It's Anzac Day today

**forestdale** · 04-24-2005, 04:35 PM

in Australia and New Zealand. It's probably our most important national day. Today is the day when we honour all our service personnel - past and present. All across Australia there will be Anzac Day marches, BBQs, speeches, family days and get-togethers. Old soldiers and nurses from way back put on their medals and dress in their finest clothes to march along side descendants of those who fought for our country. You often seen children marching, wearing their grandfather's medals, and many young people come to watch the marches. Even the smallest towns will have their own Anzac Day march.

Anzac Day is very popular with the young. They even travel to Gallipoli, in Turkey, to see the site of one of Australia's biggest wartime defeats, where, in 1915, over 8000 australian soldiers died at the battle of Gallipoli. Today is the 90th anniversary of that landing so there will be a huge ceremony today with thousands of Australians there to pay their respects. There are no original Anzacs left now. The last man who was there died last year.

But Anzac Day is more than Gallipoli now. It's the day when all Australians say thank you to all those in the armed services who fought and died for our country. It's also a day to celebrate this great nation. There will be Dawn Services, followed by the traditional bacon and egg breakfast at the RSL Clubs (returned servicemen's club), the main marches will start around 11am. Anzac Day afternoon is a gigantic mixture of football matches, horse racing, BBQs, beach volleyball, Anzac Day documentaries on TV and relaxation.

Happy Anzac Day everyone.

**Heather** · 04-24-2005, 04:42 PM

Happy Anzac Day! Thanks Rhonda for the history of such a special day.

**paelthom** · 04-24-2005, 05:01 PM

Happy Anzac Day Rhoda. Hope yours was fun.

**Katybird** · 04-24-2005, 06:19 PM

Happy Anzac Day Rhonda!

**britbunny** · 04-25-2005, 06:18 AM

Hope you had a good day. I watched the anzac rugby league match at the weekend - that was my only input though...

**DaisyLady** · 04-25-2005, 06:45 AM

Sounds like a worthy way to spend a day!

**jlxian** · 04-25-2005, 05:13 PM

Sounds like a proud and patriotic day. Thanks for sharing this with us..... My knowledge of Australia/New Zealand is miniscule -- and comes from movies like Quigley Down Under and the Lord of the Rings trilogy -- not much actual information about the countries there!