Her Majesty The Queen Attends ANZAC Centenary Service

Saturday, 25th April 2015

Her Majesty The Queen accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh attended a Service in Westminster Abbey on Saturday 25th April in Commemoration and Thanksgiving to Mark the Centenary of the ANZAC Landings. The National Anthem was sung.

The service was attended by the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable David Cameron MP; the Deputy Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Nick Clegg MP; and the Leader of the Opposition, the Right Honourable Ed Miliband MP.

The service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, who said in his Bidding:

The landing of allied forces at Gallipoli exactly one hundred years ago today led to one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War. Alongside forces from Britain and her allies, troops from Australia and New Zealand fought together as the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps: ANZAC. We honour today the courage of the men at Gallipoli. 'The memory of the Great War provides for us warning and encouragement. We are warned that war must involve terrible suffering and death. We are encouraged by the spirit of national pride and determination shown by those we remember this ANZAC Day.

As the Union Flag and the flags of Australia and New Zealand are presented at the High Altar with the flag of Turkey in a sign of the reconciliation of old enemies, let us renew our own commitment to the cause of justice and of peace throughout the world.

At the start of the service the flags of Australia, New Zealand, Turkey and the United Kingdom were carried through the Abbey and placed beside the High Altar. The flags were borne by Warrant Officer II Shaun Jolly (Australia), Warrant Officer Christopher Naylor (New Zealand), Warrant Officer I Halil Yıldız (Turkey) and Major Thomas Mobbs RM (United Kingdom).

His Excellency the High Commissioner for Australia, the Honourable Alexander Downer AC, read Isiah 9: 1-7 and the High Commissioner for New Zealand, the Right Honourable Sir Lockwood Smith KNZM, read 2 Corinthians 4: 7-16.

The Address was given by the Dean.

Historical note

It is one hundred years since the landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25th April 1915. In the heroic campaign that followed, the casualties on both sides were heavy. Of the Allied Forces—from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, France, Newfoundland, and India—some 50,000 lost their lives. The total number of casualties on the Allied side at Gallipoli, including those wounded or evacuated for sickness, was some 250,000. The Turkish forces lost over 86,000 and also sustained a high number of wounded. Australian and New Zealand forces fought for the first time under a united command as the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, or, more famously, the ANZACs. In both countries, ANZAC Day, 25th April, not only commemorates those first landings at Gallipoli, but also all the Australians and New Zealanders who have given their lives in the service of their countries.