Army - The Soldiers' Newspaper

CPO Andrew Stapleton plays the Last Post in Baghdad. Photo by LCpl Neil Ruskin, 1JPAU (P)

Turkish and Australian flags fly at half mast on Anzac Parade, Canberra.
Photo by Pte John Wellfare, Army newspaper

Comdander 4 Bde Brig Wayne Dunbar leads 4 Bde down Swanston St to the Anzac Park Shrine.
Photo by Capt Ian Toohill HQ 4 Bde

1CER leads the official Darwin City March.
Photo by Spr Bernard Pearson, 1CER

Army, Navy and Air Force, shoulder to shoulder at the Anzac Day parade in Perth. Perth's Dawn Service attracted record crowds of nearly 40,000. This year's march included a contingent from the American Navy, currently in port at Fremantle.
Photo by Cpl Tracy Tillman, WAUR

Msn Ben Fixter, 6RAR, plays the Last Post during the Anzac Day Dawn Commemoration Service on the foreshore at Port Hera, 15km outside the capital Dili.
Photo by Capt John McPherson, MPA

Veterans from the Korean war march in silence. Photo by Bill Cunneen, Army newspaper

Service people are practicing their two-up skills for Anzac Day celebrations in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Personnel on Op Anode came together to commemorate the day with all the traditional pomp and ceremony.
Photo by LS Ollie Garside, 1JPAU(P)

LCpl Luke Leader, 41RNSWR, mans the cenotaph at the Lismore Anzac memorial while children and veterans look on.
Photo by Sgt John Waddell, 41RNSWR

Former PoWs, Bill Haskell, Ernie Redman and Neil MacPherson join with members of the Catafalque Party, Maj David Eyland and WOFF Steven Reid.
Photo from Australian Embassy in Thailand

We gather to remember
ANZAC Day 2004

From Cpl Damian Shovell in Iraq
Anzac Day in Iraq saw Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen and women gather to pause and pay tribute at services around the country.

The Air Traffic Control Detachment dawn service saw surprise guests Prime Minister John Howard and CDF Gen Peter Cosgrove, who landed before dawn.

As Princ Chap ANHQ Ivan Grant read the order of service, a series of images depicting the ADF in conflict throughout the years projected onto a screen behind him.

"We have an amazing heritage to draw from, and it is only now, serving here in Baghdad that I am beginning to understand it, because it is here where new chapters are being written," he said.

As CDF Gen Peter Cosgrove read the prayer for the ADF, automatic gunfire was heard from the US training range nearby, adding a poignant reminder of the dangers faced both here in Iraq, and on the beaches of Gallipoli 89 years ago.

Anzac Day will now forever hold an even greater meaning for those serving in Iraq, and especially for eight ADF personnel who at the conclusion of the service received their AASM for service in Iraq from Mr Howard.

At the gunfire breakfast, he mingled freely and posed for numerous photo shoots and signature signings before visiting Aussie Island at Camp Victory for morning tea where he announced the approval of a campaign medal for service in Afghanistan and Iraq.

ADF personnel held smaller dawn services in various locations throughout the MEAO including the SECDET, the US Anaconda Air Base, onboard HMAS Stuart, in Um Qsar, and in Kuwait and Afghanistan.

By Pte John Wellfare
CANBERRA'S Anzac Day dawn service at the War Memorial is one of the biggest in Australia.

Parking near the service is limited so most people park their cars on Parkes Way and walk down Anzac Parade - the wide strip that runs directly towards the War Memorial, lined on either side with monuments to the services and past conflicts.

At 5am the walk is a solemn one - even with a group of friends a person can't help feeling somewhat alone in the dark with the icy breeze and the city's most striking building looming ahead, bathed in light.

At the service it's hard to find a position with a good view and the person who tries to push to the front will not be well received.

The heavy Stone Of Remembrance in the centre of the courtyard, bright white from strong lights at its base and bearing the inscription "Their name liveth for evermore", seems to be radiating heat.

To one side of the plaque a few dozen children sit, each cradling a candle and nursing its warmth.

The occasional flickers of yellow flame pockmark the rest of the surrounding crowd, their dancing light is the most vivid movement that can be seen.

The service itself is like any other - it's the surroundings that provoke thought from the spoken words and give intensity to the piercing bugle call. The service ends and lines of people shuffle back down Anzac Parade, some stop at the memorials, others talk, still quietly, among themselves.

The War Memorial, still bathed in light and with a clear blue morning sky forming behind it, stands in the background.

From Lt Chantal Llora in Turkey
It's a sobering thought, Gallipoli. Many good men fought and died from Australia, New Zealand, England, France and Turkey.

On April 25, 89 years ago, 16,000 men were put ashore on the Gallipoli Peninsula at Turkey and 2000 of them were killed in the first attack.

What followed the landing at Gallipoli is a story of courage and endurance, of death and despair, of poor leadership from London, unsuccessful strategies and the unwavering mettle and camaraderie that Australians displayed and the loyalty they held dear.

That is surely at the heart of the Anzac story, the Australian legend that emerged from the war.

Despite the warning issued by DFAT and unrest in surrounding countries, this year's ceremony brought a record crowd to the Gallipoli Peninsula.

About 15,000 people attended the Service, believed to be the highest number yet to commemorate Anzac Day at Anzac Cove.

During the Dawn Service, Anzac Cove was lined with expectant and fresh young faces of Australians, New Zealanders, English, Irish and Turks

The people who camped over night on the Cove were joined together through the music of the RAN Band as well as the bitter cold, which was a reminder of the suffering that the men who landed there 89 years ago felt.

It was a mixture of sobering reflection and national fervor, sing-alongs and silences, crying and laughing.

After the commencement of the Dawn Service, thousands of people, huddled together for warmth, moved down the ridge to Lone Pine for the Australian Service.

The atmosphere was charged with excitement and the cry of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi" could be heard ringing through the crowds.

The traditional games of two-up could be found being played in front of the Lone Pine monument, and the Royal Australian Navy Band playing traditional Aussie music kept all who attended entertained.

Chief of Airforce, AM Angus Houston and Minister of Defence, Robert Hill attended this year's ceremony