Thousands of Aucklanders mark Anzac Day at dawn service

Thousands of Aucklanders gathered this morning to mark Anzac Day alongside dignitaries including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

One ex-serviceman at the Auckland War Memorial Museum told 1News: "I'm standing here because lots of people aren't."

Amid the ceremony, Luxon lay a wreath at the museum's cenotaph.

He told RNZ it's "a sacred day"... "a day for us all to commemorate, remember and to be grateful for Kiwi servicemen and women in the past and also in the present".

"We have the democracy that we have today, we have the freedoms that we have today because of that service."

After dawn broke and the formal commemorations were over, people remained to pay their respects in their own ways.

"I've got a family member on the remembrance wall upstairs, so I came for them," one woman said.

A second woman added: "We come every year... It's good to recognise what was given up for our country.

"It's part of being a Kiwi and it's part of our culture and who we are."

One veteran in a wheelchair spoke to 1News in tear. "It means everything," he said.

"I served in the occupational forced in Japan in 1946... I'm 95."

A mother said her daughter had suggested last night that the pair go together.

"You always shed a tear at the last post... Always," she added.

A second ex-serviceman wore his medals across his chest.

"I'm standing here because lots of people aren't," he said.

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