[Source: Reuters]

Thousands gathered across Australia and New Zealand on Thursday at Anzac Day services to commemorate those who fought and died in major conflicts in the nation’s history.

Anzac Day originally commemorated a battle on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey during World War One. At dawn on April 25, 1915, thousands of troops from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) were among a larger Allied force that landed on the narrow beaches of the Gallipoli peninsula, an ill-fated campaign that would claim more than 130,000 lives.

Today, Anzac Day, a public holiday, honours all Australian and New Zealand troops from all conflicts.

In Canberra, some 30,000 people attended a dawn memorial service at the war memorial, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.

Across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand, the National Anzac Day commemoration service in Wellington was cancelled due to strong winds, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Thousands of New Zealanders attended dawn services in other parts of the country including Auckland, the country’s most populous city, according to the news site.