Aus, NZ mark Anzac Day

Sydney, April 25

Thousands of Australians and New Zealanders, many braving heavy rain, turned out today to mark the Gallipoli landing and to pay tribute to soldiers in current conflict zones in moving ceremonies.

Ceremonies are held annually on the April 25 anniversary of the ill-fated 1915 landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps in modern-day Turkey during World War I, known as Anzac Day.

More than 10,000 New Zealand and Australian servicemen died in the failed eight-month campaign, and Gallipoli became a defining symbol of courage and comradeship for the two countries. Dawn services also acknowledged the contributions of troops currently serving in the Middle East, as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited camps in Afghanistan and Iraq.

There are some 270 Australian Defence Force personnel deployed in Afghanistan and another 780 in the Middle East, including Iraq.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson paid tribute to the war dead in an Anzac Day message.

“We will not forget that by the time the American Expeditionary Forces were organised in 1917, the Anzac had already been fighting for over two years,” he said. — AFP