World War 2 veteran Bill Herd (93), of Oamaru, shares a laugh with his great-grandchildren, St Joseph's School pupils Sebastian (12), left, and Kristiana Whiston (9) after the Anzac service at their school yesterday afternoon.
Mr Herd was a private in the 26th Battalion when he was called up at the age of 21 to fight in Italy, in 1944.
He took shrapnel in his right shoulder fighting at the Senio River in 1945 and was in hospital for six weeks.
He spent a further 14 days on convalescent leave. Mr Herd is the last surviving Oamaru-born member of the battalion.
He was a guest of honour at the St Joseph's Anzac service on the last day of the first term.
As a project for school Sebastian made a slideshow of about 100 photos taken from his great-grandfather's collection, with Mr Herd telling his stories as audio.
"I think it's very important we remember who fought for us,'' Sebastian said.
