Fallen soldiers remembered at Gallipoli dawn service

2.30pm

Allied soldiers who fell in World War I battles on the fields of Gallipoli were remembered today at a service at Anzac Cove on the Turkish peninsula.

Leading the New Zealand delegation at the dawn service, Local Government Minister Sandra Lee -- who was wearing a red poppy given to her by the Returned Services Association -- said Anzac Cove, April 25, 1915, represented a time and place forever part of what it meant to be a New Zealander.

"The young New Zealanders who landed here 87 years ago came ashore late in the morning, into a scene of carnage," she said.

Most of the 600 New Zealanders killed on April 25 died in bitter fighting for a hill known as Baby 700. The position was lost and the Anzacs were driven back.

"This is where the Anzac tradition began, on that first day of the Gallipoli ordeal. It came down to the way ordinary New Zealanders and Australians stood by their mates in the face of danger...

"The enthusiasm with which young New Zealanders went off into the so-called adventure of war is thankfully a thing of the past," Ms Lee said.

The lesson from Gallipoli and other wars since was that war was a cruel and heart-breaking experience.

Of the 8566 New Zealanders who fought in the Gallipoli campaign, 2515 were killed in action while another 206 died of disease and other causes. A further 4752 were wounded.

"Almost every family in New Zealand was affected by this tragedy."

The Anzac spirit today was one of peace, not war.

"Today we remember the bravery of all the soldiers who fought here: from New Zealand and Australia, from other parts of what was then the British Empire, and from France; as we also remember the Turkish soldiers who bravely defended their homeland."

It was a legacy to and responsibility of those countries now to ensure their sacrifice was not in vain, Ms Lee said.

- NZPA

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