Early morning international remembrance services marking the 110th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign in the First World War, took place on Friday.
Today is ANZAC Day, the annual Remembrance of all the Australian and New Zealand citizens who have served in conflicts and peacekeeping operations around the world. It coincides with landings on Gallipoli during the First World War, in which the two southern nations were involved.
Today, representatives of Legion Scotland and Poppyscotland joined members of the Australian and New Zealand communities, as well as veterans and current servicemen and women in a wreath-laying ceremony at Comely Bank Cemetery, at 5am.
The event was led by Rev Dr Karen Campbell and also featured Scots Guards piper Mark Macrae and bugler Iona Macfarlane.
A similar dawn service took part at the same time at the Western Necropolis in Glasgow.
Later at 11am, The Rt Hon Lord Provost, Robert Aldridge, and government representatives from Scotland, the UK, Australia, France, and Turkey took part in Legion Scotland’s annual ANZAC and Gallipoli Day Service at the Scottish National War Memorial inside Edinburgh Castle.
The ceremonies are a reminder of the events which took place at dawn on 25 April 1915, when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), together with British, French, and Russian forces landed on the Dardanelles Peninsula (now part of Turkey) at the start of the Gallipoli campaign.
This ended in a stalemate, with troops withdrawing in January 1916, with a total of more than 100,000 soldiers killed over the nine-month period.
Dr Claire Armstrong, OBE, Chief Executive of Legion Scotland, said: “This annual event allows us the chance to remember the service and sacrifices of ANZAC servicemen and women through the years, as well as our own soldiers who fell during the Gallipoli campaign. It is our opportunity to also reflect on the extraordinary courage of our Armed Forces community, both past and present, as well as the enduring friendship between our countries.”
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