April 25th is ANZAC Day in Australia, which in America would be referred to as Veterans Day. ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, and the name originates around 1914 when these two nations played a part in World War 1. In particular, they had a rather unfortunate engagement at Gallipoli, in an attempt to enter the Ottoman Empire and capture Constantinople. The Turks were allies of Germany. By 1915 there were about 8,000 casualties, and the first engagement on 25 April is observed every year as what is probably Australia’s most important national holiday. I went down to the war memorial in Manly for a 4:30 AM service–the dawn ceremony has become a tradition in this country. the Gallipoli landing occurred at dawn, so they commemorate this event in the early morning hours all over Australia, and events are heavily attended.

Was nice to stop and ponder this piece of Australian history.