Canowindra turned out in numbers on ANZAC Day to pay tribute to those who have served our nation.

Hundreds marched down the street, led by flagbearers holding the Australian flag, to the memorial park in time for a fly-past by two PC-21 RAAF training aircraft.

The history and significance of the day to all Australians, 110 years since the landing at Gallipoli, was shared by Richard Statham, who served in Papua New Guinea between 1969 and 1971.

The first soldiers of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps landed before dawn on 25 April 1915: the toll was devastating that day and in the months that followed.

“They advanced about a mile in some places, less in others, but they could go no further,” Mr Statham said.

“For the next eight months the campaign was a stalemate.

“In December the ANZACs were evacuated. By then, about 8700 Australians and almost 2700 New Zealanders had been killed.”

The following year, people gathered to mark the anniversary of the landing and the date has become one of the most important on Australia’s calendar since.

“At first it allowed people to honour the original ANZACs, the Australians and New Zealanders who fought at Gallipoli,” Mr Statham said.

“Then it became a day for those who served in the first World War. With Australians experiencing the second World War, the wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations that have followed, ANZAC Day has become an occasion to honour all who have worn our country’s uniform in service.”

ANZAC Day, Mr Statham said, was a day to recognise more than 100,000 Australian service personnel who have lost their lives in military operations carried out in our country’s name.

It’s also a day to honour the values of those original ANZACS – loyalty, selflessness, courage – passed down through generations.

AB Facey, A Fortunate Life, was in Gallipoli four months before being seriously injured and evacuated.

“Years later he wrote, “I think it would be true to say that all the men who were at Gallipoli wanted to stay with their comrades, it wasn’t that anybody wanted to be a hero it was just that we were very close after months together under such terrible conditions”,” Mr Statham said.

“A sort of love and trust in one another developed in the trenches. It made us very loyal to each other”.”

Dozens of community organisations, families and individuals laid wreaths in tribute to close the day's commemorations.