April 25 is Anzac Day in New Zealand. It is the day when New Zealanders killed in all wars are remembered and returned servicemen and women are honoured. The landings at Gallipoli were commemorated informally from 1916 onwards, but in 1921 the Government made the day a public holiday and it was created to commemorate all World War I servicemen. Since that time, given the service of New Zealanders in other 20th century conflicts and peace-keeping operations, Anzac Day has become a broader memorial for the country's military service and sacrifices.
In the 1920s Anzac Day speeches focussed on national identity, imperial loyalty and the desire for peace. In the later 1930s, with the imminent threat of another war, the focus shifted to the need for not forget the lesson of the past, and defence preparations. The experience of World War II re-focussed attention on Anzac Day, with large attendances at dawn services, concentrating on grief at the sense of loss felt keenly in the immediate post-war period. In the late 1960s, Anzac Day became controversial, with anti-Vietnam protestors being the first of other groups - feminists, gays, anti-nuclear and Treaty of Waitangi activists - to use the day to make their statements about war and society.
Since the 1980s, Anzac Day has had somewhat of a social renaissance. Large numbers of young people are now attending Anzac Day services throughout the country. For many young (and older) Kiwis, a visit to Anzac Cove in an indispensable part of their OE. Prominent among modern Anzac Day services is the questionable assertion that New Zealand nationalism was born in the trenches of Gallipoli. Anzac Day is also an opportunity to celebrate those wartime values that are thought to be distinctively New Zealand - mateship, courage, loyalty and self-sacrifice.
In 2005, community groups in the Papanui and Belfast area continued to celebrate Anzac Day, reflecting the modern meaning of the day. All memorials in the area contained were either the focus of local commemorations, or contained family or personal tributes through the laying of wreaths or poppies on the memorials. Lest we forget.
Children lay poppies at the Papanui War memorial at the conclusion of the 2005 Anzac Day service.
The memorial in St Paul's Churchyard Papanui.
Personal tributes at the Belfast War Memorial.
Anzac Day flowers at the Coutts Island War Memorial.