Anzac Day

The 25th April is the commemoration of the ANZACs (Australia New Zealand Army Corps). In both countries the day is a national holiday. There are dawn services, followed by parades and commemoration marches, which pay tribute to the forces in Gallipoli in World War I who lost their lives. Winston Churchill had a plan to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea to make way for the allied forces.

When I was at school we used to have a special assembly to remember this event. At that time it did not make a huge impression on me but now I fully understand and appreciate the reasons to have such services or traditions and remember the past. Being in France is an extra reminder now as all around us where there are wild flowers, we see poppies growing. So it is a fitting flower as a tribute to those who lost their lives in the great war.