This year, however, promises to be the most significant of all as we commemorate 100 years since that first, fatal and blood-soaked landing on the beach at Gallipoli.

While much has been written and said about the circumstances surrounding that landing, it is worth pausing for a moment to reflect on how that battle, and others during World War I, have helped shape the Australian character.

During the fighting at Gallipoli the Australians displayed their courage in the face of overwhelming odds, tackling the situation with a youthful optimism infused with courage, tenacity and a determination to not buckle under pressure.

The attributes that helped carry the Australians on the battlefields are still highly prized in our society.

We praise the Australians who show the same sort of qualities in business, on the sporting fields, and providing leadership in our communities, yet we can trace these attributes back to the battlefields of World War I.

The lessons also extend to honour among former combatants.

In this, the words of the commander of the Turkish 19th Division during the Gallipoli campaign, Kemal Ataturk, provide a valuable guide.

He went on to become the first President of the Turkish Republic, and had his words engraved in Anzac Cove.

They said, “Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives. You are now living in the soil of a friendly country therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”