Why is Anzac Day on April 25?
Anzac Day is on April 25 as this was the date that the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps first landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in World War I. Anzac Day has been on April 25 since 1916.
A public holiday in Australia, Anzac Day sometimes doesn’t make immediate sense to outsiders. But there are equivalents elsewhere in the world.
Anzac stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. This corps was formed during the First World War, and famously fought the bloody, drawn-out Gallipoli campaign.
Anzac Day ostensibly commemorates the Anzacs, but Anzac is realistically used as a shorthand term for all Australians and New Zealanders who served in the two World Wars.
So Anzac Day is essentially the Australian equivalent of Memorial Day in the US or Remembrance Day in the UK.
When is Anzac Day in Australia?
But Memorial Day is on May 30, and Remembrance Day is on November 11. So why is Anzac Day on April 25?
Well, the day was chosen as on April 25 in 1915, the Anzac forces landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. They would be there until January the next year, as both the Allied and Ottoman forces bedded down for a protracted campaign.
April 25 wasn’t the date when Australia joined the First World War, or when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was formed. However, it wasn’t the date of the first Anzac Day commemoration.
Former date of Anzac Day
The first Anzac Day was held in South Australia on October 13, 1915. It was originally going to be called Eight Hour Day, but was renamed in a competition. Melbourne also held an Anzac Remembrance Day on December 17 that year.
By the start of 1916, efforts were underway to bring the states together on this. This seemed better than having several commemorations on several different, arbitrarily-selected dates. April 25 was the date that had most coherence, and was thus chosen to be Anzac Day from then on.
Good places to understand the Anzac story include the National Anzac Centre in Albany, Western Australia. There’s also the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and the Anzac Memorial in Sydney.
