Anzac Day: Thousands remember the fallen

The landing at Gallipoli in Turkey holds great symbolism in Australia and New Zealand, with both countries having suffered considerable losses for such a distant cause. Australia lost an estimated 8,700 troops, while New Zealand suffered some 2,800 fatalities, a fact remembered each year by both countries on April 25, also known as Anzac Day.

In 1915, the allies had been trying to seize the peninsula on the western edge of Turkey in an effort to break through to Constantinople - modern-day Istanbul. However, the British-led operation suffered the first of many setbacks when Allied troops were landed at a cove further north than where they had planned to come ashore. Many Australians and New Zealanders visit the site to this day.

In Turkey, Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton represented the government in a service at ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli. New Zealand was represented by the country’s Governor General Patsy Reddy, and respects were also shown with a traditional haka war dance.

In memorial celebrations in Australia, female veterans led parades for the first time in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Security was tight amid concerns the event might be targeted by Islamists.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was joined by his French counterpart, Edouard Philippe, and heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, for Anzac Day in the French town of Villers-Bretonneux. The town was chosen because the day also marked the 100th anniversary of it being taken from the Germans by Australian troops.

In Britain, Prince William, along with his brother Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle, paid their respects in a service at Westminster Abbey. Earlier Harry and Meghan had attended a dawn service at Hyde Park, where the prince laid a wreath of red roses.