anzac day

Events In History

Articles

Anzac Day resources

  • Anzac Day resources

    A guide to resources relating to Anzac Day including a history of the day, help for planning ceremonies and a guide to visiting Gallipoli today.

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The Gallipoli campaign

  • The Gallipoli campaign

    Each year on Anzac Day, New Zealanders (and Australians) mark the anniversary of the Gallipoli landings of 25 April 1915. On that day, thousands of young men, far from their homes, stormed the beaches on the Gallipoli Peninsula in what is now Türkiye.

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  • Page 10 – Gallipoli biographies

    Find out more about some of the New Zealanders involved in the Gallipoli campaign between April 1915 and January 1916.

Anzac Day

  • Anzac Day

    First observed in 1916, Anzac Day - 25 April - commemorates those killed in war and honours returned servicemen and women. The ceremonies held at war memorials around the country, and in places overseas where New Zealanders gather, are rich in tradition and ritual.

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  • Page 2 – The Anzacs

    The word Anzac is part of the culture of New Zealanders and Australians. The word conjures up a shared heritage of two nations, but it also has a specific meaning, dating from

  • Page 3 – The ceremony

    The Anzac Day ceremony of 25 April is a form of military funeral and follows a specific pattern. The day's ceremonies have two major parts: one at dawn and another later in the

  • Page 4 – The making of Anzac Day

    Anzac Day was made a half-day holiday in 1916, when the pattern of the day's events began to be set.

  • Page 5 – A sacred holiday

    Anzac Day became a public holiday and took on new meaning in peacetime. It became a time to express sorrow, not glorify war, on a sacred day that had a secular tone.

  • Page 6 – Another war and peace

    Anzac Day came to have a wider focus and the commemorations became more popular in the years after the Second World War.

  • Page 7 – Modern Anzac Day

    Each generation of New Zealanders redefines Anzac Day to suit the mood of the times, and the last 50 years has seen much redefinition.

  • Page 8 – Fatalities

    This list of 147 fatalities of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force was collated from Commonwealth War Graves Commission records. Most, but not all, died on 25 April 1915.

  • Page 9 – The red poppy

    The red poppy has become a symbol of war remembrance the world over. In many countries it is worn on Armistice Day (11 November), but in New Zealand it is most commonly seen on

  • Page 10 – Further information

    Links and books relating to Anzac Day

Anzac Day in the Pacific

  • Anzac Day in the Pacific

    Armistice Day was the initial focal point for commemorations in the Cook Islands and Niue after the First World War. But because men from both countries had served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, observances gradually shifted to Anzac Day in April

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  • Page 2 – Early commemorative efforts

    During the 1920s war memorials provided a focus for commemoration services in the Cook Islands, where the first Anzac Day service was possibly held in 1927. On Niue, Armistice

  • Page 3 – The growth of Anzac Day

    By the end of the Second World War military commemorations in the Cook Islands and Niue centered around Anzac Day. Services in both countries followed the pattern of those in

  • Page 4 – Present day commemorations

    In the new millennium there has been increasing interest in the story of Pacific Island involvement in the First World War. In the Cook Islands there have been efforts to

  • Page 5 – Further information

    Books and further reading relating to the history of Anzac Day in the Pacific Islands of Niue and the Cook Islands

Anzac Day and remembrance

The 1920s

  • The 1920s

    The 1920s was the decade that modern New Zealand came of age. Despite political and economic uncertainty, the country shrugged off the gloom of war to embrace the Jazz Age - an era of speed, power and glamour. Explore an overview of the decade and a year-by-year breakdown of key events.

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  • Page 4 - 1921 - key eventsA selection of key New Zealand events from