Thousands attended the Anzac Day dawn service in Whanganui. Photo / Bevan Conley
Thousands attended the Anzac Day dawn service in Whanganui. Photo / Bevan Conley
Across multiple Anzac Day services in Whanganui, messages of peace were given to those who braved the cold and wind to attend.
Around a thousand people gathered before dawn outside the Whanganui War Memorial Centre for the traditional Anzac Day memorial service.
At 5.15am the dawn parade marched its way from Pukenamu Queen’s Park to the forecourt of the War Memorial Centre.
The service began with an address from Whanganui RSA president Rod Hart, paying respect to the Anzac soldiers who first landed at the Gallipoli peninsula 108 years ago.
“On that day thousands of young men far from their homes landed on the beaches... one-sixth of those would lose their lives during this campaign,” he said.
He also took the opportunity to commemorate all Anzac officers who gave their service and lives in all major conflicts, from World Wars I and II through to modern-day Afghanistan.
“Let us today give thanks for their service and in particular, to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their countries.”
Following Hart’s address, a band and choir played the national anthem for Australia and New Zealand, a prayer was given from Chaplain Rosemary Anderson.
Whanganui acting mayor Helen Craig was the guest speaker at the service and addressed the crowd on the importance of the principles of those who fought at Gallipoli, namely peace, democracy and freedom of speech.
“Peace cannot be taken for granted, it must be protected and nurtured, Ukraine tells us that,” she said.
RSA president Rod Hart and Deputy mayor Helen Craig lay wreaths at ANZAC Day dawn parade in Whanganui. Photo / Bevan Conley
Anderson then gave her own speech on the service reminding us of the importance and fragility of peace, life and freedom and our need to preserve it.
“Anzac Day is extremely important to Australia and New Zealand because it serves to remind us of the fragile nature of life in a broken world.
“It is a reminder of the finality of death and the value of life,” Anderson said.
In her speech, she also paid tribute to those who made it back from war, telling the stories of her grandfathers who both served in and survived World War I.
She said one of them didn’t believe in war but enlisted anyway to defend his country and get it over with.
“Get it over with. Those words haunt us, we try not to let them, we deny the awful possibility, their lives, their young lives, were only beginning and would it ever be over with? Will wars ever be over with and stop?”
She asked those at the service to remember the road to peace is not paved with violence and to give thanks for the sacrifices made by many in times of war.
The choir then led the crowd in song before the wreath-laying ceremony began, led by Reverend Stephen Van Os.
A bugler then played ‘The Last Post’, after which Van Os led more prayer, followed by a flyover and the march off of the standard bearers, cenotaph parties and parade, signalling the end of the service.
The service was cancelled in 2022 due to Covid-19, so Hart said it was fantastic to be able to hold it again this year.
“To be able to see the crowd again and involve our community in Anzac Day again is just fantastic,” he said.
The turnout to the event had been strong and around the amount the RSA had expected, according to Hart.
Craig said it was an honour to speak at the service, and an opportunity to think about both the past and the future.
“This is an opportunity to reflect on what people fought for and people still fight for today,” she said.
At 9.30am another service was conducted at the Waitotara County War Memorial in the township of Pākaraka, north of Whanganui.
The Kai Iwi School Choir sings In Flanders Field at the Anzac Day service in Pākaraka. Photo / Bevan Conley
Craig once again spoke at the service, as did NZDF captain Roger Baxter.
During his speech, Baxter spoke on how those alive in the time of WWI and WWII suffered far more than their fair share of misfortune.
“A world war, an influenza pandemic, an economic depression of unparalleled scope and then another even more terrible global conflict,” he said.
After World War I was over, he said people at the time thought it had been the war to end all wars, but now over 100 years since the end of the conflict, the world was still ravaged by conflicts like in Ukraine.
He implored the audience to continue to stand up to those who believe might is right and have no regard for human rights or international law.
He also gave an example of how the Anzac spirit lives on, with the NZDF being assisted by the defence forces of Australia and Fiji in the cleanup of Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland Anniversary floods.
“We have assisted both of those countries in the past, and it was both Australia and Fiji who were the first to offer help when New Zealand needed it.”
The children’s choir of Kai Iwi School also performed a rendition of ‘In Flanders Field’ at the services as well as another wreath-laying ceremony.
Finally, at 11am the 28th Māori Battalion Anzac Day Service began at Pākaitore, honouring the members of the battalion who served in WW2 and Māori veterans of other major conflicts.
WDC CEO David Langford welcomed to the 28th Māori Battalion Anzac Day Service, Photo / Bevan Conley
During the service, there were waiata, karakia and speeches.
Whanganui District Council chief executive David Langford gave a speech as part of the ceremony.
