A century ago thousands of Anzac warriors came to the harsh cliffs of Gallipoli in an episode that shaped the character of Australia.
On Saturday, one hundred years on, eager Australians and New Zealanders came once again to the Turkish battlefields, this time in peace, and were urged not to forget the lessons they could draw from the Anzac legend.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott used his Anzac centenary speech in Gallipoli to urge Australians to learn from the example set by the soldiers who fought at the famous battlefield, saying they represented "Australia at its best".
Moving services have been conducted amid a huge security operation incorporating more than 5000 Turkish security personnel across the Gallipoli peninsula as 10,500 Australian and New Zealand pilgrims, heads of state and British royals marked the 100th anniversary of the landings.
The same spirit was mirrored back home, too, with record crowds turning up to services and marches all over the country to honour the original Anzacs and all those who have served their nation in conflict.
Mr Abbott told the Gallipoli Dawn Service the Anzac soldiers "became the founding heroes of modern Australia" in volunteering to serve, and paid tribute to military personnel who have fought in conflicts since the First World War.
"Even now, our armed forces are serving in the Middle East and elsewhere, defending the values that we hold dear," the prime minister said.
"Today, all of us who have not been tested in war salute all of those who have."
Prince Charles, who attended the Dawn Service with his son Prince Harry, read from the letters of Sergeant Benjamin Leane - one of five Leane brothers who served in World War I.
"I will take this opportunity to bid you goodbye, dear girl," he read from a letter Leane wrote to his wife the night before the landings.
"I trust that I will come through all right but it is impossible to say, and I must do my duty whatever it is."
Chief of Australia's Defence Force, Air Chief Marshall Mark Binskin, said the reality of war was revealed at Gallipoli.
"This is where the Anzac legend was born at great cost," he said.
Later in the morning, Prince Harry spoke at the service at Lone Pine, site of the August 1915 battle in which Australian troops suffered 2000 casualties fighting Turkish troops.
Prince Harry, who is on a two-month posting with the Australian Army, told the service that 100 years ago "great valour was a common virtue" at Lone Pine.
"While we honour their bravery, we must also remember the emotional cost, the guilt, sorrow and mental anguish of those who survived," the veteran of two tours of Afghanistan said.
Wrapped in green-and-gold beanies, sleeping bags and Australian flags against the night cold, pilgrims were sombre and orderly throughout the night, which ran smoothly despite questions over security and logistics in the lead-up to Anzac Day.
Pilgrims who made the hour-long walk to Lone Pine climbed Artillery Rd - a steep unsealed path - and passed a Turkish soldier every 20 metres, so tight was the cordon.
The high-visibility operation didn't concern those in the crowd at the tightly packed Dawn Service.
Melbourne lawyer Lindsey Wilson, who wore her grandfather's World War II medals, said it was surreal being in Gallipoli - a trip she had planned for 10 years - but she felt secure.
"It's awesome, I feel really safe and at home," she said.
"Obviously there's a lot of checks, so that's good."
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