Huge crowds at dawn honour Anzacs

Part of the massive 10,000 crowd which packed Napier's Memorial Square - a similar number attended the Hastings Dawn Service.

The huge Anzac Day crowds which turned out to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings clearly underlined the last words of the Ode of Remembrance - lest we forget.

The numbers at the dawn services and late morning civic services were estimated to be the largest ever seen, making the commemorations even more special and memorable.

Veterans stand to attention during the Hastings Dawn Service.

Communities have made it clear they will not forget the sacrifices made by so many for their country in times of war.

For one of the guest speakers at the Napier Civic Service of Remembrance it was an especially moving moment.

The First Councillor for the Turkish Embassy in New Zealand, Aziz Sevi, said it was a great honour to be part of the service.

"Our grandfathers were introduced to each other at a time of war - but they were denied friendship," he said.

Thousands of people attended the service at the cenotaph in Havelock North.

But he said today New Zealanders in Turkey and Turkish people in New Zealand were "surrounded by friends".

Five hours earlier an estimated 10,000 people packed central Napier for the Anzac Dawn Parade - leaving Napier RSA president John Purcell both astonished and proud.

"I have never seen that many people at our dawn parade and I've been to a few now," he said.

"It was just fantastic, and so good to see so many young ones there."

Memorial Square was filled to the limit, as were the streets surrounding it as people took up every available vantage point to witness the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

Mr Purcell welcomed the crowd after pipers led in a parade of veterans, air force, army and navy representatives, cadets and special guests.

"We had so many wreaths laid it was quite remarkable, and quite emotional,"

Among them was guest speaker, Australian Federal Police liaison officer Jonelle Lancashire.

"It's good to see the younger generations attending today as we remember those of every nation who suffered, and continue to suffer, from war," she said in her address.

"The spirit of Anzac is invincible."

As the dawn broke a firing party unleashed a volley of shots which brought home the stark sounds of combat.

The Last Post was played, followed by a minute's silence to remember the fallen, before both the New Zealand and Australian national anthems were played.

At the conclusion of the 30-minute service many people stayed at the square to take in the small field of white crosses, while many children had their photos taken alongside the soldiers in attendance.

"I have never seen anything like this - it's remarkable," was how one man, with his poppy-wearing youngster at this side, summed it up. "It is so special."

About 3000 people turned out for the civic service later to hear guest speakers which included Napier Boys' High School student Sam Hiha who read the speech he wrote for the national RSA competition which focused on an old boy who was awarded the Victoria Cross, and how he inspired generations since through his devotion to the school motto - Do Right and Fear Nothing.

Several dozen wreaths were laid at the conclusion.

The crowd for the Hastings Dawn Service was described by Hastings RSA spokesman John Stables as "massive".

"Over the years we have been getting 5500 to 6000 people along but this was huge - we estimated around 10,000."

Apart from a good turn-out of veterans and the medal-bearing families of those who have passed, the service saw representatives from all the services, as well as two soldiers from the Royal Gurkhas who led the parade.

"We had so many wreaths laid it was quite remarkable, and quite emotional," Mr Stables said.

"And the numbers of young people are growing which is very good."

He said one young man, now 19, had started going to the dawn services when he was six, and at his age now could proudly wear his great grandfather's jacket from the Maori Battalion.

"He is a proud young man, and we have seen a lot of that."

Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule and Colonel Grant Motley from the New Zealand Army addressed the crowd.

The late morning service in Hastings also drew a larger than usual crowd, and many thousands also turned out to be part of the Havelock North service, staged at the cenotaph.

There were larger than usual numbers at the dawn Lone Pine service in Taradale and the 9am War Memorial Service, as well as those staged in smaller regional centres. A historic canon was fired by the ex-Royal Navalmen's Association.