Dawn parade veteran to see Gallipoli sunrise

By BRONWYN SELL

Ever since Loren Theobald was a child her father has bundled her up to go to the local Anzac Day dawn parade with her war veteran grandfather.

This Anzac Day the 17-year-old Waimauku girl will see the dawn with the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, on the Gallipoli beach where her great-grandfather stood before he was fatally wounded.

Loren and four other teenagers will join the official Government delegation to the 85th anniversary commemorations of the Gallipoli landing, after winning a national essay competition about Gallipoli.

Loren's family sacrifices give the win extra significance.

Her great-grandfather was wounded in the chest at Gallipoli, and later died of his injuries in London.

Her grandfather was wounded in the Second World War and two uncles served in Vietnam.

"I've grown up going to the dawn parade and hearing about the things they went through.

"It will be so special seeing the sun come up on the beach where the Anzacs landed."

The four other winners - Moana Jarman (Whangarei), Anna Chartres (Christchurch), Tom Hallett-Hook (Mt Roskill) and Anthony McMahon (Wellington) - will share the sunrise with her.

Moana, aged 15, said she had never been to an Anzac Day dawn parade but the essay competition had raised her awareness and prompted her to volunteer to sell poppies.

Her mother, Ruth Jarman, said Moana's Whakatane grandfather, who served in the Second World War, would be overwhelmed by her win, announced on television last night.

Moana said: "I think he told everyone at his RSA club about it. They will have all sat there watching TV with their popcorn."

Helen Clark devised the competition because fewer young people were studying history and she was concerned they would grow up without a sense of their country's identity.