safe in his garden,
Playing with his child in the willowy light of evening?
That is the man they told to go and die for them
In all the old wars. He hates to hear the old stories.
He did the fighting, the bleeding, suffering and dying,
And the light in him lived for ever. His name is Man.”
Sonnet 11, To The Unknown Soldier – Douglas Stewart

One hundred years ago, on 25 April 1915, Australian and New Zealand troops landed on the shores of Gallipoli beginning a grueling eight-month campaign. More than 8,700 lost their lives during the Gallipoli campaign, with more than 2,000 casualties on the first day alone.

Each year on Anzac Day both countries gather at services and ceremonies around the world to remember the bravery and sacrifice of those who have served their nation in times of war and conflict.