KEY POINTS:
Percy Harwood served in the Navy throughout World War II, but tomorrow will be the first time he has attended an Anzac Day parade.
The 89-year-old veteran plans to set his alarm for 4am to allow time to prepare for the occasion and to pin a new set of medals to his chest.
Mr Harwood sold his original medals soon after the war ended and never attended an Anzac Day service because of his guilt over the decision.
But last month, he received a set of replacement medals from four military collectors who put together a new collection for the chief petty officer after hearing his story.
Mr Harwood was overwhelmed when presented with the five medals on March 3 and said he was now looking forward to attending his first dawn parade.
"My son's taking me," he told the Herald this week. "It will be nice."
Mr Harwood is a member of the Mt Maunganui RSA but plans to attend the Tauranga parade because it is closer to home.
He turns 90 on Monday.
Mr Harwood was 21 and a naval reservist when World War II broke out. He said his memory often fails him now, but he recited the date he was called up to serve on HMNZS Achilles very precisely.
"It was the 3rd of September, 1939. It was a Saturday morning."
He served on the Achilles until 1943, when it was badly damaged by an explosion while being refitted at Portsmouth in Britain.
He and the surviving crew transferred to a replacement ship, HMNZS Gambia, where Mr Harwood stayed until he was discharged from the Navy in September 1945.
Mr Harwood received five service medals for his six years in the war - an Atlantic Star, a Pacific Star with Burma clasp, a 1939-1945 Star and Medal and a 1939-1945 War Medal.
He parted with the medals almost 60 years ago for reasons he cannot remember.
"A chap from Christchurch came to my house in Tauranga. It was 1950 and he asked me if I had any medals. I said yes. I didn't worry much about it in those days."
But Mr Harwood later regretted his decision, and a few years ago told Tauranga military historian Ivan Lindsey about the medals.
"He said, 'You know Ivan, that was the worst moment of my life when I sold those'," Mr Lindsey said.
Mr Lindsey met Mr Harwood while researching the fate of a group of New Zealand Air Force men who had been on the Achilles, and said he was "the most amenable person".
Mr Lindsey, 73, was deeply troubled by the story about the medals and became determined that Mr Harwood should go to an Anzac parade - and do so "well equipped".
Mr Harwood could not remember exactly which medals he had, so Mr Lindsey got in touch with the Trentham Army Camp's medals archive, which provided a list of the medals he was entitled to.
Mr Lindsey had a couple of those types of medals in his collection, and called on three other collectors in Tauranga and Auckland to find the remaining medals at war auctions and through other means.
Once the four had assembled the collection, they mounted them for Mr Harwood to wear, carrying out the entire effort at their own expense.
Mr Harwood said he was particularly grateful to Mr Lindsey and had given him "a little something" for his gift.
On the web: The Auckland War Memorial Museum has a Book of Remembrance on its website for people to post messages on to remember those who served and died in war.
