Anzacs remembered as 'God's tears' fall

9.00am - by MATHEW DEARNALEY and NZPA

Inclement weather failed to deter thousands who turned out for Anzac Day dawn parades and services in Auckland and Wellington this morning to commemorate New Zealand's war dead.

As the rain bucketed down, a crowd estimated at between 8,000 and 10,000 stood in silence for one minute in the Auckland Domain today, honouring the memory of fallen soldiers.

The dawn service began at 5.15am when war veterans from all three services formed up for a short march to the Cenotaph in front of the Auckland Museum.

As the veterans marched onto the parade ground in front of the Cenotaph, the intermittent spits of rain gave an indication to the thousands waiting of what was to come.

Within a few minutes heavy rain was falling but it did little to quell the spirit of the service. No one left but the umbrellas came out and strangers moved closer together for shelter and to sing the words of the hymns from the printed service paper.

"It's a blessing from heaven. These are God's tears falling on our dead soldiers," said a Maori woman who stood bareheaded in the rain.

"Better rain than bullets" quipped one current serviceman.

Parents among the many family groups pressed around the cenotaph similarly used the rain as an object lesson to youngsters whom they hope will never have to suffer the deprivations of war.

"Just imagine being months at a time in the cold and wet, with no dry clothing and getting shot at," North Shore teacher Chris Patel told her sons, 10-year-old Hayden and 12-year-old Jai.

Even so, the boys were relieved to take shelter inside the museum after the service, where they hunted out the name in the Hall of Remembrance of a famous relative killed in the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917.

Mrs Patel admitted her knowledge of the war service of her great-great uncle, pioneering 1905 All Blacks "Invincibles" captain David Gallaher, remained sketchy but said she and the boys hoped to visit his Belgian grave some day.

Five-year-old Gabriella McDonnell and her sister Gemma, aged 7, had a more recent and poignant link with wartime history. It was their first Anzac Day without their grandfather, Martin McDonnell, a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese after the fall of Singapore who died a fortnight ago, aged 85.

"He was Martin Michael McDonnell and he was my grand-dad," emphasised Gemma as her father, Michael, recalled his regular attendance at past Anzac Day services.

Even last year, while otherwise confined to a wheelchair, Mr McDonnell senior summoned up the energy to walk the last few metres to the cenotaph to pay his respects to fallen comrades.

Auckland mayor John Banks, at his first Dawn Service since winning the mayoralty last year, said on this day in 1915 "Anzac" became one of the immortal names in history.

"We who are gathered here think of the comrades who, then and since, fought for freedom on land, sea and in the air and did not return.

"We feel them still near us in the spirit. We wish to be worthy of their great sacrifice. Let us therefore once more dedicate ourselves to the service of the ideals for which they died.

"As the dawn is now about to pierce the night, so let their memory inspire us to work for the coming of the new light into the dark places of the world.

"We will remember them," Mr Banks said.

Mr Banks laid a wreath at the base of the Cenotaph before a lone bugler played the Last Post and the flags at the Cenotaph were lowered to half mast.

As the lights were turned off, heavy rain continued to fall and the crowd stood in silence for a minute.

After the benediction by the Reverend Wally Te Ua, the crowd applauded as the rain-soaked veterans turned to the left under the orders of the parade commander and marched off the parade ground to a drum roll to end the service.

In Wellington, a crowd of several thousand braved a slightly damp but mild morning to attend the dawn parade and service at the War Memorial Cenotaph near Parliament.

The chief of New Zealand's defence force, Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson, told the gathering of veterans, servicemen and women, and members of the public young and old that Anzac Day, the anniversary of the allied landings at Gallipoli, Turkey, 87 years ago marked "a national tragedy when poorly prepared soldiers perished for an ill conceived strategic notion".

He said Anzac Day was not about glorifying war but about remembering those who had "sacrificed their youth and in many cases their lives" so that successive generations could live in freedom.

Air Marshal Ferguson also made mention of the more than 1000 New Zealand servicemen and women currently serving overseas in peacekeeping and other roles.

Large crowds were reported at other Anzac Day ceremonies around the country this morning.

An estimated 3000 people were at Waikumete Cemetery in West Auckland, site of approximately 10,000 war graves, for a dawn service today. Waitakere City mayor Bob Harvey told National Radio the assembled crowd was the largest since the commemoration began three years ago.

In Christchurch, the grave of World War II hero Charles Upham at St Paul's Church is being rededicated today.

Volunteers from the Papanui Returned Services Association say the addition to the gravesite of a granite poppy and a rock from a farm near Captain Upham's family home in North Canterbury will make it easier for visitors to find the grave.

Charles Upham was the only New Zealander to be twice awarded the Victoria Cross for valour.

Feature: Anzac Day

Anzac photo exhibition:
Harold Paton's pictures of WW II