Aussies celebrate Anzacs with pride

AUSTRALIANS have proved the Anzac spirit is alive and well, with huge numbers attending dawn services across the country, as the centenary of Gallipoli nears.

Tens of thousands of people stood motionless in the darkness to remember their fallen countrymen and women as they marked the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli in 1915.

As the ceremonies and marches got under way around the world, those celebrating Anzac Day got in to games of Two-Up, while drinking beers and toasting to our fallen and present soldiers who have died and continue to protect our country.

The young and old ventured out to watch and congratulate veterans who marched across our states, and overseas.

Patrons play Two-up at the Australian Hotel in The Rocks, Sydney on ANZAC Day. Picture: John Feder Source: News Limited

Fred Bagshaw, 92 - Anzac Day march in Sydney. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: News Limited

Positive news has also emerged today, after a World War II digger who lost his war medals at an Anzac Day service in southern NSW has been reunited with them after his plea went viral on social media.

ANZAC Day March in Sydney where veterans soaked up the atmosphere along George St. Picture: John Feder

Maurice Dore, a 90-year-old veteran of the New Guinea campaign, noticed he was missing his medals after leaving a church service in Albury. Soon after, he made a plea via local media in the hope of getting the medals back.

The appeal quickly went viral on social platforms, with more than 60,000 people reportedly viewing it on Facebook in the hours after it was posted.

Sailors Timothy Crosse, Andrew Harding, Aidan Greet and Matty Woods enjoy a beer after marching on Anzac Day in Sydney. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: News Limited

On seeing the Facebook alert, a local high school student responded that the medals had been handed in to a nearby RSL by an unknown person.

Mr Dore was reunited with his medals - just three hours after they had disappeared.

Huge crowds gathered in the darkness to pay their respects to the past and present Australian service men and women at the Dawn service here in ANZAC Cove in Gallipoli, Turkey. Brendon Russo and Helen Wright from the New Zealand's North Island at this morning's ceremoney. Picture: John Ferguson Source: News Limited

The Dawn Service Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Picture: Gary Ramage

Meanwhile, in Gallipoli, the dawn service at Anzac Cove was disrupted by a protester.

A middle-aged man started yelling in Turkish just after Australian Veterans Affairs Minister Warren Snowden had finished his address.

Moments after he'd finished speaking, a protester, who later gave his name as Ali Risa Ersoy, started yelling in Turkish.

The man was eventually led away from the commemorative site and questioned by the Turkish gendarmerie.

A Turkish newspaper reporter told AAP the man had been yelling: "The Australian police are trying to kill me."

Local authorities told Australian reporters the man had not been arrested but was being "interrogated"

Extracts from letters of WWI veterans will be read out at the new-look dawn service in Canberra.

A Seven Network cameraman who saw the incident at close quarters said the man pulled out an Australian passport when he was being questioned by the Turkish police.

He waved at Australian reporters while being questioned by authorities.

A protestor attempts to disrupt an Anzac Day Dawn Service in Gallipoli. Picture: Charles Miranda Source: News Limited

Numbers of those attending the dawn service were down on previous years with about 5200 making the trek - about a thousand less people than last year and just on half as few from the high in 2005.

Huge crowds gathered in the darkness to pay their respects to the past and present Australian service men and women at the Dawn service here in ANZAC Cove in Gallipoli, Turkey. Picture: John Ferguson Source: News Limited

But the service's director Tim Evans said interest was fairly static and was likely to increase next year in the final dry run before the balloted 2015 centenary commemorations where the capacity of 10,500 will attend.

Julia Gillard lays a wreath during the dawn service in Townsville. Picture: Getty Images

Across the nation, thousands turned out to share in the Anzac spirit by marching and honouring their war time heroes.

In Afghanistan, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, taking part in the last Anzac day service at Tarin Kowt, can look back with pride on their service.

"It would have been an incredibly special day today as a time to reflect on what's been achieved ... and to think about what the future will bring," Ms Gillard told Fairfax Radio today.

The prime minister spoke to Captain Ann Miller, who is based in Tarin Kowt, after the dawn service.

Ms Gillard told her that Australians thought about the nation's military personnel based there every day, but especially on Anzac day.

"They are there in the Anzac tradition doing such important and dangerous work for our nation," she said, adding the Australian mission had made much progress in Afghanistan and there was so much to be proud of.

Crowds gathered across the nation as Victoria Cross recipient Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith recited letters from his mates, both fallen and fighting, in a moving tribute to Diggers on Anzac day.

Capt Miller described the Tarin Kowt service as a "very beautiful''.

Cooper Twyford marching for his Great grandfather Dunford Barrass, Anzac Day march in Sydney. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: News Limited

"The chief of army (David Morrison) gave a very stirring speech, and then when we saw the dawn break, as the flag was raised the breeze picked it up," she said.

Most Australian troops will leave Afghanistan by year's end as part of Australia's withdrawal from Tarin Kowt.

In France, Australia's history, including the Anzac legend, belongs to all who live in it whether they are born there or immigrate, Foreign Minister Bob Carr has told a commemorative service in France.

David and Sue Doughty from Boronia and their grandchildren Riley, 3, and Isabella, 8, around the eternal flame at the Shine of Remembrance in Melbourne. Picture: Nicole Garmston

"All of us linked across the world by the same duty to honour and remember, and by the same sense of the loss and waste of war," he said.

The answer to why so many were drawn to such services could be found in the men who gave their lives - a cross-section of the Australian people.

Senator Carr said a fifth of those who served in the First World War had been immigrants to Australia, including the great general Sir John Monash.

From left, Georgia Totham, 19, of Launceston, Jessica Totham, 22, of Launceston, and Jessica Faithfull, 18, of Bundaberg, from Australia, walk after a wreath-laying ceremony at the Australian National Memorial, in Villers-Bretonneux, northern France, on ANZAC Day Thursday, April 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler) Source: AP

"This serves to remind us that we were then and remain today a nation of immigrants," he said.

"That the more recent arrivals are part of our living history and that all the history of modern Australia, including the story of Anzac, belongs to them equally wherever they were born."

Huge crowds have gathered to honour Australia's fallen soldiers at Sydney's Anzac dawn service.

French veterans affairs minister Kader Arif said it was unthinkable today that any nation would send one-tenth of its population overseas to fight on behalf of another country.

"You have fought in France as though this country was your own," he told the service.

"Today we welcome you here as our brothers."

The wartime link between Australia and France was also commemorated in Canberra, with about 150 people attending a service at the French embassy.

The Last Post is played during an ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day ceremony at The Australian War Memorial on April 25, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

In London, thousands of Australians and New Zealanders have gathered in London's Hyde Park for an Anzac Day dawn service. A mild morning greeted the crowd at the Australian War Memorial.

Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith with the children of fallen Diggers: Keegan Locke, 17, the son of Sergeant Matthew Locke and the children of Sergeant Blaine Diddams, Elle-Lou, 16, and Henry, 14 in Canberra today. Picture: Gary Ramage

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop attended the ceremony and will lay a wreath.

A wreath-laying parade and ceremony at the Cenotaph on Whitehall and a memorial service at Westminster Abbey will be held later on Thursday.

The Australian and New Zealand war memorials in London are located diagonally opposite each other and take turns to hold the dawn service in alternate years.

Anzac Day commemorations have taken place in London since 1916.

It's estimated about 300,000 Australians and 200,000 New Zealanders reside in the UK.

In Sydney, former Defence Force chief Peter Cosgrove wants families to dig out the diaries and letters of World War I diggers and share their stories with the nation 100 years on.

Around 40,000 people paid tribute to Australia's fallen soldiers at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.

ANZAC Day March in Sydney. General Peter Cosgrove, Chair of NSW Centenary of ANZAC Committee Picture: John Feder Source: News Limited

General Cosgrove, chairman of the NSW Centenary of Anzac Committee, marched in Sydney on Anzac Day and said the next five years was a time for sharing stories of the 1914-18 war.

He marched with the 9th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment and told reporters the cheers from the crowd were uplifting for the veterans.

"People wearing grandpa's medals, great-grandpa's medals, turned up and marched with the veterans who are still up and about," Gen Cosgrove said.

"To me that's special ... I like the idea that there's a transference of something important within family groups from one generation to the next."

ANZAC Day March in Sydney today. A digger soaks up the atmosphere. Picture: John Feder Source: News Limited

People gather around the eternal flame at the Shine of Remembrance in Melbourne for the dawn service. Picture: Garmston Nicole

In Townsville north of Queensland, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Australian children will be the driving force behind Anzac day for ''all of time''.

The PM said she is encouraged by the the number of young people attending Anzac day services around the country.

''The thing I always look for is the number of children and there are just more and more and more,'' she told ABC TV.

Parents often freely admitted to her that it was their children who ''dragged'' them to services.

''It's actually the children who are driving the next level of engagement.

''I think that means that for all of time we will commemorate Anzac day and think about who we are as Australians on that day.''

The director of Veterans SA has talked about the pain inherited by the families of soldiers killed in war.

Ms Gillard said for her personally the day was about the ''spirit of being Australian, and our history and what's forged us and shaped us''.

One thing the Prime Minister won't be doing today is enjoying a rum and milk at the local RSL.

''I'll have to rule that out,'' Ms Gillard said.

After the service, the PM said it will take some years to assess the full extent of services needed to support veterans of Afghanistan and other recent conflicts.

Ms Gillard was responding to the concerns of Victoria Cross recipient Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith who worries wounded diggers could be forgotten as the Afghanistan conflict fell off the radar.

In Papua New Guinea, Governor-General Quentin Bryce has paid her respects to current and former Australian soldiers at an Anzac Day service at the Bomana war cemetery.

The Dawn Service Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Picture: Gary Ramage

At this morning's ceremony, Ms Bryce was joined by PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and Australian High Commissioner to PNG Deborah Stokes, as well as her PNG counterpart Sir Michael Ogio.

More than 2000 people armed with glow sticks crowded into Bomana, located about 19km outside of Port Moresby.

''Wherever we come from and wherever we go, this is a day that gives pause and silence to our journey,'' Ms Bryce said in a short speech.

''A moment to remember the Australian soldiers, merchant navy men and airmen - and members of the Papua New Guinea local forces - who died defending this territory and ours.

''The tranquility of this clearing belies the desperate, bloody confrontations of the Kokoda campaign that took place beyond.''

Bomana is final testing place to more than 3000 soldiers killed serving in Papua New Guinea.

The Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Brisbane. Picture: Mark Calleja

Australia and PNG formed close ties during World War II, with Australian soldiers being aided by locals known as Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels.

Ms Bryce will later fly to Isurava and Kokoda to pay her respects at memorials in both locations.

Anzac Day will mark the fourth day of Ms Bryce's five-day state visit to PNG.

Delivering the Anzac Day address at Hellfire Pass in Thailand, Defence Minister Stephen Smith paid tribute to former Australian and New Zealand prisoners of war, saying the way they looked out for each still rightly inspired the two nations.

Mr Smith said one in five prisoners, including 2800 Australians who never came home, perished as they worked on the infamous Thai-Burma Railway during World War II.

Mr Smith said the most notorious stretch of the railway claimed the lives of 700 POWs in just four months in 1943.

The dawn service at the cross on Mt Macedon in Victoria. Picture: Jay Town

''Those POWs who did survive suffered crippling damage to their health,'' Mr Smith said.

Many died after the war at a significantly higher rate than other veterans.

''The endurance of the Australian and New Zealand POWs and the way they looked out for each other still rightly inspires our two nations.''

Four former Australian POWs have returned to Thailand on a pilgrimage to the place where they worked as prisoners of the Japanese 70 years ago.

Mr Smith said he was honoured by their presence.

''Being in this place will be a deeply poignant reminder for them of their own endurance, of fallen mates, of their bond with those who suffered alongside them, of those who helped them survive,'' he said.

More than 17,000 attend the 2013 Anzac Day National Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Picture: Ray Strange Source: News Limited

In Canberra, Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith has marched with the children of his fallen comrades in Canberra to mark ANZAC Day.

Keegan Locke, 17, the son of Sergeant Matthew Locke and the children of Sergeant Blaine Diddams - Elle-Lou, 16, and Henry, 14 - took part in the National Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial today.

Corporal Roberts-Smith spoke with the kids and comforted them before the walk.

Corporal Roberts-Smith made a moving tribute to Sgt Locke during the dawn service in Canberra, reciting the words of the son of Matthew Locke, killed in action in Afghanistan's Chora Valley in 2007.

''Whenever something challenges me and I think of giving up I can feel dad looking down on me cheering me on. His death left a hole in my heart but his spirit has given me the motivation to push myself further than ever before,'' wrote Keegan Locke.

Corporal Roberts-Smith paused and looked emotional as he read the words.

"I truly believe he has given me the gift of the Anzac spirit," he said.

Corporal Roberts-Smith spoke of a young soldier whose wife gave birth while he was in Afghanistan.

The soldier's wife cried as she told her husband what the baby boy looked like.

"Just like you she says, but with red hair," Corporal Roberts-Smith read.

Another soldier recalled killing on the battlefield.

"I felt so guilty and I still do."

More than 30,000 attended the service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, a large increase on previous years.

Corporal Roberts-Smith is the most public face of a call for younger veterans not only to attend dawn services but to march in parades.

Speaking after the service Corporal Roberts-Smith said he hoped the service today, and particularly the readings, helped give Australians an insight into what serving personnel went through.

''Particularly in Afghanistan - I don't think a lot of information comes out about what we do there,'' he said.

''It's still a real war and there are a lot of people going through it.''

Corporal Roberts-Smith said he had to rehearse his readings ''a couple of times'' because of the emotion behind them.

''The writings are from the guys hearts and to me, I know what they've done and what they've been through and yeah it is emotional.'' he said.

''The idea today was not to talk about the guts and blood it was to talk about the emotion and what people go through and what it means for them to serve. That's what's important and that's why we do it.''

The Anzac Day dawn service at the Australian War Memorial has featured some innovations, among them readings of accounts of Afghanistan by Australian servicemen and their families.

From midnight images of Australian servicemen and women, accompanied by the names of iconic battlefields from over a century of conflicts, were projected onto the Memorial building.

Excerpts from letters and diaries of Australians who experienced firsthand war were also read out from 4.30am.

War Memorial director and former defence minister Brendan Nelson said today's service was ''extraordinary''.

''From my perspective here today I think the dawn service has been an extraordinary event and I am very proud of all our staff and volunteers who made it happen,'' Dr Nelson said.

''Everyone we have spoken to has said we have more people here today than last year. It looks in excess of 30,000.''

A national ceremony will be held in Canberra from 10.15am, attended by Tony Abbott.

Mr Abbott said Anzac Day is the most sacred day in our national life.

''Today, we honour all who have served our country in war and in peace,'' Mr Abbott said in a statement.

''Australia is a better place because of their service and the world is a safer place because of their sacrifice.''

Corporal Roberts-Smith will be accompanied by the children of Sergeant Locke and Sergeant Blaine Diddams, both killed in Afghanistan in the march at the war memorial later on this morning.

As well as the readings from Afghanistan, the memorial displayed the names of iconic Australian battles which were have flashed onto the side of the memorial building - Lone Pine, Long Tan, Gallipoli and many more - as thousands in Canberra gathered for the Anzac Day dawn service.

And with them have appeared the images of Australian men and women taken in more than a century of conflict.

The dawn service outside the memorial has attracted ever increasing crowds - an estimated 25,000 last year -with the expectation of a record much crowd as the centenary of World War I and the Gallipoli landing approaches.

The dawn service will be followed by the Anzac Day indigenous commemoration at the memorial behind the war memorial complex.

Australia plans to have the majority of troops out of Afghanistan by December.

Currently around 1600 Australian servicemen and women are in the war-torn nation.

In Sydney, a parade of 20,000 serving and former defence force personnel is setting off in Sydney, 98 years to the day since the landings at Gallipoli.

The Anzac Day Dawn Service 2013 held at Martin Place, Sydney. A large crowd turned out under a bright moonlit sky at 4am. It was a chilly morning but fine weather to greet the thousands here to pay their respects. Picture: William Hearne Source: News Limited

Marchers and bands gathered around Martin Place for the 9am (AEST) start of the Anzac day Parade, which will pass the Cenotaph before heading up George Street and on to Hyde Park.

With no surviving World War I diggers to take part this year, those who served will be represented by a memorial horse and the flags of units that fought in that conflict.

NSW Governor Marie Bashir will lead the parade that features more than 45 military, cadet, college and school bands.

Former Defence Force chief General Peter Cosgrove, chair of the NSW Centenary Committee, will march with the 9th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment.

''I'll get in the ranks with the boys and we sort of shuffle around . . . I'm always more focussed on the bloke in front because you've got to stay in step, that's sometimes a challenge,'' he told the Seven Network.

During the parade there will be flyovers of RAAF Hawk fighter trainer and aircraft from the Historical Aircraft Society.

Earlier, thousands filled Sydney's Martin Place for a dawn service and heard the Anzac spirit continues to inspire Australian servicemen and women in current conflicts across the world.

Tim Barrett, Commander Australian Fleet, gave the Anzac Day address to a sombre crowd at Martin Place.

''It was on this day that Australia's national identity was forged in the courage and determination of our young men,'' he said.

''Their fighting prowess, irrepressible humour and sense of mateship would come to symbolise the triumph and the spirit over adversity and defeat.

''It is this Anzac spirit that shows us not who we are intrinsically as Australians but who we want to be as a nation.

''It has inspired Australian servicemen and women for almost a century and it continues to inspire those who are right now deployed to conflicts across the world serving our nation.

''It is a time to think of the 3000 or so men and women of the Australian Defence Force who are currently serving with great distinction overseas from South Sudan, Egypt to the Middle East, Afghanistan, in the Southeast Asian region and the South Pacific.''

Among those in the crowd was Blue Mountains resident Michael Adams, who was draped in military medals.

''My father was in World War II in New Guinea and my great grandfather was killed over in France in 1917 so I come here every year to honour them, as well remember those who have been left behind,'' Mr Adams said.

Vietnam veteran Col Kelson has attended the dawn service in Sydney for 28 years.

''Why wouldn't you come,'' the 64-year-old said.

''Let's face it, there's lots of blokes that aren't; never had the opportunity to be here today.

''It's all about them.''

Wreaths were laid at the Martin Place cenotaph by Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell, state Opposition Leader John Robertson and federal MP Tanya Plibersek.

Special guests NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and retired Australian Army general Peter Cosgrove were due to attend the service too.

Parts of George, Pitt, Castlereagh and King streets have closed for the Anzac Day parade.

Melbourne's Anzac Day parade passes Flinders Street Station. Picture: Mark Wilson Source: News Limited

In Brisbane, more than 20,000 people cheered on veterans of wars past and present as the Anzac day march wound through the city centre.

Super Hornets shot through Brisbane's clear blue skies to kick start the march at 10am (AEST).

Jeeps and buggies carried some of the World War II veterans, including one of a few surviving World War II Rats of Tobruk, Captain Neil Russell.

Parade organisers say WWII veterans' numbers are dropping with just 17 at today's parade.

Three former RAAF pilots, who served in the Vietnam War, Ron Mitchell, 65, Lachie Milne, 62, and John Thynne, 62, told AAP they are pleased to see the number of well-wishers grow every year.

All three had mates who died in the war and had fathers and grand fathers who fought in World War I and II.

''I spend a lot of the earlier part of the day thinking about my dad and my granddad. I get teary just thinking of it,'' Mr Mitchell told AAP.

''I'm proud of them and everyone else for what they did.''

He says they always look forward to having a drink with mates after the march and sharing war stories.

Up to 18,000 people filled ANZAC Square in Brisbane's inner city for a dawn service.

All but about 100 ignored the invitation to beat the crowd and watch the event live on screens in King George Square.

There were old diggers glistening with medals and young diggers standing in suits.

Some people dressed up, others came in warmer tracksuits and groups of school children stood in uniform.

As the Reveille drifted over those remembering, some broke into a sob, but others stood tall.

Tony Smith, a Vietnam veteran who organised the dawn service, says it's fantastic so many showed up.

''For me it's great, my grandfather fought on the Western Front and my dad was in Tobruk,'' he told AAP.

''And I remember my own mates in Malaya and Vietnam.

''Everyone here has someone or something to meditate on today, even if it's just an idea.''

Dawn services to remember the fallen

In her address, the Governor of Queensland Penelope Wensley reminded the crowd that Anzac Day was, in the midst of sorrow, to "celebrate the Anzac spirit" 98 years after the legend was born on the shores of Gallipoli.

Ninety-five-year-old Neil Russell, a veteran of the Middle East and the Pacific, will be just one of many living stories in the Queensland capital's march.

As a 25-year-old first lieutenant, he helped stop the Japanese from taking Port Moresby in the 1942 Battle of Milne Bay.

He says when the order came to fix bayonets and charge, his company "stormed the enemy stronghold".

"And the Japs shot off like a Bondi tram," he said.

Melbourne's Anzac Day parade makes its way down St Kilda Road. Picture: Mark Wilson Source: News Limited

In Melbourne, thousands of Victorians are lining St Kilda Road for the annual Anzac Day march, after near-record crowds attended the dawn service.

Crowds have gathered from Flinders St to the Shrine of Remembrance in an emotional salute to our Diggers.

About 45,000 people assembled in the dark for the dawn service and stood in silence as the Last Post rang out across the Shrine.

Anzac Day Parade in Melbourne. Picture: Aaron Francis Source: News Limited

Commemorations started at 5.45am and will be followed by a wreath laying service and march.

Shrine of Remembrance CEO Denis Baguley says it will be a very traditional service, reflecting the commemoration of Australian service men and women.

Service men and women march in a parade commemorating Anzac Day in Sydney. Picture: AP Source: AP

''It is a simple service, but one that is very poignant,'' he said.

He said everyone from young children to veterans would be attending the service.

AFL teams Essendon and Collingwood will clash at the MCG in the afternoon in their traditional Anzac Day clash, then the Melbourne Storm play the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL at nearby AAMI Park in the evening.

Meanwhile, former premier Ted Baillieu will head a committee to organise Victorian celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Anzac day.

Premier Denis Napthine said the state government was also making significant improvements to Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance, including a $45 million development of the undercroft to enhance its commemorative and educational capabilities.

Old friends perhaps? Greetings at Melbourne's Anzac Day parade. Picture: Mark Wilson Source: News Limited

In Adelaide, thousands of people have gathered along the route for the annual Anzac day.

Led off by representatives of the New Zealand forces, the march looks set to be blessed by cool and dry conditions.

It will take those marching from the war memorial on North Terrace to the Cross of Sacrifice where the final Anzac day services will be conducted.

Veterans' Affairs Minister Jack Snelling said he was impressed by the respect shown by South Australians to those who served.

''I am heartened by the way South Australians show their appreciation to those who have served in every conflict in which Australia has been involved, from the Boer War to the current conflict in Afghanistan,'' Mr Snelling said.

The dawn service attracted a crowd of more than 5000 in keeping with a recent increase in numbers.

A video featuring Australian diggers fighting at the Somme in France during World War I was played in Adelaide, marking a departure from the traditional service that has been attended by growing crowds in recent years.

The video will form part of a film to mark the Anzac centenary in 2015.

The dawn service heard the families of soldiers killed in war inherit a legacy of mourning and unimaginable emotional pain.

Veterans SA director Bill Denny said 300,000 Australians had died in 51 conflicts from 1863 to the present day.

But he said that national loss ignored the enormous peripheral casualties of war - the millions of men, women and children who mourned or continue to mourn.

''Nowhere is that pain felt more keenly than among the families of someone killed at war,'' he said.

''Many times families had little involvement in the decision of their loved one to enlist.

''Occasionally they were vehemently against it, but could do nothing.

''In every case however they inherit a legacy of mourning and unimaginable emotional pain lasting their lifetime.''

Wreaths were also laid at the memorial with SA Governor Kevin Scarce, acting premier John Rau and Opposition Leader Steven Marshall among those to take part.

Also in South Australia, news research will try to determine what was so special about the Australian diggers who fought in World War I.

University of Adelaide PhD student Lachlan Coleman is comparing the resources available to Australian soldiers to those provided to their British comrades during the Hundred Days Campaign in northern France which paved the way for victory against the Germans.

War historian Robin Prior said little work had been done to understand why the Australian soldiers were so successful.

In Tasmania, the Anzac spirit has been credited for helping Tasmania through its worst bushfires in 50 years.

Tasmania Fire Service representatives are for the first time among those preparing for Hobart's Anzac day march.

The TFS has been invited to join the procession through the capital in the wake of January's devastating bushfires.

The parade made its way to the Hobart Cenotaph in the city's Queen's Domain, where Tasmanian Governor Peter Underwood delivered his annual Anzac day address.

A colourful crowd of several hundred lined major thoroughfare Macquarie Street, in cool and blustery conditions, many in uniform or wearing medals.

Earlier, more than 5000 attended the city's dawn service at the Hobart Cenotaph above the River Derwent.

In temperatures of around 6C, a crowd that spanned the generations heard Anglican Reverend Cyril Dann conduct the service.

The dawn service heard the lessons of sacrifice and mateship taught by Australia's World War One servicemen are still on display when times get tough.

The PM talks with former P.O.W Sidney King in Townsville. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images

Year nine student Hamish Pickford has recounted the story of an anonymous man who donated the generator from the back of his ute to a queue of people heading back to fire-ravaged Dunalley during January's crisis.

''He left without leaving a name or an address so it could be returned to him,'' Hamish said.

''He just gave it to them, a total stranger to the people of that town to this very day and he gave them hope.''

Ceremonies were taking place in around 50 towns around Tasmania, including a dawn service for the first time at Dunalley in the state's south.

Jodi Willcox brought her two daughters, aged seven and five, to remember their great-great grandfather who fought at Gallipoli.

''I think it's important for the children to understand the sacrifices that they made and that that's why we have all the things that we have today and can live the life we live,'' Ms Willcox told AAP.

Vietnam veteran Jim Lockhart's grandfather fought in the Boer War and his father in World War II.

Mr Lockhart will catch up with his three Tasmanian room-mates from recruitment training at Puckapunyal, having moved back home after 40 years in Queensland.

''It's a wonderful day and people should know what it's all about,'' he said.a large Anzac Day crowd has been greeted by a cold morning at the Hobart Cenotaph above the River Derwent.

Ceremonies will take place in around 50 towns around Tasmania, including a dawn service for the first time at bushfire-hit town Dunalley in the state's south.

A peacekeepers' service at Anglesea Barracks was attended by Australian Greens leader Christine Milne.

Images of terrified soldiers who had "pissed in their own pants'' have been used by Tasmania's governor to implore Australians not to glorify war on Anzac day.

Governor Peter Underwood says the country needs to remember the realities of conflict as the centenary of Anzac day approaches.

He has used a graphic description of an evacuation by a Vietnam War helicopter crewman to make his point.

The crewman describes soldiers being pushed out of an overcrowded chopper so it can take off and escape enemy fire.

He writes those being abandoned were so afraid "some had even pissed in their own pants".

Mr Underwood says Australia is in danger of overlooking the brutal reality of war as the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing approaches in 2015.

"That is what war is really like and, with respect to those who have a different view, I say that is how we should tell it to our children," he said.

The governor said the "real heroes'' of war were those who fought in fear because their country needed them.

"They deserve honouring and remembering as they struggled to overcome the terror and do their duty: not the mythical tall, lean, bronzed and laconic Anzac, enthusiastically and unflinchingly carrying the torch of freedom in the face of murderous enemy fire," he said.

"Australia needs to drop the sentimental myths that Anzac day has attracted.

"The soldiers of Gallipoli must be respectfully, but realistically honoured and each of us must remain resolute about peace."

Tasmanian RSL president and Vietnam veteran Chris Munday hailed the speech, but acknowledged some would find it controversial.

"That was the best speech I ever heard in my life," Mr Munday told AAP.

"That gentleman told the truth.

"It's bloody horrible."

In Perth, Australians have been urged to show the Anzac spirit of mateship and national pride every day, and not just once a year during the veterans march in Perth.

Residents of the Perth capital gathered in record numbers to honour veterans and present day diggers, with 50,000 gathering for the dawn service at Kings Park and even more then lining the streets of the city as hundreds of veterans marched.

Modern-day digger Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Willis, whose grandfather Robert Lowson was one of the original Anzacs to land at Gallipoli in 1915, led WA's main Anzac day march on a new route and with a new focus.

Vietnam veteran, former state and federal politician and now RSL WA president Graham Edwards said in his address the best way to honour the sacrifice of servicemen and women down the years was to live by their code every day.

"Perhaps we ought to better honour our Anzacs in our daily lives with those same qualities of humour, honour, sacrifice, mateship and a fair go for all," Mr Edwards said.

"Indeed if those same qualities were practised by all of us, including our nation's political, corporate and civic leaders, then we could give surely give truth and meaning to the saying - we will remember them."

Lt Col Willis said his pride at being able to lead the march was tempered with a realisation the Anzac tradition needed work to survive.

"The world and Australia have changed,'' Lt Col Willis said.

"But I'm sure those challenges can be met and the RSL can deliver like it did for my grandfather's generation."

WA governor Malcolm McCusker echoed the sentiment, saying Anzac day was about more than just the landing at Gallipoli in 1915 - it was about all wars that Australia had fought in and the people who gave their lives for the cause of freedom.

"To them we owe an enormous debt. A debt that we must never forget and which we must try to pay in our daily lives," he said.

Mr McCusker also paid tribute to the Aboriginal servicemen who were only in recent times acknowledged, as well as nurses and others who helped the wounded.

Young onlooker Maggie Wormold, 17, who had travelled from Busselton to attend the march, said she felt her generation was determined to retain the memories of the sacrifices of older Australians.

"It is important we never forget what they did in the last century, and what our forces are doing today," she said.

Vitalia and grandmother Val Mitchell at the start of the Melbourne parade. Picture: Mark Wilson Source: News Limited

The WA government, meanwhile, says work to prepare the historic West Australian coastal city of Albany for next year's Anzac commemorations will be completed on time.

The site where thousands of Australian and New Zealand troops departed for Egypt and then Gallipoli in Turkey in 1914 needs to be finished by November 1 next year, when there will be a re-enactment of the departure of ships from King George Sound.

In Darwin, Veterans of World War II and more recent battles were overjoyed to see the crowds of young people who turned out for Darwin's Anzac Day.

"I am impressed by all the young people here,'' said 94-year-old WWII veteran Ted Milliken.

Lieutenant Milliken, who was too frail to march and was driven along the parade route, said seeing them line the streets made him happy.

He served aboard a ship in the Pacific during the war and while it was a "bit hairy", his vessel had never come under direct attack.

"I just got lucky," he said.

Air Surveillance Officer Rachel Boyles, aged 24, who served in Afghanistan with the Air Force in 2008 and 2009, praised the large turnout of people at Darwin's dawn service and Anzac Parade.

"It is really good to see the younger generation getting involved," she said.

Among the 3000-strong crowd who attended the dawn service in the city, many were of school age.

Fifteen-year-old Geoffrey King said it was his dream to join the air force one day.

"I have attended every dawn service since I was four," he said.

Earlier Bill Buckley, vice-president of the Darwin RSL, said in his speech that Alec Campbell, the last Australian veteran of the Gallipoli campaign, had warned Australians to never to glorify the event.

"It was a terrible fiasco, a total failure and best forgotten," Mr Buckley quoted him as saying. Mr Campbell died in 2002 aged 103.

Darwin turned on a cloudless morning and warm temperatures as the service was held overlooking Darwin Harbour under a full moon.

Members of the armed forces of Australia and the United States - which has a contingent of marines stationed in Darwin - laid wreaths at the cenotaph.

David Alford, 49, an ex-navy seaman, said he came to show respect for his country.

"I think this is a very important celebration of our proud history," Mr Alford said.

Military Police officer David Bates, who recently served in Afghanistan, said it was good to be in Darwin after the desolation he had seen overseas.

Lance Corporal Sean Starling was one of hundreds who lined Darwin's streets on Thursday to watch the Anzac Day parade, although he prefers not to march himself.

He served in Oruzgan province in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2011.

"It is important to show support for the old diggers," he said.

Australians and American marines, who are stationed in Darwin for training during the dry season, also took part in the parade.

A riderless horse signifying unknown soldiers who died in past campaigns led the parade and was followed by veterans from many of the conflicts Australia has been involved with.

About 200 US Marines are stationed in Darwin, and two platoons of Americans, about 90 people, took part in Anzac Day proceedings today.

After dealing with temperatures from minus 15C to 50C in the deserts of Afghanistan, Sean Starling is glad he is now back in Darwin.

Lance Corporal Starling was one of hundreds who lined Darwin's streets to watch the Anzac day parade, although he prefers not to march in it himself.

He served in Uruzgan province in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2011.

''It is important to show support for the old diggers,'' he said when asked why he came.

''They are the blokes who really did it tough.''

- with AAP

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