Freedom only abides if defended

The Anzac troops who landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, seemed to understand that freedom only survived if people defended it. They knew that happiness had a price, and that nothing was easy.

So Abundant Life School head girl Kaitlin Sullivan told a packed main hall at Te Ahu in Kaitaia on Saturday, her part in an eloquent contribution to the service from the younger generation.

She paid a personal tribute too, wearing the medals won by her great-grandfather Laurie Austen in the Pacific in World War II.

Abundant Life head boy Josiah Atkins remembered Anzac days past, the dawn parades, memorial services, the smell of Anzac biscuits and the pinning on of poppies. Everyone had been affected by the making of the Anzac story, he said, and everyone had memories of their own.

"This is a day to think of the pain and suffering caused by war and to grieve for all those who lost their lives and for families who lost their loved ones," he added.

"The great price paid for the freedom we have is a concept that many of us, especially the younger generation, cannot fully appreciate. We may hear stories of the war, watch films and see the statistics and numbers, but the cold realities of what took place at Gallipoli and throughout the first and second world wars are something we don't really understand.

"Many Anzacs, men and boys, some even younger than myself, left for the war seeking the adventure of a lifetime. Many were never to return.

"Upon landing at Gallipoli, the Anzacs, ever hopeful, were shot at, killed and wounded, some even before leaving the boats, guns unused, bullets unfired. Their story ended before it had truly begun."

April 25, 1915 was often seen as the day when New Zealand began to establish its identity as a nation, and its people began gaining a sense of what it meant to be New Zealanders. April 25 was also a day to honour the Anzac spirit, human values such as courage, compassion, camaraderie, loyalty, endurance and commitment.

War historian CEW Bean had defined the spirit of Anzac as standing for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship and endurance that would never own defeat.

"Anzac Day belongs to all of us, and everyone can take part," Josiah added.

"It promises that we can work together in unity. It is a day of hope for a better future."

Sergeant Eddie Bellas, Kaitaia born and bred and an Army regular for the last 11 years, said he was proud of the military honours that had been earned by his forebears.

"We come from the same communities and share the same values," he said.

Sixty per cent of the young men from the outer edge of the British Empire who had answered the call to serve in World War I had been killed or wounded, the Commonwealth's greatest casualty rate. It had been estimated that one New Zealander in three had been directly affected by death on land, on the sea or in the air.

Forty thousand had come home wounded.

"They lived to come home but the war stayed with them for the rest of their lives," Sergeant Bellas said. "Today, above all days, we remember those who were husbands, sons, fathers, brothers and mates."