"Our ANZAC spirit is undiminished": Hawke's Bay pays tribute
It was a beautiful and poignant start to ANZAC Day as Hawke's Bay remembered the nation's fallen soldiers and honoured servicemen and women.
From Napier to Central Hawke's Bay, locals came together to celebrate and remember.
Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said: "Our ANZAC spirit is undiminished".
"It was so special to be able to come together as a community this Anzac Day this morning to remember and honour those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom," she said.
Speaking at the Hastings Dawn Service held at the Civic Square Cenotaph, Hazlehurst reflected on the "dreadful hardships" many went through and the awful losses suffered by so many families.
They also acknowledged the suffering of the people of Ukraine" in this most recent of wars".
Wearing her late grandmother Pam Hewitt’s life membership and 70 years' service medals to the Red Cross, Guest speaker Tukituki MP Anna Lorck paid particular tribute to women.
"In remembering of the huge sacrifices made by our men on the battlefields, an often untold story is the support given by women during war – both overseas and back home here in Hastings."
She mentioned the two Hawke’s Bay nurses who were initially among 50 selected in 1915 by the government to serve overseas.
Thirty-one-year-old Agnes Williams from Hastings, who trained at Gisborne hospital, served in a hospital set up in Egypt. While Sister Kate Wright from Napier served on a hospital ship.
"Whether women worked on the land, in a factory, driving trucks, raising money for the war effort or nursing our boys in faraway lands, our unsung women heroes also deserve our gratitude, and I believe we can also say of them 'lest we forget'."
It was one of seven services held in the district, including a live-streamed service from Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital chapel, due to Covid-19.
In Napier, residents also gathered in their masses.
Taradale & Districts RSA hosted an ANZAC Commemoration at the Taradale Clock Tower this morning.
Guest speaker Byron (Buck) Buchanan, who turns 100 later this year, shared stories of his days serving during WW2.
Napier RSA ANZAC Commemoration in Memorial Square was another moving service.
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise spoke, along with guest speaker Commander James Harper of the Australian Defence Force.
He spoke of the heroic actions of William George Malone, commander of the Wellington Battalion, in seizing the strategic heights of Chunuk Bair during the Gallipoli campaign.
Floral wreaths at the Taradale Clock Tower this morning.
People placed poppies in a cross at the Taradale Clock Tower this morning.
Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst pictured at the Hastings Dawn Service. Photo/Supplied.
Wreaths and tributes were laid at the Hastings Civic Square Cenotaph. Photo/Supplied.
