Anzac Day occurs on 25 April. It commemorates all New Zealanders killed in war and also honours returned servicemen and women.
The date itself marks the anniversary of the landing of New Zealand and Australian soldiers – the Anzacs – on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915. The aim was to capture the Dardanelles, the gateway to the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. At the end of the campaign, Gallipoli was still held by its Turkish defenders.
Thousands lost their lives in the Gallipoli campaign: 87,000 Turks, 44,000 men from France and the British Empire, including 8500 Australians. To this day, Australia also marks the events of 25 April. Among the dead were 2721 New Zealanders, almost one in four of those who served on Gallipoli. New Zealand lost almost 2% of its population in World War 1
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a Turkish commander at Gallipoli and the first President of Turkey wrote these words in 1934″
Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives, you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours. You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears, your sons are now lying in our bosoms and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they become our sons as well.
They are engraved on memorials at Anzac Cove, Canberra and Wellington.
The poppy?
This explains it well.
Beaker by Isabelle Pamuchius
Mainz Daily Photo 
Two countries sharing a remembrance day is a fitting memorial to those who died. I’m pleased to see that these soldiers have not been forgotten. Thanks for all the information!
An interesting inversion of what I have been drowning in all day, jb.
A bit cryptic? As someone’s who has experienced the physical process, I wouldn’t necessarily attach any positive attributes to “drowning”…..
I am becoming weary of the modern take, here in Australia, of ANZAC Day. I noted your text was an ‘inversion’. Here in Australia, the role that NZ played is rarely mentioned, nor given equal billing, hence your post gave me the ability to see through the eyes of another nation. The ‘drowing’ had no positive attributes at all, the way I meant it. To me, ‘drowning’ indicates that I am out of my depth and struggling, and that is how the day is becoming for me. Here, there is such an overly patriotic and jingoistic tone to the entire day and to the published memories – published by the current media, I mean. Citizens wrap themselves in the Australian flag, and extol the virtues of ‘the little digger’, with no knowledge of the person at all. This has little to do with their service or sacrifice. It is being touted as the day when the nation was forged, when our character was set. And heaven help anyone who questions or disagrees ….