The parade readies for the wreath laying ceremony.
Te Kūiti’s two Anzac parades were both well attended on a morning crisp enough to lead one dawn parade attendee to comment the cold may have been why the parade at Te Kūiti Pā began 10 minutes early.
The civic parade began about 7am with the Te Kūiti and District Highland Pipe Band leading the assembled veterans, servicemen and women, reservists, firefighters and St John Ambulance personnel from Taupiri St to the Les Munro Centre.
Speakers at the service were reshuffled because of absences including Mayor John Robertson who had Covid-19.
Key speakers were two young people, Wharekura o Maniapoto student Te Atamihi Papa and Autahi Rehua Brock, recently from the New Zealand Army.
Te Atamihi spoke about how the history of Anzac Day affected most New Zealand families.
“I have two great-grand-uncles that were laid to rest in an Italian cemetery, my great-great-grandfather and his brothers in the Second World War in Italy,” she said.
“I am positive most if not all New Zealand citizens can say this. For them it was not a question of fighting in a war, it was about defending their way of life as they knew it to be. It was about young men who sometimes lied about their age, travelling to distant lands so the ravages of war would not be visited upon their ancestral homeland.
“Our generation should learn from their lesson. We should honour their courage, we should celebrate their bravery.”
When fires of adversity began to light across the globe, New Zealanders must not sit back, especially if there was danger of the fires spreading into our neighbourhood, she said.
Autahi Rehua Brock is the fourth generation of his family to join the New Zealand Army. He told how he joined the army in 2018 and of his experiences and learnings at the bases at Waiouru, Burnham and Linton.
He shared how being expected to continue in all weathers and conditions pushed him past his former limits and prompted a decision to change his army career path to one of physical fitness instructor.
Te Kūiti Journey Ghurch pastor Terry Bradley said Anzac Day was a time to reflect on those who had lost their lives and who served their country in distant lands.
Before dawn on April 25, 1915 the first New Zealand and Australian soldiers landed at Gallipoli.
“What lay ahead of them was inconceivable,” he said. “The battle raged for eight months and forged a bond between Australia and New Zealand that remains to this day.”
“The casaulties from that battle were overwhelming – 2800 New Zealanders and 8600 Australians.
“It was New Zealand’s first engagement of the First World War in a day of confusion, of sorrow, and unimaginable horror. Anzac Day has been one of the most important days on the New Zealand calendar since.”
Following the service in the Les Munro Centre, the parade reformed at the cenotaph for the laying of wreaths, the ode and The Last Post.
