ANZAC Day Commemoration 25 April – Grangegorman Military Cemetery Dublin
At 0630hrs, on Monday 25 April 2016, the annual dawn service marking ANZAC Day, organised by the Australian Embassy, took place at Grangegorman Military Cemetery, Dublin. The ceremony was attended by President Michael d. Higgins. ANZAC Day honours the men and women of Australia and New Zealand who have died in war.
It was originally established to commemorate the 8,000 members of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corp (ANZAC) who were killed in the Gallipoli campaign, beginning on 25 April 1915.
Over the years, the commemoration was extended to all Australian personnel killed in all military operations in which the Australian armed forces participated. It has been marked in Dublin since 2006.
Four soldiers born in Ireland were awarded the Victory Cross as a result of bravery at Gallipoli: Pte William Kenealy (Wexford) from the Lancashire Fusiliers, Pte William Cosgrove from the Royal Munster Fusiliers (Cork), Capt Gerald O’Sullivan from the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Cork) and Sgt James Somers (Cavan) also from the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
Ataturk – the Turkish commander who went on to lead his country – is quoted as having said of the thousands buried in Gallipoli “You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries. Wipe away your tears – your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace…having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.”
View our Flickr Gallery of Photographs kindly provided by Patrick Hugh Lynch
