CANBERRA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Australians gathered on Wednesday to mark the Anzac Day, the anniversary of Australian and New Zealand troops landing at Gallipoli in 1915 during World War I.
Celebrated on April 25 annually, Anzac Day commemorates members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli against the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
In Canberra, approximately 38,000 people attended the dawn service at the Australian War Memorial.
Colonel Susan Neuhaus delivered the official address, making special mention of the women who have served in Australia's armed forces.
"Like all of us, I benefit from what they have done," Neuhaus said.
"Inscribed in these walls behind me are the names of 102,000 Australians who have lived, and fought and died for our country."
Dean Lee, chief executive of Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance, estimated that 35,000 people attended the dawn service at the shrine, up from 25,000 in 2017.
Anne Holian, a Royal Australian Air Force member, became the first female serving member of the Australian Defence Force to address the Melbourne service and used the opportunity to speak of the men and women she had aided in war zones.
"There was the young soldier whose hand was blown to pieces by a grenade," she said.
"We tried to put enough of it together so he could hold his newborn baby."
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull commemorated the day in the French town of Villers-Bretonneux, the site of a crucial World War I battle in 1918 involving Australians.
Turnbull noted that while Australia is "hardly militaristic", it was important to honor the "triumphs of arms won by the Australian forces in the midst of all the horrors of the Great War."
He described the victory at Villers-Bretonneux as "momentous," noting that John Monash, Australia's commander, described it as "the real turning point of the war."
