More than 10,000 huddled together on a brisk Dunedin morning at Queens Gardens yesterday to honour the many thousands of Kiwis who fought and died in World War 1 and subsequent wars.
They joined tens of thousands who gathered in centres across New Zealand, from major cities such as Auckland and Wellington to settlements as small as Portobello.
They turned up before dawn to mark 100 years since Kiwis gathered on the first Anzac Day to bow their heads and remember.
In Dunedin, during a service which included a City of Dunedin Pipe Band lone piper, the Kaikorai Metropolitan Brass Band and a 2/4 Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (RNZIR) Maori warrior, the RNZIR colours were laid at the cenotaph.
The crowd watched, some with tears in their eyes, their minds wandering often to the fate of their ancestors.
New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) officiating chaplin the Rev Dr Tony Martin led the service.
‘‘The horror of war impacts everybody and no-one hates war more than those that have served,'' he said.
‘‘For your tomorrows we give our today.''
Columba College head girl Alice Jones and John McGlashan head boy Lochie Chittock gave readings before guest speaker NZDF director of defence strategic relationships Commodore John Campbell, of Auckland, spoke.
‘‘There are no unseen injuries from war,'' Comm Campbell said.
‘‘For 100 years we have sought to acknowledge and remember those that have fought for our country.''
He spoke of the sacrifice made in the naval Battle of Jutland, and in the Battle of the Somme.
The values of courage, commitment and comradeship ‘‘has a perfect place in our history as New Zealanders'', he said.
Since 1940, there had been just seven years that New Zealanders had not been involved in conflict in some form, he said.
As the Last Post rang out and the crowd dispersed, it was Erika Reilly (6), wearing her great-greatgrandfather's World War 2 medals, who summed the morning up best:‘‘It was awesome,'' she said.
