SunLive - ANZAC Day: ‘We will remember them’

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning - we will remember them.

Today, across the motu, people assemble at dawn to remember the Kiwi soldiers who fought and sacrificed their lives in the First World War.

It was a chilly start to the day with single digits heading to a high of 17°C by 2 pm.

ANZAC – Australia New Zealand Army Corps – Day commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died during the war.

Mount Maunganui Dawn Service

The Mount Maunganui Dawn Service began at 5.45 am at Mount Maunganui Cenotaph, Marine Parade, opposite Mount Drury Reserve.

The march-off began at 5.55 am before the beginning of the service at 6 am.

Pāpāmoa

The Pāpāmoa Memorial Dawn Service has been held from 5.30am at the Pāpāmoa Memorial at the Stella Place beach carpark on Pāpāmoa Beach Road.

"It was wonderful we had about 2000 there and I'd say at least half of them were young people so it's really encouraging," Buddy Mikaere tells SunLive.

One plane flew above the Pāpāmoa dawn service, "Classic Flyers came across dead on time.

"We had a representative from the British Embassy, an ex army guy Andrew Bryan, and we had an Australian representative Andrew Twaddle, he's from the navy.

"We had students from Pāpāmoa College who read the ode from Flanders field, and then we had members of the scouts doing the flags at half mast.

"Then we had breakfast at the Pāpāmoa fire station," says Buddy.

2024 Pāpāmoa Dawn Service. Photo: Aimee-Leigh Brunsdon.

Tauranga City Dawn Service

People assembled for the Tauranga City Dawn Service at the Tauranga Cenotaph at 5:55 am for a march off and service at 6 am.

2024 Tauranga City RSA Dawn Service. Photo: David Hall.

Western BOP Dawn Services

At 5:45 am, the ANZAC Day Service assembly met in the Katikati Library Carpark and marched to Katikati War Memorial Hall for Katikati’s dawn service, which began at 6 am.

In Ōmokoroa at Remembrance Cairn, Gerald Crapp Reserve, Ōmokoroa Point, a dawn service was held from 6 am.

Maketu’s dawn service began at 6 am with a march to Remembrance Rock, followed by a march to Remembrance Rock, Park Road Reserve.

ANZAC Day is being marked around the world by New Zealand Defence Force personnel

From dawn services across New Zealand to ANZAC biscuits in South Sudan, serving New Zealand Defence Force personnel will commemorate ANZAC Day in various ways 109 years after the Gallipoli landings.

Although ANZAC Day originated at Türkiye’s Gallipoli Peninsula, today, this occasion provides an opportunity to remember the service and sacrifice of all personnel who have served New Zealand’s interests over the years.

More than 30,000 New Zealand military personnel have been killed in wars and conflicts since 1915.

Across major cities and rural communities from Northland to the deep south, New Zealanders will soon be gathering for dawn services this morning to spark a day of national collective remembrance.

On his final ANZAC Day as Chief of Defence Force, Air Marshal Kevin Short will attend the Dawn Service and National Commemoration Service at Wellington’s Pukeahu National War Memorial.

“It fills me with pride when I think of all the service and sacrifice our personnel, and importantly their whānau, have contributed to the New Zealand Defence Force and New Zealand in general,” Air Marshal Short says.

“From those who landed on the shores of Gallipoli to our servicemen and servicewomen posted abroad today protecting and upholding the international rules-based order and values intrinsically important to Kiwis - we remember and acknowledge them all.

“On a personal note, representing the Defence Force at this commemoration has been incredibly moving and something I will forever feel privileged to have experienced. And marking my final ANZAC Day in uniform alongside our friends and colleagues from across the Tasman is truly significant for me.”

Air Marshal Short will be joined at Pukeahu by his Australian Defence Force counterpart, General Angus Campbell, who is marking the occasion in Wellington.

“It is an honour to spend ANZAC Day in New Zealand. The Australian Defence Force is proud to continue our long and deep service history alongside our close neighbour and ally, New Zealand, to support a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,” General Campbell says.

“ANZAC Day holds a very special place in the bond between Australia and New Zealand; it symbolises the enduring importance of our shared military history and commemorates the courage and sacrifice of those who have contributed to the freedom of our nations.”

NZDF personnel also provide ceremonial support around the country today.

All three armed services—Navy, Army, and Air Force—as well as personnel from the ADF will be represented at Go Media Stadium.

More than 150 uniformed servicemen and servicewomen will perform ceremonial duties and represent the Defence Force at the One New Zealand Warriors’ NRL fixture against the Gold Coast Titans.

In Australia, the NZDF will have been represented in services across every state and territory up to and on ANZAC Day.

Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Mutu, a military advisor to the New Zealand High Commission in Canberra, says the importance of the ADF and NZDF relationship cannot be underestimated.

“The ANZAC spirit forged during the landings at Gallipoli is as strong now as it was then. Further, the broader defence relationship is open, based on mutual respect, and enduring,” he says.

Further afield, an NZDF contingent, along with personnel from other nations who contributed to the battles on the Gallipoli Peninsula in the First World War, is gathering in Türkiye, where they’re due to hold a number of roles in commemorative events.

In the Republic of Korea, the 12 NZDF personnel deployed to the United Nations Command and its Military Armistice Commission will attend a joint Australian and New Zealand dawn service at the Korean War Memorial in Seoul.

Three NZ Army officers posted to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan will gather in Juba for ANZAC Day, where they will hold a short service followed by breakfast alongside their ADF colleagues.

With ANZAC biscuits a rare, if not impossible, find in South Sudan, local caterers have risen to the challenge of baking their own.

In the United Kingdom, NZDF personnel training Armed Forces of Ukraine recruits will serve at Codford Cemetery in Wiltshire, where 66 New Zealanders from World War One are buried.

The service will include representatives from the NZDF, UK, Australia and Ukraine.

The four personnel serving with the multinational Solomon Islands International Assistance Force will attend a dawn service in Honiara, while personnel deployed to the Middle East will attend commemorations with their ADF counterparts in the region.

More photos from the Tauranga City RSA Dawn Service

2024 Tauranga City RSA Dawn Service. Photo: David Hall.