Thousands turn out for Dunedin Dawn Service

Relatively warm and calm weather in Dunedin prompted thousands of residents to attend this year's Anzac Dawn Service at Queen's Garden.

Many at the service believed it was one of the largest turnouts in many years.

Returned and Services Association (RSA) Otago and Southland president Lox Kellas was delighted with the turnout, particularly the high number of young people.

It was the first time major Anzac Day commemorations have been held without crowd restrictions since before the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The Anzac address was given by Colonel Amanda Jane Brosnan, who urged those in attendance to visit the war memorials in their towns and read the names on them.

"Think about what they endured, not only by the people whose names you read, but also their families and their comrades who survived the war.

"Think about the pain suffered, the lives cut short, the dreams unfulfilled, and the grief felt by those left behind and those who were damaged."

She said the enormous losses suffered by New Zealand in World War 1 brought grief and dispair to homes across New Zealand, including Dunedin.

"The heavy casualties at Gallipoli came as a particular shock because New Zealand had had no previous experience of the huge toll that could be inflicted by artillery, machine guns and other weapons of industrial warfare.

"Each generation of New Zealanders has its own struggles and crosses to bear, but those who fought in WW1 had more than their fair share of misfortune.

"A world war, an influenza pandemic, followed by an economic depression of unparalleled scope, and then an even more terrible conflict 21 years later with the commencement of World War 2."

Col Bronsan said whether the world would ever be free from conflict, was a question for another day.

"This day, let us all think about the continuing need to stand up to those who believe might is right, and who have no regard for human rights or international law.

"Anzac Day unites the past and the present. It has come to mean more than Gallipoli. It has come to mean more than World War 2.

"It has developed to encompass sacrifices made by New Zealanders in armed conflict and military operations around the globe up to the present day.

"Anzac is also about the future."

She finished with the words of John Maxwell Edmonds, during WW1.

"When you go home, tell them of us and say: For your tomorrow, we gave our today."

Watch full video coverage of the Dunedin Anzac Day Dawn Service from the Cenotaph at Queens Gardens at the top of the page.