Because extremists have targeted annual ANZAC Day ceremonies in the past, concrete barriers were placed around the service in downtown Sydney to protect those who gathered at Martin Place. Villers-Bretonneux is now home to the main Australian Memorial of the Western Front. Phillipe said half the 313,000 Australians who fought in France and Belgium were wounded or died, forging “a brotherhood of spilled blood” with Australia’s allies. “You sometimes have to die far from home to honour and defend your country,” Phillipe told the gathering in French. “The attendance at this year’s dawn service shows the enduring connection so many people have to Anzac Day,” Memorial Director Brendan Nelson said in a statement.

Source: National Post April 24, 2018 22:30 UTC