Crowds will be gathering on the Weymouth seafront to honour former Australian and New Zealand personnel.
Weymouth Town's Anzac Day wreath-laying ceremony is an annual event that will be held on Tuesday, April 25 at 11am.
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) Day, is held every year on April 25. It marks the anniversary of the start of the First World War Gallipoli landings and is a national day of remembrance for both countries to honour and remember former service personnel.
The Mayor of Weymouth Cllr Ann Weaving, Cllr Christine James, Armed Forces Covenant Champion, veterans, Lt Cdr Kara Wansbury, Royal Australian Navy, Lt Cdr James Williams, Royal New Zealand Navy will gather at the Anzac Memorial, located on the seafront opposite to the Hotel Prince Regent.
Cllr Ann Weaving, Mayor of Weymouth, said: “To be laying a wreath at the memorial to remember the many Anzacs who came to Weymouth is an honour. It’s opposite what was once Burdon’s Military Hospital – now the Prince Regent Hotel – where soldiers were evacuated from the beaches of Gallipoli to recover from the traumas of war.
“Tuesday’s service is open to the wider community to attend, in recognition of the sacrifices made by personnel of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.”
The Anzac Memorial on Weymouth seafront commemorates the thousands of Australian and New Zealand volunteer service personnel who passed through camps and hospitals in Dorset during the First World War between battles in the Middle East and those on the Western Front in Europe.
Thousands of Anzac troops died alongside British allies in the ill-fated 1915 campaign.
A three-sided monolith memorial was unveiled on Weymouth's seafront on June 1, 2005, 90 years after the first Australian and New Zealand Army Corps Troops arrived in Weymouth after action in Gallipoli in 1915.
Ninety Anzacs died in Weymouth and lie buried in war graves in Weymouth.
The service will be carried out by the Mayor’s Chaplain, Honorary Alderman Rev’d Brian Ellis.
Members of the public are welcome to attend.
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