Launceston College marked the occasion with an Anzac Day assembly, opened by a group of eight boys singing Waltzing Matilda with arrangement by Travis Hennessy.

A short play, Dig for the Diggers, was also specially organised and rehearsed by a group of year 11 drama students  and directed by year 12 student Hamish White, 17. It   was delivered in six performances across two days.

The play looks at the Battle of Fromelles, which was described as the worst day of fighting in Australia’s war history on July 19, 1916, where 5533 men were killed in one day.

It examines the discovery of human remains that were buried in a pit near Fromelles, in France, in 2008.

At the Launceston Preparatory School, co-principal Leonie McNair said children in the lower years had been looking at mateship in the Gallipoli campaign while the older year groups had digitally researched the stories of 40 Tasmanian Anzacs.

‘‘These details were recorded and compiled into a book which has been taken by one student’s grandmother to Gallipoli, to be left at the Lone Pine Cemetery for other visitors to enjoy and learn from,’ Mrs McNair said.

‘‘The students have made strong connections with ‘their’ Anzacs and have experienced the sadness associated with their deaths, admiration for their courage and jubilation at their survival.’’