On a cool crisp April morning in the small settlement of Tolaga Bay on the East Coast of the North Island, hundreds of people gathered for a series of moving community events to mark ANZAC Day.
Among those attending was Police Commissioner Richard Chambers, Eastern District Commander Superintendent Joel Lamb, Tairāwhiti Area Commander, Inspector Danny Kirk and a group of local police officers.
They gathered to remember the courageous men and women who served their country, some who never came home from war.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told the gathering ANZAC Day is about remembering our soldiers, their pain and every whānau that grieved their loss.
He made special mention of the 28th Māori Battalion and C Company, which drew heavily from the Tairāwhiti region.
The Commissioner laid a wreath at the town’s memorial gates and the local cemetery where many Tolaga Bay war veterans who have passed are buried.
There was a shared breakfast at the town’s hall with hundreds of people joining together for kai and korero.
The community also took the opportunity while the Commissioner was in town to get him to present awards to locals who had worked so hard to help and protect their community during Cyclone Gabrielle.
