ANZAC Day commemorations held in Flanders Fields
Commemorations were held at military cemeteries in West Flanders on Friday to mark ANZAC Day, a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand.
At dawn, representatives of the Australian embassy in Brussels paid tribute to fallen soldiers at the Buttes New British Cemetery in Polygon Wood. Later ceremonies took place at Tyne Cot cemetery and at the Menin Gate and Belgian War Memorial in Ypres.
“From Polygon Wood to Tyne Cot, the bond between Australia and Belgium is built on shared sacrifice. On #ANZACDay, we stand together in remembrance,” the embassy posted on X. “The ANZAC spirit – of courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice – endures.”
The embassy thanked the Last Post Association, which keeps alive the memory of fallen soldiers through the nightly Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, where the names of thousands of soldiers are inscribed. Among them are 6,198 Australians who died in Flanders during World War I and have no known grave.
“The ANZAC spirit – of courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice – endures”
“On 25 April, no matter the circumstance or location, New Zealanders around the world remember the sacrifices made by all who fought in The World Wars,” the New Zealand embassy wrote on Facebook.
“Today we think of those who have experienced war and conflict: our veterans, our armed services personnel, families of the fallen, and our refugee communities.”
A wreath was laid at the Pou Maumahara, a monument honouring the New Zealand Maori who fought and died in WWI.
Polygon Wood, a large wood south of Zonnebeke, was completely devastated in WWI. The soldiers of the Australian 5th Division captured the area on 26 September 1917. A total of 2,108 Commonwealth soldiers are buried or commemorated at the cemetery, including 564 Australians.
Tyne Cot is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery. The area was strategically important in WWI and was captured by the 3rd Australian Division and the New Zealand Division on 4 October 1917 in the advance on Passchendaele.
The remains of 11,956 soldiers – including 1,368 Australians – are buried there. The Tyne Cot Memorial commemorates the nearly 35,000 servicemen from the UK and New Zealand who died in the Ypres Salient after 16 August 1917 and whose graves are not known.
#FlandersNewsService | © PHOTO AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY BRUSSELS
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