“It was wonderful we had about 2000 there and I’d say at least half of them were young people so it’s really encouraging,” Buddy Mikaere tells SunLive.
One plane flew above the Pāpāmoa dawn service, “Classic Flyers came across dead on time.
“We had a representative from the British Embassy, an ex-army guy Andrew Bryan, and we had an Australian representative Andrew Twaddle, he’s from the navy.
“We had students from Pāpāmoa College who read the ode from Flanders field, and then we had members of the scouts doing the flags at half mast.
“Then we had breakfast at the Pāpāmoa fire station,” Mikaere said.
Tauranga City Dawn Service
People assembled for the Tauranga City Dawn Service at the Tauranga Cenotaph at 5.55am for a march off and service at 6am.
The 2024 Tauranga City RSA Dawn Service. Photo: David Hall
Western BOP Dawn Services
At 5.45am, the Anzac Day Service assembly met in the Katikati Library Carpark and marched to Katikati War Memorial Hall for Katikati’s dawn service, which began at 6am.
In Ōmokoroa at Remembrance Cairn, Gerald Crapp Reserve, Ōmokoroa Point, a dawn service was held from 6am.
Maketu’s dawn service began at 6am with a march to Remembrance Rock, followed by a march to Remembrance Rock, Park Road Reserve.
Anzac Day is being marked around the world by New Zealand Defence Force personnel
From dawn services across New Zealand to Anzac biscuits in South Sudan, serving New Zealand Defence Force personnel will commemorate Anzac Day in various ways 109 years after the Gallipoli landings.
Although Anzac Day originated at Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula, today, this occasion provides an opportunity to remember the service and sacrifice of all personnel who have served New Zealand’s interests over the years.
More than 30,000 New Zealand military personnel have been killed in wars and conflicts since 1915.
Across major cities and rural communities from Northland to the deep south, New Zealanders will soon be gathering for dawn services this morning to spark a day of national collective remembrance.
On his final Anzac Day as Chief of Defence Force, Air Marshal Kevin Short will attend the Dawn Service and National Commemoration Service at Wellington’s Pukeahu National War Memorial.
“It fills me with pride when I think of all the service and sacrifice our personnel, and importantly their whānau, have contributed to the New Zealand Defence Force and New Zealand in general,” Short says.
“From those who landed on the shores of Gallipoli to our servicemen and servicewomen posted abroad today protecting and upholding the international rules-based order and values intrinsically important to Kiwis - we remember and acknowledge them all.
“On a personal note, representing the Defence Force at this commemoration has been incredibly moving and something I will forever feel privileged to have experienced. And marking my final Anzac Day in uniform alongside our friends and colleagues from across the Tasman is truly significant for me.”
Short will be joined at Pukeahu by his Australian Defence Force counterpart, General Angus Campbell, who is marking the occasion in Wellington.
“It is an honour to spend Anzac Day in New Zealand. The Australian Defence Force is proud to continue our long and deep service history alongside our close neighbour and ally, New Zealand, to support a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,” Campbell says.
- SunLive
The 2024 Tauranga City RSA Dawn Service. Photo: David Hall
The 2024 Tauranga City RSA Dawn Service. Photo: David Hall
