Most countries have a defining moment in their history. New Zealand’s came on April 25, 1915 during World War I, when thousands of New Zealand and Australian troops stormed the beaches of Gallipoli in Turkey. This was a disastrous campaign and thousands lost their lives but from this time we no longer saw ourselves as being from ‘the old country’ (United Kingdom) – but as New Zealanders. ANZAC Day (April 25 each year) commemorates all those, from every conflict, who have served.