Among them was Millers Flat resident Forbes Knight (90), who was there to lay a wreath with other members of the RSA.
Mr Knight said he no longer marched in the parade as his knee, on which he had surgery in 1953, would not stand it. However, despite the cold wind he was there to remember in particular his father, Sydney William Knight, who was born on April 25, 1891.
Until Mr Knight snr’s 24th birthday that date meant nothing more than perhaps a cake and a beer.
However, on that fateful anniversary his life, and the calendar, changed forever.
A trooper in the Otago Mounted Rifles, Sydney Knight was one of the thousands who landed at Gallipoli that day.
"They were in rowboat heading to shore and the chap beside him was shot in the head by a rifle and just fell backwards, dead," his son said with a tear in his eye.
"He never even made it to shore."
Sydney Knight landed in the cove and lived to tell the tale. Or not, as it turned out.
He rarely talked about his experience even though he lived to be 75 years old. Not asking his father the name of the man who died in the boat was something he now regretted, his son said.
Trooper Knight, along with the thousands of others who had served their country in various conflicts around the world, was remembered and thanked by those whose only bravery was to leave a warm bed and stand in the chilly dawn.
