Date: Monday, April 25, 2016 – 05:00

At the Boronia-RSL Sub-Branch the Dawn Service ceremony is held starting at 0545 hrs followed by a sausage and soup breakfast as well as the usual rum and beer. For all those interested in attending it is advisable to be there early ( 0500 – 0530 ) as the number of attendees is increasing each year. Following the increase in attendance over the past few years the Police will close Dorset Rd between Boronia Rd and Park Crescent whilst the service proceeds.

This year In 1916 the first Anzac Day commemorations were held on 25 April. The day was marked by a wide variety of ceremonies and services across Australia, a march through London, and a sports day in the Australian camp in Egypt. In London more than 2,000 Australian and New Zealand troops marched through the streets; a London newspaper headline dubbed them “the knights of Gallipoli”. Marches were held all over Australia; in the Sydney march convoys of cars carried soldiers wounded on Gallipoli and their nurses. For the remaining years of the war Anzac Day was used as an occasion for patriotic rallies and recruiting campaigns, and parades of serving members of the AIF were held in most cities.

This year the Boronia RSL will honoured by the Waverly Christian College choir who will supply the music and hyms of our service. A thank you to Roger Thompson and Bill Yardley for their expertise in supplying the sound system.

ANZAC Day is commemorated on April 25 to mark the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

On April 25 1915, Australian and New Zealand forces landed at Gallipoli and were met with fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. The military action was originally planned as a bold attack aimed to withdraw Turkey from the war, however the campaign quickly became a stalemate lasting for eight months and resulting in over 8,000 deaths among Australian soldiers. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardship.

The news of the failed military objectives of the Gallipoli campaign had a momentous impact on Australians at home and April 25 soon became the day on which we remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.

Today however, ANZAC Day goes beyond the anniversary of the Gallipoli landing in 1915; it is a day when we remember the service and sacrifice of all Australian servicemen and women from every conflict, past and present.

On ANZAC Day, ceremonies are held in towns and cities across the nation to acknowledge and remember the service of our veterans.