ANZAC Day 2007

27 April 2007
Anzac Day at Basra Air Station in Iraq

25 April 2007 saw a dawn service conducted at Basra Air Station in Iraq to mark the date in 1915 when soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps first landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey.

In 1916, the first anniversary of the landings were observed in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom and by troops in Egypt. That year, 25 April was officially named 'ANZAC DAY'.

The dawn service observed on Anzac Day has its origins in an operational routine still observed by the Australian Army today were the soldiers were woken up in the darkness just before first light to allow them to become awake, alert and in a position to man their weapons. This was, and still is, known as 'Stand to'.

After the First World War returning soldiers sought the comradeship they felt in those quiet moments before dawn. With symbolic links to the dawn landings at Gallipoli, the first official dawn service was held at the Sydney Cenotaph in 1927.