Extra Anzac service to be held in Dannevirke

With the coming up of the sun. The Dannevirke Anzac Day dawn service. Photo/Christine McKay

Preparations are well under way for Anzac Day services in Dannevirke and surrounding districts.

This year, thanks to full funding from the Southern Trust, there are two new flag poles at the Dannevirke Cenotaph, to allow both the New Zealand and Australian flags to be raised at the services.

The Poppy Day Appeal will be held this Friday, with its theme "Not All Wounds Bleed".

"This year, we're focusing on service-induced mental health injuries which are the most common, but least understood, of all wounds suffered by New Zealand servicemen and women," RSA national president BJ Clark said.

Paddy Driver, Dannevirke and Districts RSA president and a Vietnam War veteran, said a lot of veterans had mental health issues and he urged former members of the armed services in Tararua to get in touch if they needed help.

"You can be severely wounded and it not be seen.

"We can offer assistance and treatment to help get lives on track and anyone affected can get in touch with me personally and in confidence."

Money raised from Poppy Day is put into a welfare fund, set aside for returned servicemen and women undergoing hardship and for their medical wellbeing.

Clark said New Zealand now had 41,000 veterans – the most at any time since the end of World War II.

"Many Kiwis would be surprised to learn that nearly three-quarters of those veterans served in overseas deployments since the Vietnam War.

"This younger generation of veterans have to deal with many of the same life challenges of those earlier generations of service men and women but perhaps without the understanding of the public that they too had experienced some dangerous, stressful and personally distressing situations in their service for New Zealand.

"This can lead to the kind of mental health challenges that many of our former servicemen and women are dealing with on a daily basis."

And while Driver is encouraging people to wear family medals to services, they must be worn on the right-hand side of the lapel.

"By all means bring granddad's medals out and wear them with pride, but wear them in the right place."

This year, along with Anzac services throughout Tararua, there will be three in Dannevirke for the first time.

The first on Tuesday, April 24, will be held at Rahiri Care Home, starting at 1.30pm.

Graeme Evans of the Dannevirke Pipe Band will play the lament, Flowers of the Forest, and Driver will deliver the Anzac dedication.

The Ode will be read by Dannevirke and Districts RSA patron Tom Collier, with the Last Post and Reveille played by bugler Steve Wallace.

Flag bearers for this and the two services on Anzac Day will be soldiers from the 1st Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment from Linton.

Fall-in for Dannevirke's Anzac Day dawn service at the Cenotaph will be 5.40am.

The guest speaker is Lieutenant Colonel Adian Shattock, the commanding officer of 1st Battalion RNZIR.

Joel Dean Charlton will deliver his Anzac contest-winning speech at this service and at the civic service which begins at 9am.

The parade for the civic service falls in at 8.30am at Knox Church for the march to the Cenotaph.

Guest speaker will be Colonel Ray Seymour (Rtd), MBE.

The Ode will be read by Major (Rtd) Roly Ellis ONZM, vice-president of East Coast District RSA.

"There will be no wet-weather alternative for this service, so people would be advised to bring an umbrella if it's wet," Driver said.

"There will be seating available at the Cenotaph for the elderly and infirm."