The Dunedin Anzac Day dawn service began at 6.30am, and commemorated 111 years since the Anzac landings at Gallipoli in 1915.
About 2000 people crowded around the Cenotaph in Queens Gardens to remember the fallen and pay their respects to the servicemen and women who have returned from various conflicts.
The chaplain leading the prayer and blessing was Leah Chrisman.
‘‘To memorialise calls us to remember, and it also invites us to consider the present and the future in light of the past.
‘‘We remember and honour the sacrifices of thousands upon thousands of New Zealanders during times of war as well as times of peace, through Gallipoli and many conflicts over history, our people have known the trauma and tragedy of war and its aftermath.’’
Trinity Catholic College head students Leah Olsen and Jack Waterhouse, both 17, each gave a reading, and the guest speaker was Lieutenant-colonel Adam Gordon.The Ode was read in Te Reo Māori by Crispin Garden-Webster (Major retired), and in English by Dunedin RSA president Gerry Costello (Warrant Officer First Class retired).
Roads surrounding Queens Gardens were closed to traffic for the service, and emergency services, along with the Red Cross, were there to help the day run smoothly.
