Anzac Day, 25 April, is one of Australia’s most important national occasions.
For Anzac Day 2021 we’ll come together, in person and in spirit, to commemorate and reflect upon the service and sacrifice made by Australians in all wars and on operations, and the legacy created by those who landed at Gallipoli and fought for our nation and our values, during the First World War.
While the ability for crowds to gather onsite is restricted,
For Anzac Day 2021 the Australian War Memorial is encouraging people to commemorate Anzac Day however they can, at home or within their local communities. The Australian War Memorial have put together a range of information and activities to encourage commemoration from home. Watch videos, find activities for families and flatmates, place a virtual poppy online with a personalised message, and much more.
Images will be projected on to the façade of the main Memorial building overnight on the 23-24 April, which the general public are welcome to attend at the grounds of the Memorial to view.
The Anzac Day ceremonies will be broadcast live across Australia on ABC TV and iView.
ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as Anzacs, and the pride they took in that name endures to this day.
In 1916 the first Anzac Day commemorations were held on 25 April. The day was marked by a wide variety of ceremonies and services across Australia, a march through London, and a sports day in the Australian military camp in Egypt. In London more than 2,000 Australian and New Zealand troops marched through the streets; a London newspaper headline dubbed them “the knights of Gallipoli”. Marches were held all over Australia; in the Sydney march, convoys of cars carried soldiers wounded on Gallipoli and their nurses.
By the mid-1930s all the rituals now associated with Anzac Day – dawn vigils, marches, memorial services, reunions, two-up games – were firmly established as part of Anzac Day culture. Later, Anzac Day also served to commemorate the lives of Australians who died in the Second World War, and in subsequent years the meaning of the day has been further broadened to include those who lost their lives in all the military and peacekeeping operations in which Australia has been involved.
The information above is reproduced with permission from the Australian War Memorial website.
Credit: Anzac Day 2021 Post A Virtual Poppy
