Anzac: Remembrance -

By Marlene Smith, Education and Visitor Experience Leader, National Army Museum Te Mata Toa

Each year on April 25th we commemorate Anzac Day. On this day in 1915, thousands of New Zealanders and Australians stormed the beaches of Gallipoli. For eight months New Zealanders and Australians fought (alongside soldiers from Britain and other countries) against the Ottoman forces who were defending their homeland, the country now called Turkey. In the end our campaign was a failure and in 1916, just after Christmas we, and all our allies, retreated from the peninsula.

Many Australians and New Zealanders go to Gallipoli on April 25th, and many more attend Anzac day services in Aotearoa. Anzac day services attract young people as well as the old. We want to be there to honour the sacrifice our soldiers and nurses made more than 100 years ago and all the people in the Armed Forces who have served, for us, since then.

This kete | set explores New Zealanders commemorating Anzac day.

New Zealand troops marching through London to Westminster Abbey for the Anzac Day service in 1916. From the National Army Museum Te Mata Toa collection.

Students can explore this topic further in the National Army Museum Living Through History Anzac worksheet available at: https://www.armymuseum.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2021_LivingThroughHistory_Anzac.pdf