Though its exact origins are disputed, the dawn service is known to have occurred in some form for more than a century. It has become an integral part of Anzac Day in Australia, with tens of thousands of people – service personnel and civilians alike – attending services across the country in a spirit of remembrance and reflection.

A typical dawn service includes a commemorative address, laying of wreaths, playing of military bugle calls, and a one or two minute period of silence. Some services also include the mounting of a catafalque party, an armed guard of four personnel which attends to a catafalque (traditionally a platform containing a coffin, but it may be represented by a shrine). The traditional bugle calls are ‘Last Post’ and ‘Reveille’, which are played before and after the period of silence respectively.