Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on Saturday marked the centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli by leading a two-minute's silence at London's Cenotaph war memorial, honouring the thousands killed during the ill-fated campaign. The Queen was joined by husband Prince Philip, grandson Prince William and leaders of the country's main political parties as she laid a wreath at the memorial in Whitehall, close to the Downing Street residence Prime Minister David Cameron.
The silence, which took place at 11 am (1000GMT), was in tribute to the estimated 130,000 Allied and Ottoman forces who lost their lives in the World War I campaign. The commemoration included readings by youngsters from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey, and famous songs from the period performed by military bands. Cameron laid his own wreath, followed by senior ministers and George Brandis, Australia's Attorney General, and David Carter, Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives.
The bloody eight-month campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula, in modern day Turkey, began on April 25, 1915, and was one of the first to involve troops from Commonwealth nations Australia and New Zealand.
Around 8,700 Australian and 2,800 New Zealand soldiers died, and both nations now celebrate Anzac Day every April 25. Earlier on Saturday, the Queen's son Prince Charles and grandson Prince Harry attended a ceremony at the Anzac commemorative site on the Gallipoli peninsular. Thousands of antipodeans also attended a dawn service at London's Wellington Arch, where Princess Anne laid a wreath while buglers played the Last Post.
More than half a million Commonwealth and Irish soldiers fought in the failed allied land campaign to eliminate the Ottomans from the war. Australian police mounted a heavy security operation for its commemorations in the wake of an alleged terror plot that came to light following the interception of a 14-year-old British boy's mobile phone and led to two Melbourne teenagers being charged. The boy, believed to be Britain's youngest terror suspect, appeared before London's Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday charged with directing a plan for an attack during Melbourne's Anzac Day celebrations.