Wreaths have been laid and solemn oaths recited as thousands of Kiwis gathered to commemorate veterans at dawn services and commemoration parades across the country.
Today marks the 110th anniversary of Australian and New Zealand soldiers landing before dawn on Turkish shores on April 25, 1915 alongside British, French and Indian troops.
Around 2770 New Zealanders died during the eight-month campaign on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Türkiye, about a fifth of those who fought there.
Anzac Day is also unique time in New Zealand when most businesses are required to close their doors for half of the day.
It marks the 110th anniversary of Australian and New Zealand soldiers landing before dawn on Turkish shores on April 25, 1915. (Source: 1News)
Dawn services have already taken place earlier this morning, and the National Commemoration was held at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington at 11am.
Dawn services held across NZ
Many veterans and their families came together in main centres this morning to represent the army and current serving veterans, and pay tribute to those who served before them.
A chief army representative told 1News they thought it was “important to come together at least once a year and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country”.
Hana Buchanan said it was a “beautiful experience” to open the Wellington dawn service with a karanga.
“A real honour for my whanau, for me,” she said.
Veteran Tony Williams was serving his fifth time in the army. His grandfather and father are also veterans, his grandfather serving in the Somme and his father in Malaya and Vietnam.
“I think of the people that didn’t come home. Everybody goes away thinking they’re going to come back; I feel for them. That’s why I come here and remember them every year. They were just normal people like you and I, they never made it back.”
Phil, 91 carries the flag for the Wellington RSA and has done so 23 times. This year is his last year doing so.
“It’s our national day, our identity. I carry the flag for the Wellington RSA. I was in Korea. I’m one of three left here in Wellington of K-force. I think I’m one of the last men standing.”
He said the day “brings us together, we remember the present-day serviceman, the ones who’ve gone before and the ones who never came back.”
Kobe Ropitini said she had been coming to Anzac has just been a tradition for as long as I’ve been alive really.”
“It’s important to commend all those people, who not everyone knows was lost, those who haven’t been identified.”
One young man told 1News it was “important to remember Anzac Day for the New Zealanders who died to defend our nation.”
Auckland dawn service
Dean Nobel held a picture of his grandfather Basik Sylva, who served in the Māori Battalion, Company C and fought in Monte Casino.
“He was a beautiful man, I was lucky enough to go fishing with him a lot,” he told 1News.
He was attending the Auckland dawn service for the first time, and said “being a part of everything and listening and feeling the vibe, it was so cool.”
Norton Allen’s father, who had served in the 28th Māori Battalion, acknowledged Sir Bom Gillies’s passing in November last year as the “last connection to all those Māori battalion soldiers that fought”.
He attends the dawn service every year” to acknowledge, not only my father, but all the soldiers and pilots and sailors, and all that served in the great war, WWII, Vietnam and Bosnia and later wars that came along”.
“Moving forward, I think it’s a lesson not only for me, the older generation, but for the younger ones to aspire to, as well as the history of our people making sacrifices for freedom in this country.”
River Hikaiti from Vanguard Military School said “we’re all just here to remember those who fell, to acknowledge them and what they did for our nation”.
“To remember what they’ve done for us, our country, how they’ve served us, and some didn’t get to come back, this is the least we could do,” Hikaiti said.
PM in Gallipoli
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will be the first Prime Minister to visit Türkiye since 2015.
His attendance at Gallipoli coincides with the 110th anniversary of the Anzac landings.
Speaking from Gallipoli the day before Anzac day, Luxon said it was a “special privilege to be here”, and spoke of viewing headstones of soldiers killed in their early-to-mid twenties.
“These are young kids that came over here from all over the other side of the world not quite sure what they were heading to, and did us incredibly proud. And it was incredible sacrifice and incredible honour that they showed and displayed,” he said.
He said the Government was a “big supporter of the veterans and the defence community” in New Zealand.
“We’re really proud of them… they go into places that some [in] New Zealand don’t fully appreciate, and discomfort, and tough situations. So I’m just pleased to see that we’re continuing to recognise and to acknowledge and to thank them actually for what they do for us.”
Luxon would attend the dawn service in Gallipoli later today New Zealand time.
Australian leaders pay respects
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton paid their respects by marking Anzac Day at dawn services.
The prime minister attended the service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, while the opposition leader was at an event in Brisbane early in the morning.
Albanese said it was important to take time out of the flurry of campaigning to honour Australia’s defence forces, 110 years after the Gallipoli landings.
“As we gather around cenotaphs or watch the parades, we reflect on all who have served in our name and all who serve now,” Albanese said on Friday morning.
– Additional reporting by AAP
