To most Australians, ANZAC Day is a very special day in the year. The letters stand for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
Here is a map of the world so that you can see that New Zealand is not very far away from Australia.
Because our countries are so close we stay friends with New Zealand so that we can help each other if we have to, particularly in times of war because the rest of the world is so far away.
Our country Australia looks like this:
New Zealand is also a country and looks like this:
Each country has its own flag.
The Australian Flag looks like this:
The New Zealand Flag looks like this:
Sometimes Australians are called Aussies.
Our Australian soldiers are called Diggers.
New Zealanders are called Kiwis after their native bird.
Australian and New Zealand soldiers came from different places, homes and cultures -- some were teenage boys, others were fathers with young children. Some soldiers lived in cities, towns and villages back home. Some soldiers were Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia) and some soldiers were Australian South Sea Islanders.