Tributes laid at the Dannevirke Domain Cenotaph on Anzac Day.Photo / Sue Emeny
The Dannevirke 2020 Anzac Day service was a moving tribute to those who have served their country.
Despite having to watch it in isolation on the internet it was as an emotional experience as it always is.
In his welcome Dannevirke and Districts RSA president Roly Ellis spoke of the different times New Zealanders were now living in and said he was grateful to RSA secretary Monique Ashford for putting the service together and to those who had input into it.
"Reflecting on this last year the drought and the virus have very much affected our communities, however, it was our trip to Europe last year that made me realise how fortunate we are living in a peaceful country with good facilities compared to those in both world wars.
"As you drive throughout Holland, Germany and France you pass through many Commonwealth cemeteries so beautifully kept, as they are at Anzac Cove and other places around the world. However, it is the vast size of some that make you realise the terrible cost that Commonwealth countries paid for freedom.
"So many New Zealanders lie in foreign fields, miles sway from home with many of them not more than 20 years old. Remember that they went through five years of many struggles. In this lockdown we need to remember the difficulties we are experiencing are minor compared to those that the men and women who served went through, as well as their families back home."
He said New Zealanders needed to adhere to the Government's wishes and help one another along the way, however they can.
"All our RSAs are contactable if you need advice or a chat and they can be a help to those veterans and families in need.
"Better times will come because we are a nation of stubborn and resourceful people and we will be free again. We will be able to attend Anzac services as we know them to remember those who fell and those who suffered other issues. "
Tararua mayor Tracey Collis said it was hard for this generation and future generations to even imagine what it was like to go off to war, to leave their families and head off into the unknown to fight for the right of future generations to live in New Zealand in freedom and democracy.
"Today we take the opportunity to pay tribute to those who served and continue to serve and protect this wonderful country that we live in."
Collis said when service men and women returned from war many memorials were built.
"Tararua District has a wide variety of cenotaphs, war memorials, memorial halls and gates and even a special memorial bridge gate, each with it's own community story.
"This is because our small rural towns made a significant contribution that was disproportionate to our size. Our men and women were ordinary people doing extraordinary things under incredibly difficult circumstances."
Collis said she had always been proud that Tararua had been able to hold 11 Anzac services throughout the district and the rural communities. "That says that we continue to remember those who served. It has been heartening to see in how many ways our people have been respectful during the lockdown to demonstrate what Anzac day means to them.
"On behalf of the Tararua District I extend out gratitude to all the men and women who have served in the defence force. We are extremely proud of you and proud of the reputation our defence force has here and around the world."
RSA chaplain Ron Ashford then spoke, saying for more than 100 years, Kiwis, Aussies and those from a variety of allied countries had attended and participated in Anzac services.
"But this year is different as a new enemy is cutting a swathe through the world's population. This enemy is no respecter of age, sex, nationality, ethnicity or creed. Our viral enemy strikes as silently and unexpectedly as a sniper at Gallipoli.
"While all of us are susceptible to this microscopic invader it those among us have put themselves at the very tip of this spear, our special forces - the doctors, nurses, lab technicians, those caring for the elderly and infirm. They are aided by those who logistically support them in the full face of the fight, the police and other first responders, the truckies, the supermarket workers and others to numerous to name.
"So this Anzac Day let us not only recall those who left these shores never to return but let it be a time when we honour and encourage those currently serving in the military and those risking their health in the battle against the virus.'
Guest speaker Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs Ron Mark paid tribute to Dannevirke RSA past patron Tom Collier who died late last year.
"Tom was described by many as a good bugger and his long and distinguished service to the Dannevirke RSA was and always will be highly respected, not just by RSA members but by the Dannevirke community as a whole."
He said for more than 100 years New Zealanders had gathered together each Anzac Day to remember and honour those who have served our nation in times of war, those who didn't come home and those who did, though wounded, maimed and whose lives were forever changed by their service and what they went through.
"It is fitting and proper we also remember their families. Who can possibly imagine the heartache and grief of Mr and Mrs Doria for example whose three sons' names are among those who are remembered on the Dannevirke war memorial.
"Burleigh aged 21 who died of sickness in England in 1916, Leonard Jack, 19, killed in action in Belgium in 1917 and Percy, 23 who died of shotgun wounds to the head and spine in 1917 in France in 1917.
"Sacrifices on such a scale as that many New Zealanders these days struggle to comprehend. But they happened and we must never forget the price that was paid, what we owe and to whom."
He said this year will mark 75 years since the end of World War II and while this could not be celebrated in the customary way New Zealanders should still pause and reflect in those who gave so much .
"Not just 105 years ago on the Gallipoli Peninsula or during the six years of the Second World War but for every conflict, every operation that we have been involved in before and since then. But it is actually a privilege to do that, a privilege bequeathed to us by all those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country."
Also contributing to the service was Graeme Evans who played The Lament, regional RSA president Paddy Driver who recited The Ode and Steve Wallace who played The Last Post and Reveille.
Concluding the service was the laying of a wreath by Ashford whose idea and hard work had made the service possible.