Tears and tributes on Anzac Day
A teenager whose father's death in Afghanistan left a "hole in my heart" spoke for many thousands of Australians in saying his dad had passed on to him the priceless gift of the Anzac spirit.
As Australians around the world observed the 98th Anzac Day, remembering the nation's more than 100,000 war dead, 17-year-old Keegan Locke's words rang out in the chilly air of Canberra's dawn service.
"Whenever something challenges me and I think of giving up, I can feel dad looking down on me cheering me on," the teenager said in a message read by one of his dad's mates, Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith.
"His death left a hole in my heart but his spirit has given me the motivation to push myself further than ever before. I truly believe he has given me the gift of the Anzac spirit," said the son of Sergeant Matthew Locke, killed in Afghanistan in 2007.
That spirit was evident in the tens of thousands who attended dawn services and parades around the country and abroad.
It was evident in the words of the nation's leaders - Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Townsville, Governor-General Quentin Bryce in PNG, Defence Minister Stephen Smith at Hellfire Pass in Thailand and Veterans Affairs Minister Warren Snowdon at Gallipoli, the scene of the deeds in 1915 that inspired this day.
All spoke of the flourishing of the Anzac spirit, the sacrifice that spawned it and the burden of loss felt by those nearest and dearest to those who created it.
Prime Minister Gillard said she was encouraged to see that children were driving the "next level of engagement" with Anzac Day, indicating that Australians would commemorate it "for all time".
Mr Snowdon, speaking at the site where the Anzacs mistakenly landed 98 years ago on April 25, described the eight-month Gallipoli campaign as a "calamity" which nevertheless had become central to Australia's story.
Mr Smith said the way Anzac prisoners of war had looked out for each other still rightly inspired the two nations.
More than 30,000 attended the service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, a large increase on previous years, while some 40,000 packed the lawns beneath the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, and thousands filled Sydney's Martin Place.
And across the Tasman, rain could not deter thousands from gathering at the cenotaph in Auckland Domain for New Zealand's biggest dawn service.
In Afghanistan, diggers took part in the last Anzac Day service at Tarin Kowt ahead of their withdrawal later this year, a comfort to their loved ones whose hearts and families will remain whole.
Lone protester disrupts Gallipoli service
A lone protester disrupted the solemn dawn service at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli just after Australia's official representative had finished addressing the smaller-than-expected crowd of 5200 pilgrims.
There was no mythologising the Gallipoli campaign when Veterans Affairs Minister Warren Snowdon spoke at the site where the Anzacs mistakenly landed 98 years ago.
Mr Snowdon described the subsequent eight-month Gallipoli campaign as a "calamity". It ended with the withdrawal of troops in mid-December 1915.
"Our Turkish adversaries, underestimated at first and defending their homeland, were the victors here on the peninsula," Mr Snowdon said as the sun rose above the cliffs that had proven too steep for the Anzacs.
It was difficult to imagine, let alone understand, the enormity of the suffering, loss and sacrifice, the minister said.
"Yet although it was so dreadful, it has become central to our nation's story," he said.
"(It was a) hallmark in defining our nationhood and what we see as important in terms of mateship, service, sacrifice, courage and commitment."
Moments after he'd finished speaking, a protester, who later gave his name as Ali Risa Ersoy, started yelling in Turkish.
The man was eventually led away from the commemorative site and questioned by the Turkish gendarmerie.
A Turkish newspaper reporter said the man had been yelling: "The Australian police are trying to kill me."
Local authorities told Australian reporters the man had not been arrested but was being "interrogated".
A judicial process would now play out, an officer said, adding the protester appeared to have a problem with the Australian government.
The protester said he was a dual Turkish and Australian national.
A veterans affairs' spokeswoman said in a statement: "This was an isolated incident by a lone protester that was dealt with accordingly by the appropriate authorities - the Turkish police."
The crowd of 5200 mainly Australians and New Zealanders was down almost 15 per cent on last year as people wait to see if they'll be able to attend the 2015 centenary commemorations via a ballot system.
Rhonda Dove, 25, came to Gallipoli with a tour group this year.
She camped on the grass at North Beach with thousands of others but didn't get much sleep.
"It is just surreal," the Melbourne woman said.
"It's changed my understanding. Seeing it you really appreciate what they went through."
Turkish university student Bugra Ozturk, 23, attended the dawn service with friends.
He said the Allied forces had the same reason for going to war as those involved in the Turkish war of independence that resulted in the secular Turkish republic being established in 1923.
"So we have a shared bond," Mr Ozturk said.
"We try to learn something more about the Anzacs."
