Every year on April 25, ANZAC DAY, Australia honours its war dead.

ANZAC is an acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. In 1917, the word ANZAC meant someone who fought at Gallipoli. Referring to tough attributes and team skills of Australian and New Zealand soldiers, the word ANZAC eventually came to represent any Australian or New Zealander who fought or served in the First World War.

Allied to Britain, France and Russia, black, white, yellow and brindle Australians volunteered to join the fight against the German, Austria-Hungry and Turkish invasion. Australia, with its meagre population of fewer than five million, attracted 20,000 men within just three months of the outbreak of WWI. All those Australians who enlisted to defend our country and the motherland (England) were volunteers.

During the Second World War, ANZAC Day became a day on which the lives of all Australians lost in war time were remembered. The spirit of ANZAC recognises the qualities of courage, mateship and sacrifice which were demonstrated at the Gallipoli landing.

Each ANZAC Day, hundreds of thousands of Australians attend parades and memorials across the nation to honour the servicemen and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our lasting freedom. That first black day of the Gallopoli landing is now immortalised as a public holiday.