The memory of Anzac Day is still fresh in our minds for another year – a moving service of remembrance and history at a local cenotaph across Australia.
But imagine being overseas for Anzac Day at places where the battles actually took place.
Each year thousands of Australians follow in the footsteps of the Anzacs at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, and while many choose to coincide their battlefield travel with Anzac Day commemorations, remembrance travel takes place throughout the year with specialist operator Mat McLachlan Battlefield Tours offering weekly departures of its four-day Western Front Explorer from April to November, and private Gallipoli tours departing any day of choice year-round.
“The Gallipoli landings on 25 April 1915 marked the beginning of Australian service and sacrifice during the First World War,” War historian and battlefield tour operator, Mat McLachlan said.
“The Anzacs served at Gallipoli for eight long months, before the failed campaign was finally called off and the Gallipoli Evacuation took place in December 1915. Anzac troops then went on to serve on the Western Front for three long years in bloody and costly battles that became synonymous with the futility and horror of war.”
“Gallipoli was where the Anzac legend began, while the Western Front was where modern warfare erupted, the Anzac legend was cemented, and where remembrance began. Today, Gallipoli and the Western Front are incredibly meaningful and memorable places to visit, with many remnants from this history easy to be seen.”
It feels like something very Australian to do – to visit these places we have heard of at Services and read about in history books.
But for some battlefield pilgrims the trip is very personal – including the group Mat has just had with him overseas.
ACT pilgrim Wendy Farnham visited the Western Front for the third time this year following her Anzac grandfather, James Bruce Lithgow, who served in the 36th Battalion on the Western Front from late 1916 and was one of the ‘lucky’ ones who made it home. During her Western Front tour, Wendy had the honour of reading the Ode of Remembrance at the Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony.
Wendy herself is veteran who served for more than 46 years, including tours in Iraq and East Timor. Anzac Day 2025 was Wendy’s third visit to the Western Front with Mat McLachlan but her first for Anzac Day. Wendy will then join Mat for his Gallipoli Signature Tour in May this year to explore the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Gary and Jan Lloyd from Glandore, Adelaide followed in the footsteps of five Anzac relatives who all served at Gallipoli. Three will forever lie at Gallipoli. Two survived to fight another day on the Western Front and made it through the war, including Gary’s grandfather, and their Gallipoli Anzac relative who went on to make aviation history.
Gary’s grandfather, Frederick Gerald Lloyd, landed with the two brothers on 25 April, took part on the May offensive (in which Rupert was shot and killed) coming out of it with a shrapnel wound in the leg, took part in the Battle of Lone Pine (in which William was killed in action), and fought on until the Gallipoli Evacuation in December 1915. Frederick went on to serve on the Western Front – arriving on the 1st of April 1916 in France.
“My grandfather served at Gallipoli from the first day of the landings on 25th April 1915 right through the campaign to the evacuation, which for him was 18 December 1915,” he said before he left for his tour.
“I have his diary that describes the places he was at, the conditions he experienced, and the death of mates around him. He also took photos that I have, so I really want to walk in his footsteps up Artillery Road to Lone Pine and visit Shrapnel Gully Cemetery where he took photos of the graves of some fallen mates.
“Whilst my grandfather went on to fight on the Western Front and survive the war, we have other close relatives who did not leave Gallipoli, so we want to visit their memorials to pay our respects and thank them ‘in person’ for their sacrifices.”
Mat McLachlan Battlefield Tours offers commemorative Anzac Day tours and tours throughout the year to Australia’s significant WWI and WW2 battlefields, as well as Vietnam. Visit battlefields.com.au.
