A moving Anzac Day amid the graves of the fallen of the First World War. Dawn Service was at Polygon Wood where Australians took the wood in September 1917 and where sadly, many are buried who did not survive the battle.

It was lovely to meet old friends and colleagues from when I worked here and especially from when we held the centenary ceremony here in 2017. The event is organised by the local Zonnebeke community.

It was a foggy, cool morning which added to the atmospheric ambiance.

The second ceremony was at Tyne Cot cemetery, the largest Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in the world. This was also organised by a local Zonnebeke association. The cemetery is on the opposite side of Zonnebeke village from Polygon Wood and the battle there was called Broodseinde ridge in October 1917.

The third ceremony was under the Menin gate at 11am, a special ceremony for Anzac Day.

After the Menin Gate we walked to the Belgian memorial past the Cloth hall for a short wreath laying ceremony.

The last ceremony of the day was the regular Last Post ceremony at 8pm. We decided to lay a wreath for two names we know on the wall, one of which is my dear friend Skye’s relative.

I was also able to catch up with my dear friend Lea who was busy supporting the Ambassador and military representatives at the ceremonies.

It was a truly lovely experience to be back in Ieper and to commemorate Anzac Day surrounded by the fallen of the First World War. All of the speeches touched on the friendship between Australia, New Zealand and Belgium and mentioned that the work of maintaining relationships and peace is ongoing and not always easy, but is essential. The various speeches also touched on the current uncertainty in world events, drawing parallels to the First World War. They emphasised friendship and solidarity as the cornerstone to ensuring we don’t repeat errors of the past.

We ended the day with a few beers with the Last Post buglers who are truly amazing and dedicated men. Their daily act of remembrance is an inspiration to us all. They all have busy family lives and work and yet they make this enormous commitment to remembering the sacrifice of our dead.

It was a great Anzac Day. Lest we forget.