ANZAC Day

[Crouton]

Today is ANZAC Day. For those who may not know what that is it's the day where Australians and New Zealanders commemorate our fallen soldiers. Services and parades are held all across the countries. All the major cities and towns hold 'dawn services' where people gather to pay respect in the early hours of the morning.

This morning I went to the Melbourne dawn service. It started at about 5:30am while it was still dark, but people started gathering from as early as 4am in the freezing cold just to pay their respects.

Here are some photos from the service I went to. The added fog of the morning gave the whole thing a really eerie atmosphere. I didn't take these photos (could hardly move in the crowd of 30,000 people) but I got them from an online news website.

 

[Smelnick]

Very similiar to the Canadian Rememberance Day in November. It's cool of you to go out to those ceremonies. I've never been to any of the public ceremonies here on our rememberance day. May your warriors rest in peace.

 

[Crouton]

Thanks Smel, it was a nice experience. I went with my sister and it really is amazing to see so many thousands of people braving the cold and getting up in the early hours just to pay respect to those that died so many years ago defending our country.

 

[Unity]

Great photos, Crouton...it looks like a moving experience...I actually had never heard of it.

 

[Impact]

It's always crazy how many people turn out for the dawn services, and never just old people who remember/fought in the wars, heaps of young people too. At least that's how it was in NZ, and from the pictures looks like it was in Aus too.

 

[Crouton]

Great photos, Crouton...it looks like a moving experience...I actually had never heard of it.

I think it is more well-known in certain countries, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, France and a few others from memory. But it has always been a huge thing here.

It's always crazy how many people turn out for the dawn services, and never just old people who remember/fought in the wars, heaps of young people too. At least that's how it was in NZ, and from the pictures looks like it was in Aus too.

Yeah it is the same here. Thousands of people all over the country and heaps of young people. I went with my sister and I am 20 and she is 22. A large majority of the crowd were people in their 20's by the looks of things. And then of course children with parents etc.

 

[Vidic15]

This was the first ANZAC Day Service I have missed in the last 6 years because I was in Queensland, I was pretty devastated.

They shall not grow old,
As we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun,
And in the morning,
We will remember them.