Anzac Day in NSW

From the coast to the rural heartlands to the outback, ANZAC Day services on April 25 are held across New South Wales. In Ballina in the far north and Eden in the far south, and in regional cities, as well as in small rural and outback towns, Australia’s history of courage and sacrifice is honoured.

This solemn national day is a commemoration and remembrance of all Australians who have served and died in war and on operation service around the world. The 25th of April marks the landing in 1915 of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) at Gallipoli, Turkey in World War I.

There are dawn services, wreath laying, marches and commemoration services. Below and at the Returned Services League NSW are lists of various services. The main Dawn Service is at The Cenotaph in Martin Place, Sydney. All are welcome to pay their respects at ANZAC Day services.

Dawn services at memorials offer quiet contemplation, accompanied by the bugle call of the Last Post and The Ode of Remembrance, an excerpt from English poet Laurence Binyon's moving poem, For the Fallen, which was first published in The Times in 1914. The Ode is from the fourth stanza:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We shall remember them.

You’ll find dawn services in regional cities, including Albury, Wagga Wagga, Wollongong, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Lismore, Bathurst, Tamworth, Moree and Dubbo. ANZAC Day in Goulburn begins with the Dawn Service at Remembrance Wall in Belmore Park, and the march starts at 11am.

Another time-honoured ANZAC Day tradition is two-up games in pubs and clubs across NSW. Its association with the day originates from WWI, when Australians played two-up in the trenches and on troop ships. A popular two-up game on the coast is at the Towradgi Beach Hotel in Wollongong.