A young girl places a poppy at the Levin Cenotaph at the end of the dawn service.
We will remember them.
Hundreds of people across the district turned out to commemorate Anzac Day on Tuesday, honouring those who fought and died in World War I.
It was also a time to reflect on those who had served in later conflicts with distinction, and those currently serving their country.
About 500 people, including representatives from the armed services, NZ Police and war veterans, gathered for the dawn service at Levin Cenotaph to show their respect for fallen heroes.
One of those was Jed Pettit-Court, 10, who was proudly wearing the medals of his great uncle, Christopher Joseph Court, received for serving in the Royal Australian Airforce, and carrying a photo of his great uncle.
Jed said his great uncle wanted to join the army but was too young.
"He didn't like being in the Home Guard so he stowed away to Australia."
Court joined the Royal Australian Airforce serving in the pacific alongside the Americans in World War II. He later died of a disease contracted in the Pacific Islands.
It was not the first time Jed had been to an Anzac commemoration service but the first time he had worn his great uncle's medals.
"It feels good, it makes me proud," he said.
Observed on 25 April each year, Anzac Day was originally to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli against the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
The commemoration typically begins with a short parade by returned servicemen and women and others to the local war memorial. Uniformed service personnel provide a guard of honour around the memorial - motionless, heads bowed over reversed arms - their youth a reminder that service personnel being remembered were once young.
The traditional Scottish lament Flowers of the Forest played by a lone piper is followed by wreath laying, the reading of The Ode - the fourth stanza of Laurence Binyon's For the Fallen, and perhaps the most solemn part of the service, the lone bugler sounding the Last Post, followed by a minute's silence and the sounding of Reveille as the New Zealand Flag is lowered and raised. Prayers and the singing of the National Anthem are also included.
Dawn services were held in Levin and Foxton, with civic ceremonies in Levin, Foxton, Shannon, Waitarere Beach, Moutoa, Tokomaru and a special memorial service in Manakau.
During the Shannon Anzac Day civic ceremony, one man was mentioned - Tim Newton, a Shannon war veteran who died just before Christmas, said to be the last person who caught the train in Shannon to leave for World War II.
Speaker John Williams reminisced about conversations he had had with Mr Newton.
"One [conversation] I remember is that you cannot serve overseas in a war and not come home a pacifist and yet he [Mr Newton] said at the end of the European campaign they were expecting to be sent to Japan," he said. "Undoubtedly he thought the atomic bomb saved his life."
Mr Newton's grandson's Mark and Scott Newton attended the Shannon ceremony where they laid a wreath in memory of their grandfather.
