Applause rings out at the Mount's dawn service

Jacob Birley wears his great-grandfather's medals at the Anzac Day service in Mt Maunganui. Picture / Alan Gibson

Impromptu applause broke out as a long line of old soldiers marched away from the cenotaph at Mt Maunganui after the Anzac Day dawn service yesterday.

An estimated crowd of 4000 braved the cold to honour the war veterans and their fallen comrades.

The crowd included children who wore medals belonging to grandparents or great-grandparents who had served in the two world wars.

Pleas for ageing veterans to take seats in front of the cenotaph were ignored. Instead, they stayed on their feet out of respect for lost comrades.

Mt Maunganui RSA president Ces Hughes said afterwards that the crowd was one of the biggest ever at a dawn service at the beach.

"We normally get about 3000."

Mr Hughes, who fought in Malaya and Vietnam, said it was encouraging to see so many young people at the service.

The Mt Maunganui RSA is the largest in the country, with more than 5000 members. Of these, 980 are returned service people and 850 are World War II veterans.

In his speech at the cenotaph, Mr Hughes said many old soldiers had passed away in the past year.

He said it was important to acknowledge their sacrifices, and those of New Zealand forces currently in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"These people have shown themselves to be true Anzacs," he said.

Terry Leaming, 48, of Tauranga said he was moved by the speech.

Mr Leaming, who was in the Navy for eight years, brings his wife and children to the dawn service at the Mount every year.

"We come rain, hail or shine."

He said the cold was nothing compared to the harsh conditions soldiers faced in the world wars.

Jan Walker, who went to Gallipoli in 1989 but had never been to a dawn service until yesterday, was also moved. "It was really quite emotional," she said.

Ms Walker was with her 8-year-old son, Aaron, who had recently learned about Gallipoli at school.

He said the Harvards flying over the beach were "cool".

But the hefty dark green planes were not just a hit with the younger generation.

"I always burst into tears when they come over," said Roz Loasby, 63.

Ms Loasby, former secretary of the Tauranga-Mt Maunganui branch of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Association, said the beach was the most beautiful place in the country for an Anzac Day service.

"It's the magic of it," she said.

Jim White, a veteran of the Monte Cassino battle in World War II, said he found it hard to discuss the war when he returned to New Zealand.

But the 82-year-old, who now speaks to schoolchildren about his time as a tank commander, believes it is important to talk openly about the horrors of war.

Mr White, one of more than 1000 people who gathered at the Mount RSA clubrooms after the service, said: "We've got to tell these children to make them aware that these sorts of things happen."