Anzac Day – 25 April

There will be a number of services and ceremonies taking place around the UK to commemorate Anzac Day on 25 April. 

Anzac Day is the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.

On 25 April 1915, an allied expedition (including Australian and New Zealand soldiers) landed at Gallipoli. The intention was to capture the peninsula and open up a naval route to the Black Sea. They met fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders and what had been expected to be a swift campaign dragged on for eight months. The allied forces were finally evacuated at the end of 1915, leaving tens of thousands dead on both sides.

Read more from the Australian War Memorial

If you want to start the day early there will be a dawn service and wreath laying at 5.00am at the Australian and New Zealand war memorials,  Hyde Park Corner, London.  Despite the early hour, this service is always well attended.

Read more about the events taking place on the 25 April on the Gallipoli Association’s website.

NZ memorial dedication ceremony wins award

The dedication ceremony for the New Zealand Memorial in London has won an International Visual Communication Association award for projects that inform and educate their audiences.

The memorial in Hyde Park Corner was unveiled on 11 November 2006, and the ceremony included over 60 New Zealand veterans, a military march, fly past and various other performances, such as the haka.

Read more about the award

The memorial itself consists of sixteen cross-shaped vertical bronze standards on stone bases.  Each standard weighs 700kg and they bear patterns, small sculptures and individual inscriptions, some in English, some in Maori. Six of the standards are arranged in the shape of the southern cross constellation.

View the UKNIWM memorial record

First World War mass grave discovered

Recently what is believed to be mass grave of up to 400 British and Australian soldiers has been found in Northern France.

Read more from BBC NEWS

The grave is near the site of the Battle of Fromelles, a action that was designed to distract German attention away from the Battle of the Somme in July 1916.

There are several memorials that refer to Fromelles, but these commemorate men who died fighting in the same area in May 1915, reminding us just how fiercely contested the same small pieces of land were throughout the course of the war.