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The first day of remembrance for the men who fought at Gallipoli was commemorated exactly a year after the first New Zealand troops landed at Anzac Cove.
On April 25, 1916, returned soldiers walked in procession down the main streets of towns and cities throughout New Zealand. A
half-day holiday was proposed with church services and recruitment meetings to rally support for the war effort, but the returned soldiers asked for a simple combined service conducted by an army chaplain.
More than 2000 attended a service at Rotorua that first year, and in London, 2000 New Zealand and Australian troops formed a procession to a service at Westminster Abbey.
Three days later, the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association was founded, and it soon claimed guardianship of Anzac Day.
By 1922, April 25 was recognised as a full statutory holiday, and the red poppy became the symbol of remembrance. Finally, the servicemen had a fitting commemoration to honour those who had fought and died at Gallipoli.
Today
The dawn parade signals the start of commemorative services throughout New Zealand. Introduced in 1939, the march by returned service and military to local war memorials is timed to coincide with the first landings at Gallipoli. It also recalls the routine "stand-to" at dawn in the trenches.
A lone bugler sounds The Last Post and Reveille, a minute's silence is observed, and the Anzac dedication is read. Local RSAs usually host a breakfast for the veterans afterwards.
Later in the morning are wreath-laying services, where veterans and the families of those who fought for their country are joined by community groups like the Red Cross, cadets, scouts and girl guides.
The Auckland Memorial War Museum - a memorial to the 12,000 Aucklanders who died in the two world wars - holds services at 6am and 11am at the cenotaph and commemorative events inside the museum.
The national service is held in Wellington at the National War Memorial. "Beating the Retreat", the centuries-old military ceremony of lowering the flag, is performed at dusk.
Find your nearest Anzac Day service at www.rsa.org.nz
Ataturk memorial
Every year on April 25, the Turkish people of Wellington climb to a ridge above Tarakina Bay, overlooking Cook Strait. On the site, chosen for its resemblance to the Gallipoli Peninsula landscape, stands a memorial to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who had led his people in the battle for Gallipoli and became the first president of modern Turkey.The inscription on the memorial was written by Ataturk in 1934, and is read each Anzac Day by the Turkish Ambassador.
"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."
Members of the Turkish Embassy in Wellington join the small Turkish community of around 50 people at the Ataturk Memorial on Anzac Day afternoon. A representative of the New Zealand Government attends, and the Turkish Ambassador, Ugur Ergun, lays a wreath.
In Turkey, the Gallipoli campaign is known as the Canakkale Savaslari, after the province of Canakkale where the battle was fought. The year 1915 was a defining moment in their history - the final defence of the crumbling Ottoman Empire, which lay the foundations for the Turkish Republic under the leadership of Ataturk.
The Turks have their major commemorations on March 18, the day their forces sank three Allied battleships trying to break through to Constantinople.
Gallipoli
Around 8000 young New Zealanders and Australians are expected to gather at the Gallipoli battlegrounds of their ancestors this year. The battlefields are now part of the Gallipoli Peace Park, a 33,000ha national park created by the Turkish government to preserve this sacred war zone where more than 120,000 soldiers lost their lives. Interest in the Anzac Day commemorations at the site of the battle increases by around 10 per cent each year.
Visitors pour to the trenches and memorials on the battlefields dotted along the peninsula and to graveyards where almost all of those who died in 1915 are buried.This year, commemoration services are held over two days - Turkish, French and British services on April 24; the Anzac Dawn service at Anzac Cove, the Australian service at Lone Pine and the New Zealand service at Chunuk Bair the following day.
Security at the Gallipoli Peace Park has tightened after the behaviour of some visitors in recent years. Alcohol is banned, as is swimming at Anzac Cove and all visitors wear security wristbands in the park. For the first time, New Zealand's moving memorial service at Chunuk Bair will be broadcast live in New Zealand on Maori Television from 10pm on April 25.
Online link: The Auckland War Memorial Museum has a Book of Remembrance on its website for people to post messages on to remember those who served and died in war.
