Waihi marked the centennial of Anzac Day at the Gilmour Reserve this morning.
"We are here to witness to our men's stories, to hear their voice, to pay respect and to remember and maybe, one day, we will understand," Kit Wilson, Chairperson of the Waihi Heritage Vision group said to the audience.
Among those men was local Jack Frewin, sent first to Korea for three years (1951-53) as a gunner when he was 21 years-old. He was then a dispatch rider delivering messages within the troops.
He recalled the extreme conditions New Zealanders faced.