A Guide To The Anzac Parade

When in the Australian capital of Canberra, you cannot call your visit complete without a walk through the famous Anzac parade, which is the city's most historically important road. The parade has been designed to be particularly imposing and important - both in the magnificent appearance it has and in the name, which is an acronym for the "Australian and New Zealand Army Corps" to whom it was dedicated to in World War I. The total length of the parade is two and a half kilometres and can be explored in less than a couple of hours, and the various memorials are a must visit to truly experience the Australian military experiences and dive in its past.

There is a specific order in which the memorials should be visited to maximise the impact, and the first stop is the "Australian Hellenic Memorial", where the resistance from the ANZAC and English troops is compared to the Spartans' holding their ground against the Persians in the same exact location. The seconds stop is the "Australian National Army Memorial", which focuses on the anonymity of each soldier. Next come the "Australian National Korean War Memorial" and "Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial" which are respectively dedicated to the over 300 soldiers who passed away during the Korean War and to those who participated in the US war against the Vietnamese. The "Desert Mounted Corps Memorial" is the fifth stop and it is dedicated to the formations who served in Egypt. It is followed by the "New Zealand Memorial" which was donated by the New Zealand government as a symbol of cooperation. "The Rats of Tobruk Memorial" on the other hand commemorates the siege of the homonymous Libyan city by various Allied forces which included the ANZAC troops. The last stops are the more modern memorials entirely dedicated to the Royal Australian Air Force (the eighth stop), the Australian Service Nurses (the ninth stop), and the Royal Australian Navy (the tenth stop). The final memorial, the “Kemal Ataturk" closes the circle of the collaboration of the Australian and New Zealand Army forces, commemorating 70 years of continuous operations since their first join mission.

It is worth taking another stroll at night, where the unique lighting system is put on display: these are the only public lights in the world that use plasma induction and can be programmed to emit more or less light depending on the crowd present at the parade. These lights are highly ecological because of their low pollution impact, low costs and maintenance, so much that they have never been replaced since their first installation in 2001.

The most popular day to visit the Anzac parade is on April 25, which is Anzac day: for the whole day, military troops and veterans perform a parade and march - to reminiscence their past companions and to keep the interest of the country's military traditions alive. Expect to find lots of other visitors throughout the year, especially if it is during the holiday seasons or on regular weekends.