Malta joined a number of other countries in commemorating the 98th anniversary of Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day this morning at the Pietà military cemetery.
Wreaths were laid by President George Abela, the Australian High Commissioner Jane Lambert, Honorary Consul for New Zealand Jill Camilleri and a host of other dignitaries.
Anzac Day marks the ill-fated landings by British Empire and French troops on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey during World War I.
Some 50,000 members of the Australian imperial forces, from a total Australian population of just five million, served at Gallipoli and more than 8,700 Australians and 2,700 New Zealanders were killed in the campaign.
Malta was closely associated with the Anzacs from the beginning. Many of the Anzacs who were wounded at Gallipoli were evacuated to Malta for treatment.
History remembers Malta as “The Nurse of the Mediterranean”. However, for 274 Anzacs, the island became a permanent resting place as there are 202 Australian and 72 New Zealand war graves in Malta.
Anzac Day has been commemorated in Malta since 1916.