Messages from Australian schoolchildren will be among the wreaths laid by the visiting Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Australian War Memorial on Anzac Day.
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The royals and other dignitaries at Thursday's ceremonies will lay 14 wreaths, each containing a cross with a handwritten message from a young visitor to the memorial.
Schoolchildren who tour the War Memorial are given the opportunity to reflect on their visit by writing a message on a small wooden cross. The program was expanded as part of the First World War centenary program, and crosses will be laid in 16 countries to commemorate Anzac Day this year.
During the next four commemorative years of the war, the War Memorial aims to place 100,000 crosses on the graves of Australians buried overseas.
The crosses and messages draw on the experiences of schoolchildren visiting the memorial by capturing their reflections on those who have sacrificed their lives in war.
''The crosses are to be placed on overseas war graves and memorials where Australian service men and women are buried,'' the director of the Australian War Memorial, Brendan Nelson, said.
Dr Nelson said embassies and high commissions from 39 countries had already agreed to participate by arranging for the crosses to be placed on war graves throughout the centenary period.
