Dubai: Veterans from the Australian and New Zealand expatriate community remembered fallen comrades at the annual dawn Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. (ANZAC) service on Friday.
Tears were shed as poetic tributes were paid to the service men and women who have died on active service for the two countries.
More than 600 community members attended the 5:30am commemoration service, along with officials from the Australia and New Zealand Association (ANZA), which organizes the event.
Wayne Mikkelsen, Consul General of New Zealand; Kym Hewett, Consul General of Australia; Murat Yavuz Ates, Consul General of the Republic of Turkey were among those who laid remembrance wreaths under the Australian, New Zealand, Turkish and UAE flags.
“Comradeship and adversity created a bond between New Zealand and Australia – the ANZAC tradition, which remains fundamental to the relationship between our two countries today. This was a battle that hit both our nations hard, that caused our nations to re-examine who and what we were,'' Mikkelsen said.
ANZAC is attributed to the soldiers of these countries that landed in Gallipoli, Turkey, on April 25, 1915.
After the Second World War, the date became a day of remembrance for the dead of both World Wars and later Korea and Vietnam.
Veterans remember fallen comrades in emotional ANZAC service in Dubai
Veterans remember fallen comrades in emotional ANZAC service in Dubai