Australians are remembering the courage shown by Anzac soldiers at Gallipoli during dawn services, laying of wreaths and marches across the nation.

Friday marks the 110th anniversary of Australian and New Zealand soldiers landing before dawn on Turkish shores on April 25, 1915, alongside British, French and Indian troops.

More than 8000 Australian soldiers died during the unsuccessful campaign to control the Dardanelles Strait.

Scene from the Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Cenotaph in Martin Place in Sydney. Photo: AAP

Dawn services and marches across the nation are honouring the enduring contributions of service personnel at Gallipoli and the 110 years since, RSL Australia national president Greg Melick said.

“The Gallipoli campaign was the first major military action involving Australian and New Zealand forces,” he said.

“They held their ground against almost impossible odds for eight months in the ravines and gullies of that rugged battleground, suffering terrible casualties.

“They fought with endurance, courage, ingenuity, good humour, and mateship.”

Veterans lay wreaths at the Cenotaph.  Photo: AAP

Hundreds braced the rain and lined city streets to pay respect for Australia’s fallen soldiers at the pre-dawn service at The Cenotaph in Martin Place, Sydney.

Members of the public gathered around the memorial and its striking message – “to our glorious dead” – while dignitaries and other representatives laid traditional wreaths.

Photo: AAP

Major General Matt Burr delivered a powerful commemoration address, encouraging new Australians and first-time dawn service attendees to seek out veterans and share in their stories.

“Our women and men in uniform are just like you in many ways; from all backgrounds, from all across our communities,” he said.

“All Australians own and are part of the same legacy … the legacy of the first Anzacs who answered that call of duty, leaving behind the comforts of home and the warmth of loved ones to serve Australia.”

Continuing tradition, NSW Premier Chris Minns recited Australian writer and World War I veteran Sydney Elliott Napier’s poem Salute.

“You who have loved will remember the glow of their glad young years, as you stand to-day to salute them in silence, with pride and with tears,” he read.

Former Air Force warrant officer and Aboriginal elder Harry Allie welcomed attendees to Gadigal country and touched on Indigenous Australians’ history within the defence force.

“As Indigenous Australians were not of European descent, they were exempt from military service during the time of World War I,” he said.

“(But) it has been estimated that up to 1000, perhaps more, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people came forward to enlist … it is not known what motivated Indigenous Australians to enlist but loyalty and patriotism without doubt played a part.”

Minns, Lieutenant-Governor Andrew Bell and Police Commissioner Karen Webb were among those in attendance.

Photo: AAP

New Zealand’s contributions to the fighting forces were also marked, including through a performance of the traditional Maori hymn Song of Sorrow.

Later on Friday, more than 8000 serving Australian Defence Force members and veterans, including some who fought in World War II, will march from Martin Place to the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to line the route to honour those marching.

The marchers will include veterans who saw service in World War II, Korea, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam, The Gulf War, East Timor and other UN peacekeeping missions.

Veterans will return to the cenotaph for a sunset service to close the official commemorations.

Governor-General Sam Mostyn, whose father served in the army for four decades, will be the most senior Australian representative at a dawn service at Gallipoli Cove.

“As commander-in-chief of the Australian Defence Force, the daughter of a veteran and a proud Australian, it will be a privilege to commemorate my first Anzac Day as Australia’s Governor-General at the 110th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli,” she said.

Melbourne’s Anzac Day march starts at 8.30am and Sydney will follow at 9am with the annual parade starting in Martin Place and moving through city streets.

A parade in Brisbane will bring out thousands of people and in Perth a gunfire breakfast at Government House Gardens is expected to host about 2000 people.

The day will turn more festive with rousing roars as two-up, a past time for soldiers on the battlefield, is played at RSLs throughout Australia.

Election campaign pause

Campaigning on the federal election trail will again take a pause as leaders stop to remember Australia’s fallen soldiers.

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton will pay their respects by marking Anzac Day at dawn services.

The prime minister will attend the service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, while the opposition leader will be at an event in Brisbane early in the morning.

Albanese said it was important to take time out of the flurry of campaigning to honour Australia’s defence forces, 110 years after the Gallipoli landings.

“As we gather around cenotaphs or watch the parades, we reflect on all who have served in our name and all who serve now,” Albanese said on Friday morning.

“We contemplate the debt we owe them – those who finally came home, their hearts reshaped by all they had seen, and those who tragically never did.

“Anzac Day asks us to stand against the erosion of time. So each year, we renew our vow to keep the flame of memory burning so brightly that its glow touches the next generation and the generation after that.”

The opposition leader said Anzac Day commemorations would also have special significance, with 2025 being the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

“Barely a city or town, a suburb or street, a community or citizen was unscathed in some way by the catastrophe of that all-encompassing conflict,” Dutton said.

“We particularly express our gratitude to the one million Australians who served and served with great honour. We honour the 39,000 Australians who gave their lives.”

Dutton attended the Harbour Sunset Tribute in Sydney on Thursday afternoon, paying tribute to the nation’s veterans and troops.

“It’s an incredibly important occasion to speak to this generation, to future generations, about the importance of Anzac Day,” he said.

Hundreds of people attended the event, which included the descendants of veterans from the two World Wars.

Veterans young and old proudly wore their medals on display.

—AAP