Thousands of people filtered down to Memorial Park for the Tauranga memorial service.
Cadets lined the cenotaph with guns facing down with a choir and band seated to the left.
The veterans marched across the field followed by cadets.
The schools, along with St John, also marched down the back of the field to marching band music.
Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless said today "we reflect on the many people who gave their lives so we could be free".
Bethlehem College head boy Misha Nesbitt said "our relative safety here in New Zealand can make us forget the great sacrifice so many made for us".
The entire crowd was upstanding for the hymn Lest We Forget.
Simon Bridges and his family were among those paying their respects at the laying of the wreaths.
Tauranga RSA president Fred Milligan recited the Ode to the Fallen as the crowds murmured "we will remember".
The Last Post took place and Memorial Park fell quiet for a minute of silence.
