Poignant speeches and quiet remembrance marked Anzac Day services around the South on Saturday.
A huge crowd turned out to Arrowtown’s service, Arrowtown RSA president Rosemary Chalmers estimating at least 3000 people congregated around the cenotaph and on the reserve below the hill to pay their respects.
She told the crowd seeing the community gathered was a "powerful reminder that the spirit of Anzac is not just remembered here, it is lived here".
Meanwhile, in Balclutha several hundred people attended Saturday’s dawn service in mild, breezy conditions.
The Balclutha Pipe Band led a parade from Te Pou Ō Mata-Au Clutha District War Memorial & Community Centre to the town’s cenotaph, where retired lieutenant-colonel Kevin Baff led an hour-long service.
In an occasionally emotional speech, Lt-col Baff asked those gathered whether "anything had really changed" since the great wars of the last century, given an upsurge in serious conflict around the world in recent years.
He said war had been described as "the crimes of rulers and the sufferings of the people", something that was evident in today’s conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Clutha District Mayor Jock Martin said Anzacs had fought for values of courage, integrity and selflessness.
"This is a legacy that continues to inspire generations today. They are values that are woven into the fabric of our nation," he said.
Despite a freezing, foggy morning, a big crowd also gathered in Clyde to mark the day.
Clyde and Alexandra RSA vice-president Gerry Sutherland told those gathered Anzac Day was about all those who had served and those who continued to do so.
In Queenstown, well over a thousand people — including a large contingent of Australians — braced the early morning chill, and a stiff breeze, to attend this year’s dawn service, held beside the Memorial Gates in Marine Pde.
Organised by the Queenstown Returned and Services’ Association, this year’s event’s speakers included Queenstown Lakes Mayor John Glover and Wakatipu High School student Eva Tilsley, one of the winners of the high school’s recent Anzac Day speech competition.
The Arrowtown RSA’s 10am service began with a march from the Arrowtown Athenaeum Hall to the Soldiers Hill cenotaph.
MetService recorded 3°C at 7am for both Wānaka and Lake Hāwea.
Later in the morning, hundreds lined the main street to watch the annual parade before the main service was held in the Garden of Memories.
Cromwell RSA president Denis Ryan said: "The cost of war is not measured in numbers but in names."
The North Otago Highland Pipe Band lead the annual Anzac Day parade in Thames St, Oamaru, on Saturday. PHOTO: NIC DUFF
People gather at dawn in Gore. PHOTO: GEMMA SINCLAIR
Members of the Balclutha Pipe Band lead the Milton-Bruce Anzac Day parade in Milton’s main street. PHOTO: RICHARD DAVISON
The Ashton family, Matthew, Katherine and Nelson, 9, brave the cold for the morning service in Clyde. "They’ve just done so well. It’s so important to be a part of this and to keep remembering," Mr Ashton said. PHOTO: CARYS TROTTER
About 65 people attended the service at Warepa School, which featured local children reading short biographies of their own ancestors who went to war. PHOTO: NICK BROOK
People attend the service at Arrowtown’s cenotaph. PHOTO: ARROWTOWN RSA
Dawn service convener Simon Hayes said following the service, about 300 people marched from the Memorial Gates to the Queenstown Memorial Centre for another short service and laying of the wreaths, after which a "breakfast buffet" began.
Hokitika-Westland RSA Women’s Section president and life member Colleen Freitas places a poppy at the grave of her father, Ray Gamboni, who served in the 23rd Battalion in World War 2. PHOTO: JANNA SHERMAN
Hundreds of Wānaka residents of all ages gathered at the lakefront for that town’s commemorations.
Wing Commander Carolyn Pezaro, of Wellington, said this year was her first time attending a service in Wānaka."Anzac services are deeply important to who we are as a country as we get further and further away from World War 1 and World War 2."
Crowds attended the Anzac Day service at the newly restored War Memorial Gardens in Cromwell, where John Richards, 89, wore his own service medals alongside his father’s WW2 decorations. PHOTO: CARYS TROTTER
The Lake Hāwea Anzac service was also well-attended.
The Waitaki district marked Anzac Day with nearly 20 services, from Palmerston in the south to Omarama in the northwest.A good-size crowd turned out for the dawn service in Oamaru, where the 100th anniversary of the war memorial in Thames St was celebrated.
The parade at the Awarua RSA’s Anzac service in Invercargill. PHOTO: IAN BEKER
A plaque commemorating Wing Commander James Fraser Barron was unveiled at the service in Maheno.
Cromwell marked Anzac Day with a huge community turnout at the new War Memorial Gardens, hosting its first civic service in the restored space.Prayers, wreaths and poppy laying; speeches, performances from the Fine Thyme Belles choir; and the New Zealand and Australian national anthems formed part of the service, and Last Post was played under clear, sunny skies.
Wing Commander Carolyn Pezaro and Squadron Leader Daniel Pezaro attend the Wānaka service. PHOTO: EVIE SINCLAIR
The Gore district hosted nine Anzac Day services, beginning with a dawn parade in Gore. — Allied Media
