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Did you know? 10 interesting facts about ANZAC Day

21 March 2018

  1. The ANZACs were all volunteers
  2. April 25, Anzac Day, was the day the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915
  3. More than 11,000 ANZACs died at Gallipoli and more than 23,500 were wounded.
  4. While the battle itself was a crushing defeat, the Australian and New Zealand soldiers were relentless and displayed incredible courage and endurance, even despite the most horrible of circumstances. This is how the ANZAC legend was born.
  5. Anzac biscuits were created by wives of soldier’s who wanted to bake healthy goodies for their men. They lacked egg and milk, so kept for a long time and didn’t spoil during transport.
  6. Services are held at dawn because in battle, dawn was the best time to attack the enemy. Soldiers would wake in the dark so at the first signs of light they were alert and awake.
  7. The wearing of rosemary on ANZAC Day is done as a mark of respect for the men who never returned from Gallipoli, or indeed, later wars. The wearing of it honours the memory of those brave men.
  8. The ‘Last Post’ is incorporated into funeral and memorial services as a final farewell and symbolizes that the duty of the dead is over and that they can rest in peace.
  9. A soldier named Alec Campbell was the last surviving ANZAC. He died on 16 May, 2002.
  10. There is no town called “Gallipoli”. It is the name of an area.