Anzac Day was marked on April 25 as Australians and New Zealanders honoured the anniversary of the first landing on the Gallipoli peninsula in 1915.

Two divisions of the new Australian and New Zealand Army Corps were joined by British, French and Indian troops in the first assault, but the hostile terrain and ferocious Turkish defence meant the invasion was doomed to fail.

By the time of the evacuation, at the end of the year, 36,000 Commonwealth, 10,000 French and 86,000 Turkish troops were dead.

97 years later ANZAC Day was marked at ceremonies all over the world, as Australians and New Zealanders remembered their fallen.

One of the biggest ceremonies was held at Villers-Brettonneux Memorial, the Australian National Memorial on The Somme.

The photo above shows the dawn service at Delhi War Cemetery.

Almost a hundred war graves in Darwen Cemetery in Lancashire have each been “adopted” by local people who tend the graves and make sure they are always tidy.

The headstones are inspected on a regular basis by our UK staff, but with responsibility for more than 13,000 sites in the UK – and hundreds of contractors involved in maintenance – it is inevitable that some graves can sometimes become neglected.

CWGC regional supervisor, Steve Lomas, said it was good to see so much public interest and involvement, and extra care being provided for the war graves.

The volunteer group is the Friends of Darwen Cemetery, and they have further plans for making the war graves in the cemetery more accessible in the future.

Group member, John East, said he was very pleased that many young people were Friends of the Cemetery; most of the graves had been “adopted” by children.

137 Birch trees have been removed from Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery in order to ensure the safety of both our staff and the public.

The trees were infected by the Piptoporus Betulinus fungus and two had already fallen down in the last year.

Our staff collaborated with the local authorities in Berlin and a team of specialist tree surgeons to remove all the trees and repair and re-level the ground.

All felled wood was shredded and collected by a local factory to be used as an environmentally-friendly means of producing electricity.

Discussions are currently underway to decide upon the most appropriate species to replace the trees with.

CWGC regional supervisors Carl Liversage and Malcolm Ross are teaming up to man the official recovery vehicle at this year’s Help For Heroes 4x4 European Rally.

The 2000 mile expedition will take 12 days and will see up to 45 teams pass through six countries in their 4x4s – following the route of the Second World War Allied Invasion through Europe.

Carl and Malcolm will be on hand to ensure that any vehicles that become stuck may be swiftly and safely recovered. The pair will also give their own presentations to make sure all participants are fully informed about the sites they are visiting.

Keep an eye out for updates from Carl and Malcolm over the next couple of months.

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence (Ret.) have visited several Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries in South Africa as part of a tour to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

The Princess Royal laid a wreath at Simon's Town (Dido Valley) Cemetery and met staff from the Commission's South African Agency.

There was also an element of personal pilgrimage as she visited the grave of Emily Roose, former nanny to her father the Duke of Edinburgh. 

A monument has been unveiled in Maarn to commemorate the British Lancaster crew who lost their lives in June 1943.

The monument will serve as a focus for remembrance for a local school, who will continue to care for and maintain it.

Squadron Leader Ch.Barstow attended the ceremony and laid a wreath on behalf of the British RAF.

The Lancaster crew are buried in the war graves plot in Amersfoort (Oud Leusden) General Cemetery.

The Canadian attack of April 1917 is often the event most readily associated with Vimy Ridge. While it was a brilliant feat of arms that will always be remembered, there is far more to Vimy than this single battle.

This month we feature the May 1916 German assault on British positions at Vimy - exploring the key role played by General Sir Henry Wilson.

The image above shows the Arras Memorial where a great majority of the casualties are commemorated.

Thanks to the Western Front Association (WFA) for providing this article. The WFA is a registered charity dedicated to perpetuating the memory of those who served in the First World War.

For further information about the WFA and how to join their association please visit their website.

Click below for the full feature.

The Commission has a commitment in 153 countries across the world, with no commemoration task too small.

Nowhere is this more true, than in Honduras, where our task centres around the commemoration of a single Second World War casualty, Royal Navy sailor Dennis Bradley.

Stoker Bradley, of H.M.S. Padstow, died on 9 September 1946, aged 18, and is buried in Tela New Cemetery in the Republic of Honduras.

His grave comprises a standard Commission headstone mounted on a large concrete base.

Honduras is located in Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua.

Tela New Cemetery was formerly owned by the Tela Railroad Company.