Australian and New Zealand residents and tourists will be coming together this weekend to pay tribute to the countries’ fallen military.
Anzac Day, which stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, is a national day of remembrance held on 25th April that honours all nationals who served and lost their lives in wars, conflict and peacekeeping operations.
“A lot of people have sacrificed a lot over the years,” said HE Pablo Kang, Australian Ambassador to the UAE. “Close to 100,000 Australians have been killed in wars. We commemorate and remember the sacrifices of often very young men and women serving in armed forces around the world and the sacrifices of their families aswell.”
The date of 25th April marks the anniversary of the first major military engagement by Australian and New Zealand forces during World War I when troops fought as part of the Gallipoli Campaign to capture the Turkish peninsula in 1915.
“It seems that in recent years the number of people attending Anzac Day dawn services has actually grown. We’ve lost 40 soldiers in Afghanistan over the past decade so it’s still a very relevant part of our national fabric. You see a lot of young people at the events so it’s something that has carried on from generation to generation,” added Kang.
A dawn ceremony, which is open to the public, will be held at the Hiltonia Beach Garden on the Corniche on 25th April at 5am sharp. As part of the service, Ambassador Kang and HE Malcolm Millar, the New Zealand Ambassador to the UAE, will give a speech and reading. There will also be a wreath laying, prayers and a complimentary breakfast.
