Darwin Cenotaph

Anzac Day originally commemorated the anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli Peninsula on 25 April 1915. It later became a day of respect for those who served and sacrificed their lives in the First and Second World Wars and now includes the remembrance of all Australians killed in military actions.

The origins of Anzac Day can be traced back to a procession organised in lieu of the usual Eight Hours Day public holiday pageant in South Australia on 13 October 1915. All profits from the festival were donated to the Wounded Soldiers Fund. An Anzac Remembrance Day to raise funds to provide comforts for soldiers serving overseas was also celebrated in Victoria on 17 December 1915. 

A public meeting in Brisbane on 11 January 1916 determined that the first anniversary of the Australian landings at Gallipoli should be celebrated in Queensland on 25 April under the title “Anzac Day.” All other states were then invited to consider similar action. Although Anzac Day had been discussed at the Premiers’ Conference in Melbourne in February 1916, no definite understanding regarding Anzac Day had been made. Such a commemoration was considered to be undesirable while the war was in progress. Instead small ceremonies were held in London and throughout Australia on 25 April 1916 to commemorate the anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

The Northern Territory’s first Anzac Day Memorial Service was held in Christ Church Darwin on 25 April 1916. Conducted by the Rector, the Rev. C. H. Massey, it took the form of a memorial celebration of the Holy Communion, to which special collects and prayers suitable to the occasion were inserted. In 1917 Capt. Eli Barker and over forty officers and men from the Darwin Garrison, headed by a piper, marched to Christ Church Darwin on 25 April to attend the Anzac memorial services. Anzac Day 1918 was observed in Darwin by a procession of war veterans and the permanent garrison headed by the Town Band followed by a memorial service.

Most of the servicemen had returned to Australia by the time the Peace Processions were being organised throughout the Commonwealth in 1919. The Peace Celebrations in Darwin on 19 July commenced with a procession from the Town Hall to the Esplanade followed by sporting events on the oval, a Chinese torchlight procession, an open air concert and a corroboree. A display of fireworks ended the evening. 

Monday 25th April 1920 (Anzac Day) was declared a public holiday throughout the Northern Territory and the Commonwealth. Special services were held in the three local churches and returned soldiers in the Railway Department were given time off without loss of pay to attend any parade or function. 

A public meeting in the Darwin Town Hall, was convened by the Mayor, Mr. R Toupein on 17 May 1920 to discuss the disposal of the Soldiers Memorial Fund held in trust since 1917. A Soldier’s Memorial was subsequently erected at Liberty Square, opposite Government House, Darwin and unveiled on 24 April 1921. It was relocated to the Civic Centre near Brown's Mart in 1970 and then to its present location in Bicentennial Park in 1992.