In Australia at the 1921 State Premiers' Conference, it was decided that Anzac Day would be observed on 25 April each year.
(meta data) TITLE: The First Anzac Day in 1916 | History Channel on Foxtel (meta data) PUBLISHER: https://www.facebook.com/HISTORYAUNZ/ 19 captures 19 Apr 2017 - 25 Oct 2022 About this capture COLLECTED BY Organization: Internet Archive The Internet Archive discovers and captures web pages through many different web crawls. At any given time several distinct crawls are running, some for months, and some every day or longer. View the web archive through the Wayback Machine. Collection: Live Web Proxy Crawls Content crawled via the Wayback Machine Live Proxy mostly by the Save Page Now feature on web.archive.org. Liveweb proxy is a component of Internet Archive's wayback machine project. The liveweb proxy captures the content of a web page in real time, archives it into a ARC or WARC file and returns the ARC/WARC record back to the wayback machine to process. The recorded ARC/WARC file becomes part of the wayback machine in due course of time. The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20181123062018/https://www.historychannel.com.au/articles/the-first-anzac-day-in-1916/ # History Channel # The First Anzac Day in 1916 25 April 1916 The historic landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 was the starting point for a national tradition in both counties – known as Anzac Day. The first Anzac Day was commemorated on Tuesday, 25 April 1916, and was marked with a variety of ceremonies held both in Australia and England, where some 2000 Anzac troops marched through the streets of London. A memorial service followed at Westminster Abbey that was attended by King George V and his wife, Queen Mary. There was also a sports day conducted at the Australian Army Camp in Egypt. Marches were held across Australian capital cities with 4000 returned soldiers parading down Macquarie Street in Sydney, followed by a motorcade of 50 cars carrying their wounded comrades accompanied by nursing staff. This culminated in a large commemoration ceremony held at the Sydney Town Hall in George Street. In Adelaide "The Register" newspaper reported that "On the tick of 9 O'clock on Tuesday morning all trains and tramcars came to a standstill, and remained stationary for two minutes, while passengers stood and gave cheers for the King, the gallant Anzacs and the Empire". The scene in Brisbane was also impressive with the occasion used as a recruiting drive. Mounted soldiers rode past the Brisbane General Post office that was "festooned with flags, banners and a large sign with the words "Enlist Now". A wave of national pride swept the country, with the Anzac landing seen as a defining moment in the history of both Australia and New Zealand, and with the eventual defeat described as a "magnificent one". The 25th April was officially declared a public holiday in New Zealand in 1920, and in 1921, at the State Premiers Conference, it was decided that Australia would also officially observe Anzac Day on this same date each year. Image caption: This printed souvenir programme was made for the first Anzac Day ceremony after the end of World War One in 1919. Courtesy: Australian War Memorial. ## This Day in History #### November 23 Flemish Pretender Executed in London, 1499 Freediver Reaches 100 Metres, Defies Scientists, 1976 World's First Female Black President Elected, 2005 Find Out More ## TV Guide ## Featured ### World War Two: Total War ### National Library of Australia Exhibition ### ANZAC Stories ### PODCASTS What's on Foxtel Get Foxtel Foxtel Now Get Sky 7ads6x98y ### Newsletter Sign-up to receive the latest History Channel updates and offers. Email Address* By registering you agree to The History Channel Conditions of Use and Privacy NoticeNameThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. This iframe contains the logic required to handle Ajax powered Gravity Forms.
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Anzac Day
History.:From 1915 to World War II.

 For the remaining years of the war, Anzac Day was used as an occasion for patriotic rallies and recruiting campaigns, and marches of serving members of the AIF were held in most cities. From 1916 onwards, in both Australia and New Zealand, Anzac memorials were held on or about 25 April, mainly organised by returned servicemen and school children in cooperation with local authorities. Early morning services were solemn, with a more upbeat tone set for honouring returned soldiers during afternoon activities. 
 Australian troops did not return to great victory parades at the end of the war. This was partly because their arrival home depended on available shipping, but also because of the influenza epidemic of 1919, which prevented people assembling in large numbers. The 1919 Sydney parade was cancelled as a result, but a public commemorative service was held in the Domain, where participants were required to wear masks and stand three feet apart. 
 Anzac Day was gazetted as a public holiday in New Zealand in 1920, through the Anzac Day Act, after lobbying by the New Zealand Returned Services' Association, the RSA.