Anzac Day dawn service across the country: We will remember them

Thousands of people across the country have risen before the sun to pay their respects to those who protect our freedom. It comes at a time when our liberties feel more important than ever.

Here is how people across the country commemorated the day.

Auckland Domain

Anzac Day and the Christchurch mosque shootings both remind us of "our shared humanity", Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the crowd at Auckland's dawn service today.

"Anzac Day reminds us of sacrifice, loss, the service of others, the need for all of us to continually honour those who suffered through their acts of sacrifice," she said.

"It reminds us of our shared humanity, something we have been reminded of again in the wake of the 15th of March."

Image 1 of 23: People gather at the cenotaph overlooking the beach at Mt Maunganui this morning for the Anzac Day dawn service. 25 April 2019 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Alan Gibson.

She called on New Zealanders to recommit to the values of freedom, democracy and peace.

"We will always be a proud nation, one that understands the role that we have to play in your international community," she said.

"We do not take our security for granted. Our sense of independence is as strong as our sense of responsibility to each other, not just as nation states but as human beings. That is part of the Anzac legacy."

Military personnel marching past the Auckland War Memorial cenotaph. Photo / Dean Purcell

Hundreds of people filled every available space in front of the Auckland War Memorial Museum for the service and spilled on to the lawn below the forecourt, in spite of armed police and heavy security because of fears of another terrorist attack.

Retired teacher Mary Campbell, 71, brought Myanmar refugee Pyone Kharng to experience the occasion.

"I've come because I thought, I came last year and I thought I'm not going to let the baddies stop me," Campbell said.

Engineer Jason Horan, 50, who has attended the service for 31 years, said: "I'm not going to let that type of behaviour stop me from doing something that I believe in."

The crowd was silent through an emotional service which started with the haunting sound of a conch shell.

The words of Requiem for a Soldier, sung by Will Martin, took on new meaning after the Christchurch attacks and the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka: "One day you'll see we can live together when all the world is free."

Waikumete

Candles shone above the headstones in Waikumete Cemetery, a beacon for hundreds who quietly ushered themselves towards the cenotaph in the dark.

A smattering of applause broke the silence as a parade of veterans marched into the cemetery.

Representing the Government at the service were MPs Phil Twyford and Carmel Sepuloni joined by National Party MP Alfred Ngaro.

Also in attendance was former Waitakere City mayor Sir Bob Harvey who initiated the ceremony 23 years ago.

Servicemen standing in the crowd saluted as the national theme played.

Army veteran Jack Noble said it was important to recognise that so many people had committed themselves to keeping others safe.

"I wanted to do that ever since I was 9 years old."

Noble joined the army when he was 15 and retired five years ago after a service that included deployment in Afghanistan.

He said he sadly saw Anzac day as an essential commemoration for New Zealanders.

"I remember every year."

Fellow army serviceman Darin Fuimaono, who works with youth, usually stands in the crowd with his family but this year wanted to bolster the numbers of army members in the parade.

Darin Fuimaono and his son Isaac Fuimaono. Photo / Chelsea Boyle

"I've lost friends overseas as well."

Attending the dawn service was his way of spending time with them, he said.

Devonport-based Hayley May joined the navy in 2007 and attends a Anzac service every year.

May said it was important to bring her children and this year, after Christchurch, it felt more important then ever to show that unity.

"We need to come together."

It was a beautiful ceremony, she said.

"It's always the Last Post that gets me."

May's partner Whatanui Flavell was named after someone who died fighting in Libya during World War II.

"For Māori I think it was the price of citizenship," he said.

Flavell said that the inclusion of the Māori act of remembrance and anthem was important, but there was still a long way to go.

Both Toni Talamaivao and Amanda Petersen attended with their church youth group.

Talamaivao said it was important to teach the youth about history and good to see people still cared all these years later.

Petersen said it was beautiful to hear families with cooing babies attending the service because the sacrifice had been made for people like those "giggling babies".

Mount Maunganui

Hundreds of people turned up to the Mount Maunganui cenotaph at dawn to honour those who fought in World War I.

Former New Zealand Air Force warfare officer Justin Young said he came to most services with his wife and two young children.

"I think it is important for them to understand the reason behind why we are here today," he said.

Mount Maunganui RSA president Bill Newell led the dawn service.

"We will remember them," he said, followed by the crowd murmuring the same words.

"Lest we forget."

A member of the honour guard stands to attention overlooking the beach at Mt Maunganui this morning. Photo / Alan Gibson

Tauranga

At Tauranga's dawn service at the Greerton RSA, in crisp morning air a band played the hymn Lest We Forget as those in the march stood staunch in front of the cenotaph.

Tauranga RSA vice-president Paul Anderson invited Reverend John Hebenton to speak.

Hebenton remembered the people of all ethnicities and religions dying in the war. He remembered those soldiers who passed after the war and those families who lost loved members.

He prayed that those New Zealand soldiers who are serving overseas return safely and that peace comes soon to end the wars they are fighting in.

Katikati

Hundreds of people gathered outside the Katikati Memorial Hall this morning to remember those who have fallen.

Veterans, soldiers and those in the armed services stood shoulder to shoulder with members of the community including guide dogs and pets.

Katikati RSA president Glen Burt addressed the quiet crowd and acknowledged the sacrifice of those who lost their lives and those who continue to serve.

Hamilton

Despite a heavier than normal police presence in Hamilton, the same if not more people crammed in and spilled out of Memorial Park for this morning's dawn Anzac service.

Multiple officers and patrol cars were stationed at each end of Memorial Dr as well as inside the service as Don Oliver from the Hamilton RSA led proceedings.

He paid tribute not only to all of the Kiwis who died, but also the 330 Hamiltonians who were each represented by a white cross.

Of those who chose to get up early and attend the event were Rona Berryman, currently living in Hamilton, Kylie Te Arihi, of Tauranga and Verbena McCauley-Walker of Kawerau.

The trio said they didn't take into consideration the events of Christchurch, Sri Lanka or the heightened police presence at Anzac services around the country when deciding to attend.

While they enjoyed the morning, they were disappointed the live-streaming didn't show the face of a young Maori woman who spoke, despite all other speakers being shown.

Waikato police Senior Sergeant Phil Ruddell said there had been no issues at any of the dawn services around the district and was looking forward to civic services also going to plan.

New Plymouth

Along New Plymouth's Queen St in the still, pre-dawn darkness, they gathered: young children wrapped in blankets, teens in hoodies and elderly couples garbed in warm coats.

Clustered around the city's seaside cenotaph, thousands of people marked the loss of those not only in foreign wars long ago, but also in last month's terror attacks in Christchurch.

Reverend Albie Martin told the crowd how "never in our wildest dreams" could have that tragedy been expected to have happened here.

"For us all," he remarked, "we remember them".

It was a touching inclusion in a moving address that described the massive toll that the wars had on a small country like New Zealand.

The 1915 campaign at Gallipoli, Martin said, was the first big event of the war for New Zealanders – and a test that they passed heroically, despite it having "no chance of ever succeeding".

"Being so far away from home made New Zealanders of who they were and where they were from."

He reflected on the words of decorated Gallipoli and the Western Front veteran Ormond Burton, who once stated how, "somewhere between the landing at Anzac and the end of the battle of the Somme, New Zealand very definitely became a nation".

But he also turned to the words of the last surviving Gallipoli veteran, Doug Dibley, who died in 1997.

"[He] said that he has seen enough of it, no one wins in the end… the Great War took our best men… look how many came back, maimed and broken... they suffered dreadfully for the rest of their days," Martin said.

"Anzac Day, he said, is important – those men should not be forgotten."

The service on Queen St. Photo / Jamie Morton

New Plymouth woman Pam Davies, whose father served with the 25th Battalion in World War II, was happy to see that it certainly hadn't been.

"My daughter and grandson flew down from Auckland and have come for the first time this year – I think it's getting bigger and bigger."

Another local, Lois Love, told the Herald she hadn't attended the service for several years – but her grandchildren had wanted to attend.

It was also a first for Kathryn Johnson's young children, Piper and Alex.

"I've been coming since I was a teenager but this was the first time I brought them this year – they're old enough to get out of bed now."

Johnson added she was impressed that the service acknowledged the Christchurch victims.

"It was very inclusive, and how they talked about 'our god and your god' – it referred to everybody, which was really nice."

Titahi Bay, Porirua

Titahi Bay Beach bore an eerie resemblance to Anzac Cove at a dawn service there.

The crowd, huddled next to the water's edge, was jolted awake by the sound of cannon fire.

The crowd gathered on the beach for dawn service. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A lone piper across the water set the mood for the morning.

People gathered at the beach then turned to greet a parade led by veterans, who marched up the beach in darkness.

Only a few torches and a flare fired overhead revealed their silhouettes.

The sound of gentle waves lapping on the shore was peaceful against the steady beat of a drum.

"It is no secret that this bay is significant to those who live here, it remains a vital part of our community.

"However, many might not know that this bay has a resemblance to Anzac Cove in Gallipoli - a site which holds so much mana for our country and our people", MC Geoff Hayward told the crowd.

A plan to have a Muslim cleric say a prayer at the service was cancelled earlier this month after the local Returned and Services Association received a number of "frightening threats".

Veterans, armed services personnel and police at the Beach Dawn Service at Titahi Bay, Porirua. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The RSA branch at Titahi Bay near Wellington wanted to honour the victims of the Christchurch terror attack by including a Muslim prayer in their service.

However, the idea came with severe backlash from veterans who said the special day should remember only New Zealand and Australian soldiers who have died in wars.

Porirua Mayor Mike Tana was the guest speaker at the dawn service.

He said this year's memorial was particularly poignant coming just a few weeks after the Christchurch terror attack.

"Sadly the events of that day helped bring home the fact that we still face some of the same battles our gallant Anzac soldiers had all those years ago.

"Just as they stood up to defend the values we hold dear, so must we take responsibility seriously to create a New Zealand we all want to live in."

Christchurch

A mosque terror attack survivor and a 106-year-old war veteran have turned out for an especially poignant dawn Anzac service in Christchurch today.

Just five weeks after a gunman murdered 50 Muslims while at Friday prayer in the city, Christchurch paused this morning to remember them – along with the thousands of men and women who have died in conflicts over the last century.

Bill Mitchell, now aged 106, served as an aircraft engineer with the RNZAF in the Pacific during World War II.

With more than 30 armed police patrolling the service, and surrounding roads blocked off, Mitchell was applauded by the several thousand-strong crowd as he was escorted into Cranmer Square in a World War II era Jeep.

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel said the "recent atrocity perpetrated on our city" has given everyone cause to pause and reflect.

With the flags of New Zealand, Australia and Turkey hanging limp in the calm pre-dawn by a temporary cenotaph, Dalziel said it was extraordinary that Turkey today lets Antipodeans visit the old Anzac battleground every year which is now a memorial to peace.

Mosque shooting survivor Mustafa Boztas, originally from Turkey and who just got out of hospital, felt it was important he came along.

Boztas says he wanted to show solidarity and stand together as one.

"I'm from Turkey and this is my tenth year coming to Anzac Day," he said.

"I came to show my support, and respect and honour our granddads, fathers and sons."

Mosque shooting survivor Mustafa Boztas wanted to stand in solidarity with others. Photo / Amber Allott

He says he didn't feel like he was in danger today.

"I knew it was safe to be here."

Christchurch Anglican Dean, the Very Reverend Lawrence Kimberley and Reverend Dan Doyle of the Catholic Diocese asked for a special prayer to the 50 Muslims killed during Friday prayer in the city on March 15 and to the hundreds killed in the recent Sri Lanka terror attack.

- additional reporting: Bay of Plenty Times, Rotorua Daily Post