What is Anzac Day? Dawn service for Anzac Day at Hellfire Pass in Thailand

Today is the most solemn day in the calendar for Australians and New Zealanders. It’s called Anzac Day. ANZAC stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Specifically, the day remembers a dark day in military history when, mostly, Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed at a beach in Turkey, called Gallipoli, in 1915. It was part of an 11-month campaign by British, French, and Russian forces to weaken the Ottoman Empire. The landing at Gallipoli on April 25 of some 16,000 Aussie and Kiwi troops, and the ensuing campaign, ended up as a military disaster with an enormous loss of life. Today there was also a dawn service in Hellfire Pass in Kanchanaburi. Thanks to Matt Barclay, Australian Consul-General, Phuket, for the photos at this morning’s service.