24/04/2026
🇳🇿 ANZAC DAY: WHY IT MATTERS TO NEW ZEALAND
It’s 5:30 in the morning—and all around you, people are preparing. This is the hour soldiers landed at Gallipoli more than a century ago, and today we gather to remember what it means to be Kiwi.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
On 25 April 1915, thousands of Australian and New Zealand soldiers (the ANZACs) landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. New Zealand was just 75 years as a colony then, and many saw this as our first step onto the world stage.
What was meant to be a quick campaign became 8 months of brutal trench warfare. The cost was devastating:
- 2,779 New Zealand lives lost
- 8,700+ Australian lives lost
- Tens of thousands more from other nations
No bodies came home—they lie where they fell, making the loss even harder for families left behind.
FROM GALLIPOLI TO TODAY
The first Anzac Day was held in 1916—just one year later. The very first service is believed to have taken place in Tinui, a small Wairarapa community, where locals gathered before dawn to honour their loved ones.
In 1920, it became an official day of observance—and today we remember all New Zealanders who have served and died in wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping missions across the globe.
WHY WE GATHER AT DAWN
That 5:30 start isn’t by chance. The Dawn Service marks the time of the original landing, and follows the military tradition of “stand-to”—when soldiers prepared for attack as light broke.
It’s a quiet, solemn moment: the sound of the bugle, the Ode of Remembrance, and red poppies laid for those we’ve lost.
WHAT IT MEANS TO US
Anzac Day isn’t about glorifying war. It’s about remembering the cost of our freedom, honouring courage and mateship, and recognising the pain felt by families across generations.
Gallipoli didn’t bring victory—but it forged our sense of nationhood. The qualities those soldiers showed—endurance, sacrifice, looking out for each other—are still what make us proud to be Kiwi.
As we gather this morning, let’s hold close the truth that courage isn’t the absence of fear—it’s doing what’s right despite it.
Lest we forget. 🇳🇿🙏