Anzac Day

ANZAC Day is a national occasion for both Australia and New Zealand; it is where the population of both countries mark the anniversary of the first major military action which took place in Gallipoli in 1915. It is the day when we remember and honour the bravery of all Australians who have served in all wars, and those who died sacrificing their lives for their country, through conflict and peacekeeping operations. On the 25th of April, dawn ceremonies are held in towns and cities across the nation to respect the service of our veterans and we do this by pausing for one minute. (Australian War Memorial, 2011,)   Throughout many years ANZAC day has become more popular through all year ages especially younger generations. In recent years the popularity of ANZAC day has increased, in the way of media, education in schools.   Sport has also been a major highlight of celebrating ANZAC day in the way that it brings everyone together to remember the dreadful conditions in wars.   Not only has the amount of people whom honour ANZAC day in Australian increased but so has the large number of people who devote their time to visit ANZAC Cove in Turkey, to respect those men who fought for Australia. (Campbell, 18 November 2011,)

After the First World War, families of surviving soldiers wanted to forget about how harsh and terrible the conditions were in Gallipoli, because the public didn’t believe they should be celebrating the loss of the veterans in the Great War. Acting Australian Prime Minister George Pearce viewed Gallipoli as a failure; many believe he misjudged the importance to the people of this day.   It wasn’t long until the public started to acknowledge the sacrifice from the war and the result of this was in the late 1920’s the anniversary of the landing in Gallipoli became a public holiday in every state and territory. After the Vietnamese war in the mid 70’s the commemoration of Anzac day wasn’t very high for the reason that many people were scarred for the large...