Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou – We will remember them.
While crowds gathered at Chunuk Bair and many other memorial sites, a small rōpū gathered at dawn outside Ōtākou wharenui to remember the service and sacrifice of those who fought for our world freedom, and how their absence impacted on those at home.
Karakia was led by kaumātua Edward Ellison, before the rōpū weaved its way to the urupā to lay poppies on whānau graves. It was a moving experience completed by waiata led by He Waka Kōtuia.
The glass stained window and memorial panels in the Wharenui Tamatea.