Choristers from New Zealand’s top youth choir began collapsing during the national Anzac service in Wellington as the sun-soaked ceremony proved too much without shelter.
At least two members of the National Youth Choir were taken off stage by paramedics after fainting during the morning’s hour-long service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park attended by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and dignitaries from across the globe.
It’s understood up to two more choristers were treated for heat exhaustion with the choir ushered off the outdoor stage midway through the ceremony to seek shelter under nearby pohutukawa trees to a round of applause from the crowd.
Paramedics race to the aid of fainting choristers in the National Youth Choir during the National Anzac Service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Photo / TVNZ
The unexpected episode was the only blip in an otherwise stellar day for Anzac commemorations across New Zealand with tens of thousands turning out to pay their respects at dawn services.
After recent years of Covid disruption parades and events returned to their traditional format with public memorials taking place without restriction.
Buglers and pipers cut through the pre-dawn darkness, and planes from an earlier era roared overhead as communities massed at local memorials to share in a day of remembrance that is set to finish in Europe later tonight at Gallipoli.
Commemorating his first Anzac Day as Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins warned peace was not something we could take for granted.
Hipkins said as we paid our respects to those who lost their lives during wartime, we also needed to consider the ongoing impact conflict has had on our veterans and their whānau.
”A reminder that peace is not something we can nor should take for granted.”
Both Hipkins and Chief Justice Dame Helen Winkelmann praised our forces for their contribution coming to the aid of communities ravaged by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Hipkins said at home, with the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle pushing us to our limits, the same qualities which defined the Anzacs of 1915 have come to the fore in the actions of New Zealanders across Aotearoa.
”From members of the New Zealand Defence Force and emergency response personnel deployed to affected regions to individuals supporting fellow Kiwis with aroha and manaakitanga- all have put the needs of others above their own.”
The largest gathering occurred in Auckland where around 10,000 people braved the pre-dawn chill to be part of an emotionally-charged ceremony culminating in a rousing haka by a school group tutored by Kane Te Tai, the soldier killed fighting in Ukraine last month.
The enormous crowd spilled down grassed embankments on both sides of the War Memorial Museum’s elevated forecourt where a number of dignitaries including Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown took part in the ceremony, laying wreaths.
Brown, whose father fought in World War II, said it was his privilege to lay a wreath on behalf of Aucklanders.
“We will remember them,” posted Brown after the event.
In Wellington, at the Pukeahu War Memorial, Chief Justice Dame Helen Winkelmann addressed the crowd thanking those working in Ukraine, and members of the Defence Force who helped with cyclone recovery efforts.
For the first time since the deadly 2011 earthquake, Christchurch’s dawn service returned to Cathedral Square.
Local MP and Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods described it as a “huge day” for the city.
Mayor Phil Mauger said it was a fantastic turnout and so poignant to have it in front of the Citizens War Memorial.
“It’s just so much more special here and emotional.
“Standing up there and looking out at all the people, it was very, very moving,” he said.
Returned and Services Association president Sir Wayne “Buck” Shelford told Newstalk ZB he was heartened by what he saw at commemorations in the capital today.
“The turnout for today was very, very good. It was just chokka with people. The roads were full. It was a huge crowd watching today.”
In Whangārei the sounds of bagpipes could be heard piercing the early morning darkness downtown as Anzac Day commemorations began.
But in Kaitaia it was the sound of a fire siren that ushered in a different type of service with volunteer firefighters at the Far North town’s early morning service leaving midway through when the emergency alarm shattered the silence.
