Poignant Armistice Day service in Dannevirke

Roly Ellis, left, president of Dannevirke and District RSA, Warrant Officer, Paddy Driver, vice president of the East Coast RSA and Major Ross Himona, at the Dannevirke Cenotaph

There was a record turnout to Dannevirke's Armistice Day commemorations at the Cenotaph on Sunday, with the birds in the trees the only sound during the minute's silence.

The service, although simple, was very poignant and brought tears to the eyes of many in the crowd. For 98-year-old World War II veteran Bonnie Bodley the service was about remembering lost comrades.

"There are so many not here, I'm one of the lucky ones, though I don't know why," he said. "My memories are always with me, they never go away."

Roly Ellis, president of the Dannevirke and Districts RSA, reminded the large crowd of the horrors of the four years of World War I for those who served and those at home.

"In New Zealand 50 mothers lost three sons in the war and nine mothers lost four sons, a horrific thought," he said. "Today we are remembering those who gave us a chance to lead unfetted lives."

RSA chaplain Ron Ashford read the first prayers said on the Sunday, six days after the Armistice was signed, along with others from 1925 while piper Graeme Evan played the lament, In Remembrance.

Steve Wallace played Last Post and Reveille on an original, very rare, World War I bugle as the crowd remembered the more than 18,000 New Zealand men and women who lost their lives in the Great War.