'As close to Gallipoli as you are going to get'

Peter Moss from Mt Maunganui RSA at the cenotaph that will be the focus of TVNZ's Anzac Day dawn coverage. Photo / Alan Gibson

Crowded around the white cenotaph on the sandy foreshore of Mt Maunganui as the sun comes up, Kiwis at the beach dawn service will be reminded of exactly what previous generations have sacrificed.

The spectacular location will for the first time be the focus of TVNZ's Anzac Day coverage.

Although it is a modest cenotaph compared with some in other parts of the country - it stands just 4.2m high - a crowd of about 5000 is expected at the ceremony.

Battery-operated candles - purchased by the local Returned and Services Association - given to children at the parade will light up the monument, which overlooks the town's main beach.

Mt Maunganui RSA general manager Peter Moss said it was the perfect spot for live coverage.

"It's really quite moving, the soldiers marching in just as the sun comes over the horizon. It's as close to Gallipoli as you're going to get in New Zealand."

Snippets of Mt Maunganui's commemoration had featured as part of the overall Anzac television news coverage but this was the first year it would be filmed in its entirety, Mr Moss said.

The Mt Maunganui RSA is the largest in the country, with just under 5000 members. Of those, 750 are returned service people and more than 500 are World War II veterans. Tomorrow, World War II soldiers will lead the march of about 200 from 6am.

TVNZ COVERAGE

5.55AM
Dawn service from Mt Maunganui cenotaph.

6.45AM
Kiwis at War profiles World War II spitfire pilot Jack Rae.

7.10AM
The Reluctant Hero profiles Victoria Cross winner Willie Apiata.

9.30AM
Nobody's Heroes tells the story of Colin McRae, one of nearly 2000 New Zealand soldiers captured on the Mediterranean island of Crete in May 1941.

10.30AM
National Wreath-Laying Ceremony at the National War Memorial in Wellington.

12.05PM
Saving Face tells the story of four Kiwi surgeons who pioneered plastic surgery techniques while treating war casualties.

1PM
Lost In Libya follows four amateur historians as they trace the footsteps of their wartime heroes, a Kiwi unit of the elite Long Range Desert Group, 4000km into the Sahara Desert.

2.30PM
Anzac ceremony at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, where Australian and New Zealand forces landed in 1915.

The Auckland War Memorial Museum's offical Book of Remembrance can be read online. It alllows people to send their messages and memories of loved ones who have served in past wars or to people currently serving in the armed forces. You can also leave messages of remembrance at nzherald.co.nz.