- Pilgrims honour Gallipoli sacrifice -
25.04.2003 12:32:53
Ceremonies have been held to mark ANZAC Day in Gallipoli.
Tributes were paid to the fallen heroes in a formal ceremony on the cove where Australian and New Zealand soldiers came to fight the Turks in 1915.
The dawn service was attended by between 5,000 and 8,000 people.
ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Gallipoli
Wreathes were laid, prayers were spoken and there was two minutes silence for the men who gave their lives.
Treasurer Peter Costello praised the youth, tenacity and sacrifice of the ANZACs.
"These are the men of ANZAC, sons, brothers, husbands, mates with a common purpose - courage in the face of extremity - who suffered with a generous acceptance, who had a belief in their cause but a sense of proportion," he said.
"Despite the carnage they came to honour and respect their foe and their foe honoured and respected them."
New Zealand`s Minister for Economic Development delivered the call to commemoration, recalling the thoughts of ANZACs as they waited in boats to come ashore.
The lines of tour buses then left the cove,returning it to silence albeit littered with rubbish.
Most of the people present had been waiting at ANZAC Cove since late last night.
There was a large but subtle military presence for the service, which went smoothly despite fears of a possible terrorist attack.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, Defence Minister Robert Hill has spoken at a dawn service on board HMAS Kanimbla in the Persian Gulf.
Senator Hill has told the ship`s crew they have helped remove the immediate threat of Iraq passing banned weapons to terrorists.
He says defence personnel involved in the war have served the nation as capably as any previous generation.
ANZAC Day commemorations were also held for other Australian troops stationed in the region.
Flight Lieutenant Christine Bradley is one of 250 Australian air force personnel involved in Hornet operations in Iraq, out of a Middle Eastern airbase.
"It`s one of the most important days of the year, not just for people in the military but I think for Australia as a whole," he said.
"Definitely it holds a special significance for those of us who are in uniform, remembering the sacrifices that many who`ve gone before us have made and the big shoes that we have to fill."
acknowledge:
by ABC News
http://www.abc.net.au
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